Win 7 Backup Renamed my Computer

[j13m]

I just used Win 7 Backup on my Gateway FX6831 PC to create a second backup, and the backup it created on my external 1TB WD drive had a name of WIN PH.....CDVR, which has become my new computer name on my network. Why would this happen, can I undo it, and how do I prevent it for future backups. My original backup shows up under my original name - Tom-PC. Now since the new backup, which didn't overwrite the previous, this new name is on the network, so associations and sharing from other PC's are all screwed up. Can I get this back to the simple Tom-PC name? The PC now shows a User Profile for the WIN PH.... CDVR name as well.

Can I just delete those two backups, start with a clean external drive (which is now 99% full) and start fresh? My main concern is getting my original PC name back. I tried a system restore but no luck. Thanks for any help.

 

[mjf]

Have a look at this
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/51293-computer-name-view-change.html

 

[j13m]

Thanks for the response. This is a bit trickier than just a name change, and I should have added this detail to the original post. The name, if you look it up under My Computer, is still Tom-PC. The unusual thing is that, in my network it's the WIN PH.....CDVR name, which is what the backup on my external HD shows. I don't know what issues could occur (invalidate the backup?) by changing that name manually. It's just a bad design if backup renames the PC on the network....I don't know how the network references a different PC name. That's the real issue...I essentially have my PC operating under two names, and I'd like to get rid of the new name on the network. I should mention that the name Tom-PC does not show on the network map.

 

[mjf]

For networked backup I might consider the paid version of Macrium Reflect. It's a great product and quite reasonably priced. I use the free version but I don't need to do network backups.

 

[j13m]

That's the weird thing....this was just a standard Win 7 PC backup to an external hard drive, not a network backup. I can't figure out how or why the network name was affected.

 

[mjf]

Did you choose the search network option by mistake?

 

[j13m]

No, and I double checked to be sure. I don't even see a network option when I look at the menu.

 

[mjf]

I take it from one of your earlier answers the HDD isn't part of a home network.
I am out of suggestions so maybe someone else can come up with something. Good luck.

 

[j13m]

Thanks for trying.