Backup and Restore Windows 10 Pro

Anonymous
2021-08-16T20:47:11+00:00

I have had 4 laptops with Windows 10 for many years and 3 USB hard drives, which I connect to any laptop when needed, that I have used for backups and I use windows 7 image backups. I have restored the image files many, many times from all my laptops with no problems until now. All my laptops have the latest Windows updates. I recently had a problem with one of my laptops where I had to reformat and reinstall windows without activating it because the activation info was in my backup, and I tried to restore my latest backup but Windows could not find or recognize the USB drives as backup locations. File Explorer could read the hard drives with no problem and I could locate the backup I wanted to use. I contacted Windows chat support, went to the second level of support with no luck and they scheduled a call to me with third level support. The call never came.. Anyway, I attributed the failure of not being able to restore the image to the fact that I had never backed up anything with the new installation of Windows to those USB drives.

Now, out of curiosity's sake I decided to try the Restore operation in one of my other laptops, and connected one of the USB drives to it. Surprise, surprise, it didn't find a backup file either, so my problem with my previous laptop had nothing to do with what I thought, it is a Windows 10 problem caused by some update, because, as I said I have restored many many times from those USB drives with no problems, starting with when I had Windows 7 installed in them.

Another curious part is that when Windows can't find an image to restore it prompts you look in a network. Windows allows you to assign a network location to the drive or file that you want to restore, but when Windows goes to this location it, again, says there is no file that can be used.

Does anybody have any thoughts on this problem or it too new?

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Windows update

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  1. Anonymous
    2021-08-23T20:32:27+00:00

    Hi,

    For lack of anything else to try that I can think of... You might try deleting the Unknown Account..

    That is the only difference between what I see on mine... Which works.. and PCR's and your's which do not work..

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-08-23T20:37:54+00:00

    Hi,

    If that doesn't help, you might try Adding a "Creator Owner" User with Full Permissions..

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  3. Anonymous
    2021-08-23T21:06:53+00:00

    No, only my original has Account Unknown, & it does indeed show up & work...

    Image

    It is the copy that doesn't work, & it never had Account Unknown...

    Image

    System was already in the "permission entries" box, but my Microsoft Account was the owner. The Microsoft Account was not in the entries box. I had already made the Owner to be System & had already added Creator Owner, but neither change has made the copy visible to Backup & Restore for a restore.

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  4. Anonymous
    2021-08-23T22:07:02+00:00

    Too bad a copy wasn't recognized on the HDD either. It used to be it would be recognized for me, but one made in the course of this thread is not seen by Backup & Restore for a restore. (The original is seen, &, a week/so ago, I did restore an original). Too bad putting a new image into the copied WindowsImageBackup folder didn't make it visible either. i haven't tried this time around, but it used to be I could make a new original into a copied WindowsImageBackup folder. But I gave it a devicename folder of its own (that's the first folder inside WindowsImageBackup) which made it separate & distinct (I explained above). It then looked better than the copy in some of the restore screens, but both it & the copy did show up & were willing to restore. I backed out, but Slance, in that same ancient thread, did restore them with some success, IIRC. But I ended up not trusting copies.

    If even the originals don't work for you, what makes you think a copy of it would work anyway? It looks like the Security tab you are showing is an original because it has Account Unknown in it (which my original has) & it has Backup Operators in it (which Slance has). However, it doesn't have Creator Owner in it, which both Slance & I do have in an original. It's odd we don't all three have identical permissions on an original. I can't explain it.

    I tend to agree with Slance, you should start new & switch to a 3rd-party image maker. Your images are enormous, & the 3rd-party apps are far, far quicker with enormous ones. Also, they are more flexible in use, make more compact images, & can see partitions Backup & Restore may not (like my Dell factory reinstall partition which is gone now). But there is a huge manual to read & a learning curve.

    As I said in my first post on p.1...

    [But I must add, the first time you double-click a .vhdx, it may give an error message. So, just OK the error, & open Disk Management. The mounted image will have the same name C: had when the image was made, but no letter. Put a letter on it, & it will show up in File Explorer.]

    When done copying files, remember to right-click the mounted letter in File Explorer, & select "Eject".

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  5. Anonymous
    2021-08-23T22:57:08+00:00

    Hi,

    I just noticed something that didn't get my attention before..

    In some of the Permissions.. In particular my original image on page 3, "System" only has permission for "This Folder Only".. That would imply that "System" can not open the "Device Name" folder, but the image works..

    It also suggests that "System" is not the User managing the recovery of an image..

    On some of the other images like a copy, it seems that System has Full Permissions for "This folder, subfolders, and files"..

    If I get the chance I might see what manipulations I can do with that.. I have been painting my garage all day and am exhausted at the moment..

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