Backed up Program files...

Set an external hard drive to back up files from my laptop. When I turned it back on this morning, I get absolutely NOTHING. No error messgae, no nothing, just a blank computer. Did I somehow wipe out my OS? I thought I was doing the right thing, but obviously not.

 

Your subject says "Backed up Program Files". Well that almost impossible to do with out doing a full clone backup of your C drive, including all of windows system files and especially the registry. Was that what you did? Did you clone the c drive to an external drive? That may take special software and/or special procedures.

OR

Did you mean you backed up your data files to the external drive?

 

hi and welcome to nbr

how did you exactly try and back everything up.
what software did you use. something like acronis backup?
or did you just right click and copy the whole drive.
the more info you can give will help others advise what to do.

if the external drive is still plugged in via usb then unplug it and reboot. worth a try.

 

Thanks for the replies. I was copying my program files to an external drive. Thought I could literally do a copy in case I ever lost anything - and now I have. I connected aWD My Book 320 GB external to my laptop via usb and simply began copying the program files folder, just as I would make backup copies of my Photoshop files or anything else.

At the time, everything seemed fine. After copying the files, I ejected the external and then played a game or two on the laptop, then shut it down before heading off to bed. This morning when I tried to start the laptop up I got nothing but a blank screen.

Is it possible that the Windows software didn't "copy" but was moved instead, even though I told it to copy and all through the process, the process said "Copying file to My Book from Windows PC:

 

see if it will boot up into safe mode. turn on and keep pressing F8

 

Thanks all. I am running a Lenovo ThinkPad W570 (4270)

I saw no screen whatsoever on startup. No Lenovo logo, and no Windows logo.

The laptop turns on, LEDs light up and I can hear the fan / hard drive spinning.

I am going to try the sugestions from other replies and will update this thread, good news or bad news.

Thanks!

 

Does the light for the Hard drive blink? If it does, connect to an external monitor or Television.

A better way to back up to external hard drive for free is to use windows backup or PAragon 12 free and create an image.