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    Explore vista business backup file

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by pcharouz, Feb 8, 2009.

  1. pcharouz

    pcharouz Notebook Evangelist

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    Is there any way to open/explore the backup file from the backup utility that is built into vista? (Complete PC backup) Without actually restoring the file to a harddrive...
     
    pcharouz, Feb 8, 2009
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  2. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Not that I know of.
     
    Greg, Feb 8, 2009
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  3. ScuderiaConchiglia

    ScuderiaConchiglia NBR Vaio Team Curmudgeon

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    Are you asking about opening an individual file from the backup set, or opening the backupset itself? If the fromer, no you can't. If the latter, then yes, the restore interface will let you open up the backup set and browse it to view it's contents (i.e. the list of backed up files). It will even let you select an individual file to be restored. I believe, although don't know first hand, that it will let you restore the file to an alternate location.

    Gary
     
    ScuderiaConchiglia, Feb 8, 2009
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  4. pcharouz

    pcharouz Notebook Evangelist

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    it seems that you know what you are talking about, I just cant understand your wording... LOL

    what I need to do, is to restore just one 300mb file out of a 130gb backup...
     
    pcharouz, Feb 8, 2009
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  5. ScuderiaConchiglia

    ScuderiaConchiglia NBR Vaio Team Curmudgeon

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    Sorry, I just realized that your initial question was about the "Complete PC Backup" function. With that there is NO WAY to restore individual files. I thought you were talking about the other type of backup offered in some versions of Vista. The "Complete" one creates an image of the entire drive and you can ONLY restore the entire image.

    Sorry for the confusion.

    Gary
     
    ScuderiaConchiglia, Feb 8, 2009
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  6. gerryf19

    gerryf19 I am the walrus

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    It's not impossible...it's actually pretty easy, You just need to mount the VHD file created during a COMPLETE PC BACKUP as a secondary harddrive to a virtual OS in Microsoft Virtual PC.

    To mount the image as a secondary hard disk, you access the Settings dialog box for a non running virtual machine which allows you to configure the system’s virtual hardware. In the settings, you select the Hard Disk 2 setting in the left pane and then select the Virtual hard disk file option in the right pane (this works better with screen shots, but I don't have a VHD file sitting around at the moment)

    Now, you load yur Virtual PC and the COMPLETE BACK UP mounts as a secondary harddrive...Now, you can copy files off of the secondary computer to your virtual PC or the host machine as normal
     
    gerryf19, Feb 8, 2009
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  7. ScuderiaConchiglia

    ScuderiaConchiglia NBR Vaio Team Curmudgeon

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    Cool!!! I had no idea that the Compete Back Up even created a VHD file. Very slick!

    Gary
     
    ScuderiaConchiglia, Feb 8, 2009
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  8. gerryf19

    gerryf19 I am the walrus

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    I get lucky sometimes...
     
    gerryf19, Feb 8, 2009
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