Opening a backup CD

I recently found several backup CD's from another computer I used to have. I tried to open them and transfer the contents to my existing laptop without success. The OS I had on that one was XP home, this one is Vista Home Premium... any ideas?

 

Well, for starters, what backup utility did you use?

 

I don't remember. It was about five years ago. The file is a dat file. Did XP have a backup utility?

 

XP Pro does, although at one point MS was allowing people to download that utility as a standalone for XP Home, too.

However, there are any number of different apps that use the ".dat" file extension, so just the extension alone won't be too useful.

Nonetheless, if you have a copy of XP available, try using the backup utility to see if it can make any sense out of the file.

 

I had XP home, and I don't recall downloading anything else for that purpose. I was using Norton at that time, and Nero, aside from XP that was all I added that I can remember. You mean a computer which has XP as the OS to see if it will open....?

 

try copy then to hard disk rename to zip


you cound also open them notepad or other editor


see what header on fiile say ?

 

BK_15_69 is the name. Is that what you meant by header?

 

What brand computer was it? I know some have backup utilities built into them from the oem.

 

I assembled it myself... worked pretty well, too.

No one to blame but me.

 

***bump***

 

So I wonder how to identify the utility that was used, or is there a way? Should I see if I still have the CD from Norton and install it, and try to open the files with that? *puts on dunce cap and goes to corner*

 

Well, if you had Norton and Nero, and you don't remember whether you ever used a built-in backup utility, I'd say it's a pretty good guess that the file belongs to one of those two.

If you have access to a hexviewer or a hexeditor, get the first 8 bytes of the file and post them here (preferably in hexadecimal notation). This website also lists some of the binary signatures for a variety of ".dat" files, so you might be able to identify it that way.

EDIT: You could also try downloading and running the app on this website, called TrID. The author claims that it can identify 3,667 file types, so odds are it'll identify yours if it works as claimed. Just make sure you run the file through your A/V scanner before you run it.

 

I'll see if i can do as you are recommending, I have to learn the methods first. I appreciate the help, Shyster1.

 

Maybe those CD's doesn't working anymore...or maybe your CD-rom has a problem.

 

It plays DVD movies ok, but I suppose there are lots of possibilities for problems. Mostly, though, my lack of knowledge. When I was in high scool and college there were 8-track players in cars and I now qualify for senior citizen discounts at McD's.... I'm trying hard to catch up and truly do appreciate the help you all are giving me. Just not sure what to do with some of it, but I'm learning (I think)..

 

Ah, welcome to the club. I'm not quite ready for the McD's discounts, though some days I feel like it. I also remember 8-tracks - my first car came with an 8-track that had a blondie cassette permanently jammed into it.