Windows 8.1

Mr Bean

Mr Bean

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Any help please.

I dropped my Windows 7 laptop and the hard drive is now buggered. I am trying to load the last backup to my new 8.1 laptop and can't see how to direct Windows to look at the backup on the external hard drive.

I've Googled it and can't find a way to do it - any ideas please?

Thanks.
 
Unfortunately no. The link does not cover Windows 8.1

Thanks for the input though.
 
i don't think you can do that (use that back up). i'm no computer wiz kid but you are talking different versions of windows, aren't you? :nenau
 
Thanks for your input.

As far as I can see the link is for saving docs from my current laptop rather than accessing a recent back up? However, I am a computer numpty.

UturnTony,

You are correct in that I am using different versions.
 
Windows 8.1 has a new backup system which is (annoyingly in this case) incompatible with previous versions.

You can still get your files, but will require a couple of extra steps. When you open the backup folder on your external drive, are there .zip files inside or a single .vhd file?
 
Thanks,

ZIP files is what I am working with at the moment 600+ zip files manually and copying them across.

Is there a quicker way as most are much smaller than the original folders?

I have seen vhd.
 
No need to copy them, you'll need to extract them first.

Download and install a program called 7zip from here, then select all the zip files in the backup folder, right click and under the 7zip menu select 'extract all'. Choose a folder for extraction where you will have enough space to store the size of your old hard drive contents.

All your files will be in the \Users\yourname folder. If you need browser bookmarks etc you'll find them in \ProgramData. I would be very selective (i.e. copy accross only what you need) so as to avoid any unnecessary problems.
 
Just to be completely clear - extract the contents to a new folder NOT over the top of your current windows installation! :beerjug:

You will copy the files you need from the new folder (win7) into the win8.1 folders.
 
dubster said:
Just to be completely clear - extract the contents to a new folder NOT over the top of your current windows installation! :beerjug:

You will copy the files you need from the new folder (win7) into the win8.1 folders.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice.

I'll look at in the morning.
 
I've still problems in that I don't seem to be able to unzip any more than one at a time - even if I select more only one unzips. Even then the folder structure is the same, i.e. C, Users, Name, Pictures, folder name before you eventually get to the images.

This is the same structure as the the zipped folder - which incidentally isn't compressed, see screen image.



Main problem is that the larger various video files for example have been chopped in to smaller 200mb files, and a singe picture folder can be split in to 10 as the folder size exceeds 200mb.

Is there a way of automatically stitching them back to the original files?
 
Thanks for looking.

Yep, only one folder per extraction.
 
Redboots said:
That's just wanky windows showing it as a directory (folder) when its actually a file.
As said, use 7zip or WinZip.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your input, I'll have another go tomorrow using the link from dubster.

Appreciate you time.
 
Just tried again and the problem appears to be the same.

If i have a video file that was say 2gb and Windows 7 has backed it up. This file is now 20 x 200mb (or whatever the calculation is), all with the same file name and you'll see from the image the unzipping programs are seeing them that way and not stitching them together. It seems save them with a new name but won't that will give me the same number of fragmented files?

Of course I could be completely wrong as computers aren't my strong point......

 
Mr Bean said:
If i have a video file that was say 2gb and Windows 7 has backed it up. This file is now 20 x 200mb (or whatever the calculation is), all with the same file name and you'll see from the image the unzipping programs are seeing them that way and not stitching them together.
Click to expand...

Zip normally splits file down to a manageable size and names each resulting file with incrementing numbers. Part one would be .zip and the rest being .z01, .z02 etc.
Just try renaming 3 or 4 of the files starting with the second to the above convention. If the they get unzipped, it should fail with the next file not found, but may not.
If the unzip just ends without an error, try to play the resulting file.
 
Choose 'Auto rename' every time you see the dialogue, then merge the pieces into your original files.

See 8.C onwards in the link I sent you.

Pain in the arse, I know, but AFAIK the only way to do the >200mb files.
 
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