I can boot successfully from either the x86 or x64 Linux Recovery DVD created for Paragon Backup & Recovery 2014 Free. I can create 7 backup DVDs for the entire hard drive on an eMachines EL1360G-UW12P running Windows 7 with either Recovery DVD. Holding up the DVDs to the light, I can see where the tracks have been burned. However, when I try to perform a restore to a new hard drive, I cannot find the archive on any of the 7 DVDs. This is true for both sets of DVDs. I can see the new drive fine in the menu. Even when I leave the original hard drive in the machine, I cannot find any files on the archive DVDs. The x86 Recover DVD worked fine on my old HP Pavilion a1647c desktop to backup and restore from DVDs. The DVD drive works fine from Windows 7 to read and write DVDs or CDs, including creation of new Recovery DVDs. I'm at a loss to figure out what is going on.
Thanks for the suggestion! However, it can't find the archive even when I leave the original hard drive in the system. For future reference, I have changed hard drives successfully in another system when I was using the free version. You have to have the same or a larger drive.
When setting up a new system, I get everything set the way I want, i.e., remove crapware, run Windows update, install basic stuff I want like Firefox, and the make an image backup to DVD so I have a basic install without having to do all that stuff again. From that point on, I normally back up to a USB hard drive. In this case, I'm not using an external drive because this is a system I bought cheap and am refurbishing for a project that provides PCs to low-income kids. So, I want a set of DVDs to give the recipient with instructions on how to restore to a new drive if something goes bad. I'm just trying to read the backup DVDs to make sure they are good.
What do you mean you can´t find any files in the DVDs? Are you looking for files manually, or the program reports that the disk you insert is not "correct"? Years ago I used to create backups in DVDs. As I remember, to begin the restore you had to insert the last disk in the set, and the program asked for the rest when it needed them. If you inserted the wrong disk it would report an error and ask for another. So, I used to mark the disks as "1" (the last one), etc. I don´t know it this still applies. Also, when I needed to check the contents of a disk, I used the program IsoBuster, which can read the disk directly, without using the Windows "services". If IsoBuster can´t read the disk, it is corrupted.
