Cannot view backups

Hi,
I have just joined this forum and this is my first post. Hope someone can offer advice.
My husband and I use Acronis Home Edition to do full and differential backups onto a Buffalo external hard drive. With Windows XP, we could do a
backup, then go to the Buffalo and open the backup file, to view the
contents, to make sure it had backed up everything properly. We have now
have computers with Windows Vista and the backup shows on the hard drive, but, at first, we could not open our backups to view the contents. (Buffalo have said that their external hard drive is compatible with Vista.) We even downloaded a trail version of the latest Acronis, but we still could not view the contents of the backups on the external hard drive. However, for reasons unknown, I could suddenly open the backups through my computer. So I removed the trail version of Acronis 11 and reinstalled my Acronis 10. Everything is still working fine. However, my husband is still not able to open his backups through his computer. The 'wait' icon flashes madly, but that is all. Can anyone advise. Thank you.

 

What are the differences between your computer and your husband's?

Can he see the backup files when he examines the Buffalo drive with Windows Explorer?

 

Hi,
Thanks for your reply.
My husband and I both have the same make and model of laptop. That is why I am confused as to why I can now view the backups but he cannot. When he goes to Windows explorer, the Buffalo backup files do not show on the left hand side, but, funnily enough, they show in the main middle screen (on my computer, both mine and my husbands files show both on the left and the middle). However, when he clicks on his or my backup file, the 'busy' circle next to the mouse pointer just flashes madly and nothing else happens. On my computer, the files open straight away.

 

Same make and model, but it sounds like there is a software difference or a difference in attached peripherals.

Since yours initially wouldn't show the backups, you changed something. If you can remember, or compare the two computers, you can perhaps find that change.

 

Thanks, John. All I remember doing was downloading the free Acronis 11, then deleting it, as I still could not open the back-ups; then I reinstalled Acronis 10 and it suddenly worked. So my husband is currently trying the same thing, as I am not aware that I made any other changes.

We both share the same Buffalo external hard drive.

I'll let you know how we go on.

Thanks so much for your time.

Cindy

 

Are you using the last build of TI 10? (4942)

 

Hi John,

My husband tried what I said, but no luck. Then he downloaded the 4942 build and still no luck. It is probably something simple.

Cindy

 

Does the Buffalo drive show up in My Computer?

If he starts TI, can he see the Buffalo drive and the backups stored on it? I like the Validate feature for checking this since you can see all the backups and pick one or two to validate.

 

Hi John,

The Buffalo drive does show up in My Computer.

When he opens TI and clicks Explore Backup Archive, his backup is there, but, when he clicks on it, he gets the same madly-flashing wait icon and that is it.

I have just gone to the Validate feature and picked his backup to validate and it was successful.

Later tonight, as my husband is working late, I am going to compare both computers. I could have made a minor change without knowing. It is very frustrating, when it must be something simple causing the problem.

If you have any more advice, it really would be appreciated.

Best wishes,

Cindy

 

OK, that's good.

I think this is a TI bug with Vista. I've seen other reports about exploring backups only working when the backup is mounted (gets a drive letter) from within TI. This isn't as convenient as just clicking on the backup, but it should work. That's how TI worked in earlier version.

That's good. At least the backups are working.

Can he see his backups (and yours) from within TI and validate them from his computer?

Can he mount his backup from within TI and see the contents in Windows Explorer under the new drive letter?

However, be sure to boot from the Rescue CD and validate a few backups from there. When you restore the boot partition (C, it has to be done from the Linux environment just like the boot CD. If you can't validate after booting from the CD, you won't be able to restore the backup.

Good luck.

 

Hi John,

I am getting there at last!! I opened Acronis (I am having to do this, as my husband is working long hours at the moment) and went to Mount Image and it assigned a drive letter to my husband's backup. I could then open it, to view the contents, both through TI and Windows Explorer. As I validated this file earlier, should it now be alright?

However, be sure to boot from the Rescue CD and validate a few backups from there. When you restore the boot partition (C, it has to be done from the Linux environment just like the boot CD. If you can't validate after booting from the CD, you won't be able to restore the backup.
Good luck.[/QUOTE]

Re the last part of your message, I am not as computer literate as you, so could you explain this a bit more to me. We have only ever made backups on the Buffalo and have never made a Rescue CD. Should we have done this? I just thought you could do a system restore from the backup (sorry if I sound a bit thick).

I am getting there, though!!

Best wishes,
Cindy