How to recover system image from Windows 7 using the backup & restore app
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@scottalanmiller said in How to recover system image from Windows 7 using the backup & restore app:
@Dashrender said in How to recover system image from Windows 7 using the backup & restore app:
so the backup had no data in it?
I didn't know windows backup would create VHD files.It can, it's an option. It's just as opposed to writing to a LUN.
But who/how would it make a blank backup?
The Win7 backup program is pretty simple. Click and backup.
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After we looked into it futher I'm still not sure why it is acting retarded. We were able to mount it to a vm and I was able to see the data but I didn't see the app installed (that was also backed up) that I was needing desperately.
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Like I see everything but my folder for the app!
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@krisleslie said in How to recover system image from Windows 7 using the backup & restore app:
Like I see everything but my folder for the app!
One way or another, it isn't going to let you recover that data!
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@krisleslie said in How to recover system image from Windows 7 using the backup & restore app:
Like I see everything but my folder for the app!
Do you see the c:\windows directory? If not, I'm guessing what you have mounted is a copy of the data partition. unless you specifically told the application to install into the data partition, it generally installs into c:\program files\softwarename
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Ok so I took a stab at it today, this time it did show me the files I was looking for so I'm not sure whyyyyyyyyyyyyy, but it is working. I was able to open disk management, attach one of the two vhd's and it worked fine.
Ok so next question is how do I get those two VHDs to become a new vm? I think it made two vhds because of the system volume that windows makes.
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I think the problem was it wasn't fully loaded. I can see it properly now locally attached and even if I mount it from the share.
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@krisleslie said in How to recover system image from Windows 7 using the backup & restore app:
Ok so I took a stab at it today, this time it did show me the files I was looking for so I'm not sure whyyyyyyyyyyyyy, but it is working. I was able to open disk management, attach one of the two vhd's and it worked fine.
Ok so next question is how do I get those two VHDs to become a new vm? I think it made two vhds because of the system volume that windows makes.
Don't bother trying to turn it into a VM, create a new one. What you've done / are trying to repeat is just odd.
Remember the conversation we had yesterday via TV. Export your data, configure your XS desktop into a Software RAID (so you have enough space) create a new VM, import the data and then migrate your VM's from your other host to this desktop.
Install XS on your actual server, and then migrate the VM's back.
But before proceeding down the import / export process though create a XO VM and create a proper backup.
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If they have the VHD, couldn't you just create a VM in XS, and then attach the VHD after the fact?
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@BRRABill said in How to recover system image from Windows 7 using the backup & restore app:
If they have the VHD, couldn't you just create a VM in XS, and then attach the VHD after the fact?
Yes, we tried this yesterday and had no success. The drives were blank as @krisleslie mentioned.
How or why the VHD's are working now I do not know.
The bigger issue is that the VHD's are on the SR for the server.
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@DustinB3403 said in How to recover system image from Windows 7 using the backup & restore app:
@BRRABill said in How to recover system image from Windows 7 using the backup & restore app:
If they have the VHD, couldn't you just create a VM in XS, and then attach the VHD after the fact?
Yes, we tried this yesterday and had no success. The drives were blank as @krisleslie mentioned.
How or why the VHD's are working now I do not know.
The bigger issue is that the VHD's are on the SR for the server.
But they are working now. Maybe it's worth trying again.
Wait ... how are they on the SR? Are these the VHDs from the VM? Or the VHDs that the Windows Backup program made? (And should also have accompanying XML files.)
You wouldn't be able to access the SR directly from the Windows machine unless you did a lot of tinkering with XS.
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@BRRABill said in How to recover system image from Windows 7 using the backup & restore app:
@DustinB3403 said in How to recover system image from Windows 7 using the backup & restore app:
@BRRABill said in How to recover system image from Windows 7 using the backup & restore app:
If they have the VHD, couldn't you just create a VM in XS, and then attach the VHD after the fact?
Yes, we tried this yesterday and had no success. The drives were blank as @krisleslie mentioned.
How or why the VHD's are working now I do not know.
The bigger issue is that the VHD's are on the SR for the server.
But they are working now. Maybe it's worth trying again.
Wait ... how are they on the SR? Are these the VHDs from the VM? Or the VHDs that the Windows Backup program made? (And should also have accompanying XML files.)
You wouldn't be able to access the SR directly from the Windows machine unless you did a lot of tinkering with XS.
These backups are from Windows Backup, that were sent into a VHD with the XML files.
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@DustinB3403 said
These backups are from Windows Backup, that were sent into a VHD with the XML files.
How in the world did they get on the SR?
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Are they really on the SR or are they in a VM on the SR?
If they are on the SR, yeah - like @BRRABill said, how did Windows 7 write VHDs to the SR directly?
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Maybe it was mounted as a local disk and written to then disconnected?
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@scottalanmiller said in How to recover system image from Windows 7 using the backup & restore app:
Maybe it was mounted as a local disk and written to then disconnected?
how do you mount the SR to a Windows machine? is it accessable as an NFS mount or SMB share?
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No no, I may have said something confusing.
The Windows backup VHD's are not on the SR for the XS VHD's.
So to attach a VHD to the VM he'd have to create a VM and then attach that VHD to the VM from within Windows.
He created a backup location to a NAS (for windows backup) which was also the same directory for his ISO's.
So they are on an SR for ISO's (obviously not the same thing).
Anyways, what we tried yesterday was from a VM to mount the VHD that he had from backup and it was blank (at least for what he was looking for).
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@DustinB3403 said
So to attach a VHD to the VM he'd have to create a VM and then attach that VHD to the VM from within Windows.
Why wouldn't you import the VHD through XC, then create a VM and attach the imported VHD?
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@BRRABill said in How to recover system image from Windows 7 using the backup & restore app:
@DustinB3403 said
So to attach a VHD to the VM he'd have to create a VM and then attach that VHD to the VM from within Windows.
Why wouldn't you import the VHD through XC, then create a VM and attach the imported VHD?
Tried that as well, he doesn't have enough capacity on his VM SR.
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@DustinB3403 said
Tried that as well, he doesn't have enough capacity on his VM SR.
Can you shrink the VHD externally and then maybe it will fit.
Sheesh, what a process!
But, if there isn't enough room, how is the VM going to run at all?
