How to recover system image from Windows 7 using the backup & restore app
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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?
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@BRRABill said in How to recover system image from Windows 7 using the backup & restore app:
@DustinB3403 said
But, if there isn't enough room, how is the VM going to run at all?
Exactly...
Which is why if he has the data now (for whatever reason) he should just copy the data, and build a new VM, install the application, and import the data.
No point in dragging it out trying to get it to work. He's been down for days now from what I understand.
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Success I got it working
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Congrats. And thanks to @DustinB3403 for jumping in to help.
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its syncing back with my sensors! With that said I CAN"T THANK YOU ENOUGH FOR YOU HELP! But I can thank you with beer @ Spiceworld if I can make it this year!!!!
I'm letting the database rebuild now about 1-2 months of data and I'm back in business.
I have no friggin clue why we couldn't see the data yesterday. Just for shits and giggles, I created another VM, used the windows 7 iso and booted, and did the repair option and I pointed to the back up, it still won't let me load it. I have no clue why.
But none the less, I am able to attach the VHD from the windows backup, and see my actual system image and pull my individual files from my database.
My app is a security system
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I thank Dustin big time he has helped me out tremendously!
