XP Backup Utility Malfunction?

[Aiken]

Heard a "clicking" noise on my hard drive and decided to use the backup tool
provided with XP. Decided to do a full drive backup to another drive. Did
the backup and appeared to be successful (11+ gig file). Five days later the
drive I did the backup from died (would no longer spinup.) Today I attempted
to use the backup copy that I had made. It would not open, would not display
any directories or files.

Any ideas on what is wroong and/or what I might try?

 

[peter]

How did you try to use it?? from within XP's backup program??
peter

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Heard a "clicking" noise on my hard drive and decided to use the backup
tool
provided with XP. Decided to do a full drive backup to another drive.
Did
the backup and appeared to be successful (11+ gig file). Five days later
the
drive I did the backup from died (would no longer spinup.) Today I
attempted
to use the backup copy that I had made. It would not open, would not
display
any directories or files.

Any ideas on what is wroong and/or what I might try?

You need to provide more details. If your disk died,
you must have replaced it with a different disk. Did you
load Windows onto this disk? How? Which version?
What program did you use to access the backup file?
What extension does it have?

A couple of overall remarks. Waiting with a backup
until the disk begins to click is far too late. If you have
important files on your disk then you must back them
up regularly, e.g. once every week. And a back-up file
is close to useless unless it is tested: Immediately after
the backup scheme is put in operation and then again
twice each year.

 

[Aiken]

Yes, I was trying to use the XP utility.

How did you try to use it?? from within XP's backup program??
peter

 

[Aiken]

I bought a whole new machine - a Dell Vostro that came loaded with XP Pro the
same OS as I had on the old machine. When the new machine arrived I tried
the backup (the backup had been put originally put to an extra drive I had in
the old machine. That drive was then put in an external shell. I tried the
XP utility against the backup file on that (the 2nd drive).

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

You did not mention the extension of the backup file. Is it a .bkf
file? If so then you must instruct ntbackup to catalog it.