How to restore a full Windows Backup on new drive with all setting

[Guest]

- My C: drive failed and PC would constantly restart after starting to load
windows. Very brief blue screen had message: A problem has been detected,
.... run CHKDSK /F to check for hard drive corruption, ...
- Using OEM XP Pro SP2 install CD, ran chkdsk which repaired most of it (and
cleared a bunch of files put in the deleted files folder??). Windows starts,
but lots of programs do not start or malfunction, including windows explorer
which does not allow to paste copied files and Windows Backup not starting
anything.
- Thankfully (somewhat), I had made a full Windows Backup before failure on
an external 300GB Firewire HDD.
- Since backup (for restoring) could not be run from original C: (neither
apparently available on XP Pro install CD), I installed new HDD and installed
OEM XP (had to specify one "user"), drivers, and all windows updates from
internet. I also installed the "bad" C: drive as 2nd drive to be able to
access it or boot from it if needed.
- after doing backup restore from the external drive, including all options:
keep all security settings, etc. and overwriting all files,
- desktops and settings for 4 previous users (different than
generic "user" used at new install) are not there
- programs do not appear on "user" desktop but on
Start/Programs, do not start and give error message "need to be reinstalled"
- and main problem - private folders are copied but NOT
accessible.

I there a problem with the backup? What is the best (is there a?) procedure
to restore the backup and keep all settings? Thank you!

 

[Patrick Keenan]

- My C: drive failed and PC would constantly restart after starting to load
windows. Very brief blue screen had message: A problem has been detected,
... run CHKDSK /F to check for hard drive corruption, ...
- Using OEM XP Pro SP2 install CD, ran chkdsk which repaired most of it
(and
cleared a bunch of files put in the deleted files folder??). Windows
starts,
but lots of programs do not start or malfunction, including windows
explorer
which does not allow to paste copied files and Windows Backup not starting
anything.
- Thankfully (somewhat), I had made a full Windows Backup before failure
on
an external 300GB Firewire HDD.
- Since backup (for restoring) could not be run from original C: (neither
apparently available on XP Pro install CD), I installed new HDD and
installed
OEM XP (had to specify one "user"), drivers, and all windows updates from
internet. I also installed the "bad" C: drive as 2nd drive to be able to
access it or boot from it if needed.
- after doing backup restore from the external drive, including all
options:
keep all security settings, etc. and overwriting all files,
- desktops and settings for 4 previous users (different than
generic "user" used at new install) are not there
- programs do not appear on "user" desktop but on
Start/Programs, do not start and give error message "need to be
reinstalled"
- and main problem - private folders are copied but NOT
accessible.

I there a problem with the backup? What is the best (is there a?)
procedure
to restore the backup and keep all settings? Thank you!

It sounds like you are using XP's ntbackup, backed up all files (or so it
seemed) but did not use ASR - you were not prompted for a floppy disk.

This would suggest that various registry files were not backed up (hence the
system doesn't know about the software installs), or that what you backed up
were damaged versions.

As to the private folders - if they were restored, you just need to Take
Ownership of them to gain access.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421

Encrypted folders can be another story entirely, a story that seldom has a
happy ending.

Some people have good results with ntbackup. Many others don't, and so
other imaging software can be advisable.

If you restored to another drive and the original drive is untouched, you're
probably in better shape.

HTH
-pk

 

[Guest]

Thanks for your fast reply. Yes it was ntbackup, but no floppy. The old
drive is untouched, except for what was corrupted and what chdsk deleted. Is
there a way to try to salvage the relevant registry files (maybe running
windows from the new drive)? Regarding the "Take Ownership" for the private
folder (not encrypted) that was My Documents I tried but the options are not
accessible from the menus and/or choices.

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Thanks for your fast reply. Yes it was ntbackup, but no floppy. The old
drive is untouched, except for what was corrupted and what chdsk deleted.
Is
there a way to try to salvage the relevant registry files (maybe running
windows from the new drive)? Regarding the "Take Ownership" for the
private
folder (not encrypted) that was My Documents I tried but the options are
not
accessible from the menus and/or choices.

Is this XP Home or Pro? It matters, because in Home the security settings
can only be reached in Safe Mode.

Yes, it should be possible to cobble together registries from the old drive,
adapting the procedure at the link below - to be frank I've never actually
recovered in this way, though I have used the procedure in other ways.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545

You would have to do this either from the Recovery Console, set to allow
access to all folders and drives, or using a Linux boot disk, or by hosting
the drives in another system.

However, if you backed up and restored a damaged Windows install, you should
at very least do a repair install.


HTH
-pk

 

[Guest]

This is XP Pro. Under new Windows install on new C: drive, Security Tab does
not appear on folder Options (on the restored private folder that is now not
accessible and actually shows "folder is empty" when pointer is over it),
folder cannot be dragged to shared folders; "make this folder private"
checkbox is unchecked, grayed and not accessible. Old OS on bad drive is now
drive D: and new OS install plus backup restored is on new C: drive; both are
bootable. The original folder is still accessible when running Windows on D:
but cannot be copied onto same folder (that can't either be deleted) on new
C: drive.

For the registry and restoring of settings question, should I try to
generate an ASR disk of the old OS to restore onto the new install (if not
available running on D:, can it be done from C:?)? Should I just erase all C:
and do clean resinstall or first try repair install on both drives?

Thanks!

 

[Patrick Keenan]

This is XP Pro. Under new Windows install on new C: drive, Security Tab
does
not appear on folder Options (on the restored private folder that is now
not
accessible and actually shows "folder is empty" when pointer is over it),
folder cannot be dragged to shared folders; "make this folder private"
checkbox is unchecked, grayed and not accessible. Old OS on bad drive is
now
drive D: and new OS install plus backup restored is on new C: drive; both
are
bootable. The original folder is still accessible when running Windows on
D:
but cannot be copied onto same folder (that can't either be deleted) on
new
C: drive.

For the registry and restoring of settings question, should I try to
generate an ASR disk of the old OS to restore onto the new install (if not
available running on D:, can it be done from C:?)? Should I just erase all
C:
and do clean resinstall or first try repair install on both drives?

Thanks!

Personally I wouldn't use ntbackup at all, but instead the (free) Acronis
TrueImage trial to re-clone the disk. I would install this on another
system and then use it to host both drives, giving you proper control over
the transfer (do it in manual mode) without issues of file access due to
windows being running.

However if the original install is damaged, I would hesitate to clone it.

HTH
-pk

 

[Ricky]

In XP Pro you have to disable simple file sharing to see the security tab.

 

[Guest]

Thank you! I didn't have much trouble finding this in Control Panel/Folder
Options and was able subsequently to take ownership of the renegade folder.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for your help. Ricky (below) gave me the key to be able to take
ownership of my files again.
For the rest of the story, the new install on new drive did not seem to need
repair install when booting from or putting in the XP install CD. However,
when running windows from the old drive, putting the CD in gave the choice of
installing/upgrading Win XP; after upgrade install, the system did exactly
what it initially did: restart boot constantly from Windows loading with the
very brief blue screen - which I assume was again asking to run chkdsk.
Conclusion: RIP for this drive - and certainly not a good choice to try to
copy its registry to paste onto the new system. Now I am on to reinstalling
all programs and settings and will from now on use a real backup program.

One last question (I hope): I have to recreate the user accounts, using the
same names for my kids, etc., which creates new Documents and Settings
folders. Is there a way to substitute or use the old users accounts
Documents and Settings folders that were copied back during restore?

Thank you!
Luc