Restore Computer from
Data File Backup
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| 1 - Open
Backup and Restore using your preferred method. |
| 2 - With
Backup and Restore open, look at the [ Location: ]
section. This identifies the drive that is currently
set as the backup location for data file backups and
is where the restore function is going to look for
the data file backup that will be used in the
restore process. Next, look at the [ Last Backup: ]
section. This lists the most current data file
backup that will be used for the restore unless you
manually select a different backup. |
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Figure 01
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| 3 - Looking
at the [ Restore ] section in the screen capture
above, there are three different selections that can
be made to move forward with the restore. Armed with
the two pieces of information from #2 above, here's
what will happen depending on the selection you
make. |
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4 -
Scenario A - Restore My Files
- Selecting the [ Restore My Files ]
button will, just as the text in the screen
capture says, restore your files that are
backed up on the current location - with
'your' being the operative word. That means
'you' -- the user that is logged in to the
computer while this restore is being run.
Once [ Restore My Files ] is clicked the
Restore Files window opens. The window will
always be blank at this point until you add
either folders or files. In this tutorial I
clicked [ Browse for Folders ] button.
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Figure 02 |
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| As
seen below in the left pane, 'Jim's Backup' is
listed as being available and the right pane shows
the folders associated with this user that can be
added to the restore. You can drill down in the
right pane as far as desired to select folders, but
because [ Browse for Folders ] was initially
selected, no individual files will be shown; only
folders. |
Figure 03 |
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| The
window is populated as each new folder is added.
This is an absolutely miserable user interface that
requires constant clicking, drilling down through
the directory structure, and retracing the same
steps over, and over, and over yet again. It's even
worse when you're dealing with individual files.
When file additions are complete, click [ Next ]
button. |
Figure 04 |
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| By
default the folders and files are restored to their
original locations. If you want to select an
alternate location, select the radio button next to
[ In the Following Location: ] and browse to an
alternate location. Click [ Restore ] to proceed. |
Figure 05 |
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Nothing to do but wait while the files are
restored. |
Figure 06 |
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Restore Complete. Click the [ Finish ] button. |
Figure 07 |
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| 5 -
Scenario B - Restore All Users' Files -
Selecting the [ Restore All Users' Files ] text
link allows the restoration of all users files, not
just 'your' user files as was the case in Scenario A
above. Notice the text link has a User Account
Control (UAC) prompt before the link which will
allow access to all the user accounts. Once [
Restore All Users' Files ] is clicked the Restore
Files (Advanced)window opens. The window will always
be blank at this point until you add either folders
or files. In this tutorial I clicked [ Browse for
Folders ] button. |
Figure 08 |
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| Once
[ Restore All Users' Files ] is clicked the Restore
Files (Advanced) window opens. The difference
between this window (Restore Files (Advanced)) and
the (Restore Files) window shown in Figure 02 in
Scenario A is this one has the elevated privileges
via the UAC prompt. The window will always be blank
at this point until you add either folders or files.
In this tutorial I clicked [ Browse for Folders ]
button. |
Figure 09 |
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| As
seen below in the left pane, both 'Jim's Backup' and
'The Elder Geek's Backup' are listed as being
available even though I'm logged into the system
using the 'Jim' account. Compare this to Figure 03
in Scenario A above where only the account used to
log in was available. The right pane shows the
folders associated with the users that can be added
to the restore. You can drill down in the right pane
as far as desired to select folders, but because [
Browse for Folders ] was initially selected, no
individual files will be shown; only folders. |
Figure 10 |
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| The
window is populated as each new folder is added. As
you can see in Figure 11 there are now folders
listed for restoration from two different users.
Yes, the user interface is every bit as miserable
this time around as it was in Scenario A above,
requiring constant clicking, drilling down through
the directory structure, and retracing the same
steps over, and over, and over yet again. It's even
worse when you're dealing with individual files.
When file additions are complete, click [ Next ]
button. |
Figure 11 |
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| From
this point on the steps are exactly the same as they
appear in Scenario A. Make any changes to where the
folders and files will be restored and click
through the remaining steps to complete the restore
operation. |
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| 6 -
Scenario C - Select Another Backup to Restore Files
From - Like the other scenarios this one
begins by opening Backup and Restore using your
preferred method and focusing on the Restore
section. This option takes a slightly different
approach, but it's arguably the best option
available. There is more flexibility available in
the user interface, it's easy to add an external
device where a backup is located without jumping
through hoops, a network location is easily added,
and, if desired, all files from the backup can be
added with a single click instead of browsing for
files and folders. |
Figure 12 |
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| Once [
Select Another Backup to Restore Files From ] link
is clicked the Restore Files (Advanced) window which
has elevated user privileges opens. Unlike Scenarios
A and B where this window was always blank, in this
case a selection of backup periods and locations
connected to the computer is immediately displayed.
In this example there are three different backup
location devices available. Another could be
connected followed by clicking the [ Refresh ]
button to make it visible as long as it contains a
backup data file. This scenario allows browsing for
a backup data file on the network by clicking the [
Browse Network Location... ] button. Once the
selection is complete click the [ Next ] button to
proceed. |
Figure 13 |
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| Once
again the blank [ Restore Files (Advanced) ] screen
is back. Depending on the goal of the backup the [
Browse for Files ] and [ Browse for Folders ]
buttons are still available, but this time there is
also the [ Select All Files from This Backup ]
checkbox that negates the other two buttons.
Granted, there are times when you only want a few
files or a couple of different folders, but when you
do want to select the entire data file backup this
can be a real timesaver. |
Figure 14 |
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| If
the [ Select All Files from This Backup ] checkbox
is selected the rest of the window disappears. Click
[Next] to proceed. |
Figure 15 |
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| From this point on
it's the same as the other scenarios with the option
to select an alternate location for the restored,
files, the actual restore process itself, and
finally the screen below stating the files have been
restored. |
Figure 16 |
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