PROBLEM:
- You have completed a full system backup in Windows Vista are need to restore individual files
- You are running Vista Ultimate, Enterprise or Business
SOLUTION THAT WORKED FOR ME:
Before trying WinImage, if you need to restore a file that has corrupted or that you have accidentally deleted important information from, try to restore a shadow copy first. Right click on the file, go to the Previous Versions tab and see if there is a version that can be restored. If there are no shadow copies or recent enough copies, you will need to restore from a backup. If you use Vista Home versions, you can't create shadow copies using Vista itself. Try Shadow Explorer to get around that limitation: http://www.shadowexplorer.com
Further information about this solution:
The Windows Vista backup utility ("Backup Status and Configuration" and "Backup and Restore Center") enables you to backup user files or your entire PC. This utility presents a problem in that if you choose to backup just your files, individual files can easily be restored with the same utility later on but you can't restore the entire system. However if you choose to backup the entire PC, you can restore the system but not individual files with the utility.
Microsoft suggest making a complete PC backup every so often and backup files in between that so individual files can be restored. That's a silly idea that ends up complicating backup, which is at odds with their philosophy of simplification in Vista. Most users simply end up backing up their entire PC, unaware of the problem facing them should they try to restore an individual file later on - either to the same computer or to a different machine without the Vista backup utility. That's why the need for WinImage.
OTHER POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS:
There are three other well known programs that read VHD files:
- Microsoft Virtual PC: http://download.microsoft.com alternately, you can try the VHDMount utility also from Microsoft but this is a command line utility and therefore a bit harder to use
- Gizmo: http://arainia.com/software/gizmo/ with some nice instructions here http://www.kodyaz.com/tools/how-to-mount-vhd-file-virtual-disk-without-virtual-pc-vpc.aspx
Some really good guides to using the Vista Backup and Restore utility are located here:
- Windows Forums: http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/100253-restore-backup-files.html - Just look at the related links section for more guides.
- Biztech Magazine: http://www.biztechmagazine.com/article.asp?item_id=237
In Windows 7, you don't need to go through this garbage. Just attach the VHD as an additional drive in the Disk/Computer Management utility. Easy instructions here: http://www.vistaclues.com/open-a-vhd-file-in-windows-7/
