On Windows PCs we use a backup format called VHD (Virtual Hard Disk). A single file contains all of your hard drive contents (much like a zip file). As the name suggests, they can be used like a hard drive: Mounting a Backup VHD- Open the Start Menu
- Click on Computer
- Double-click to open C:
- Double-click to open Backup
- Inside you will see your backup, with the name of the computer. Usually there is only one, but if you had multiple hard drives or partitions, there might be more.
- Right-click on the backup to bring up the context menu:
- Click on Attach (read-only) If you do not see this menu entry, then you need to install the required software as described here.
- The first time you do this, you might have to wait as Windows installs necessary drivers. If so, wait until you see this notification, and then try again.
- Go back to Computer
- You should now seed an extra drive, like this:
- Please note the the drive will have the same name as it did before, so you are likely to have two drives named "OSDisk". Drive C: is your actual OSDisk, the other is your backup.
- Double-click to open the drive, as normal.
- You can copy and paste files out of the backup and onto your hard drive, or into one of your network drives. Please note that this backup is read-only to prevent extra data being added to it by accident (as a result you will only be able to copy, and not move data out).
Common Locations for DataIf you are missing data, please ask us to help you find it. If you want to look yourself, data is often in one of the following locations: - Under your user profile. This will be named after your university ID or firstname.lastname in either:
- c:\users\
- c:\documents and settings
- The application folder. This will usually be:
- C:\Program Files
- C:\Program files (x86)
Detaching a Backup VHD- Once you have finished copying data out, you should detach it
- Browse to the C:\backup folder with the backup in
- Right-click to open the context menu
- Choose Detach
|