SWOTAR

I have the EXACT same problem...
I have a DELL XPS 420 with a Maxtor 250GB ext hard drive... I did a
'Complete PC Backup' to B: drive (The ext Maxtor)
Next, I rebooted and used the system repair from the boot menu... this
formated my hard drive and set everything back to the DELL factory
defaults... re-installing Windows Vista Ultimate, Office 2K7, and all the
other DELL junk...
Now, I'd like to restore the computer to before the DELL repair... the files
are all still on the B: drive, I can see them there...
However, when I go to 'Restore files' -> 'Advanced restore' -> 'Warning -
Continue' -> only the 'Files from a backup made on a different computer.' is
enabled and already has a tick in the radio button -> 'Next' -> 'Looking for
backup devices...' -> I select B: drive -> and it tells me "Windows cannot
find an backup sets on the selected device"

"bernhtp" wrote:

>
> I have been successfully doing Vista "File Backup" to a remote PC - a
> UNC reference to a large USB drive on another computer.
>
> My Dell Inspiron E1505 HDD crashed and I went to do a restore following
> warranty replacement. I selected "Advanced Restore," entered the UNC of
> the backup sets ('\\pamd2\e$\bernhtpl3' (file://pamd2/e$/bernhtpl3)) and
> pressed Next. It responded with "Windows was not able to find any backup
> sets on '\\pamd2\e$\bernhtpl3' (file://pamd2/e$/bernhtpl3). However, I
> can point Explorer to the same UNC and see the backup sets (and
> everything else) without any problem. I've tried everything from
> entering lower-level UNCs to the individual Backup Sets and even to the
> Backup Files, and then also to the root, but nothing works.
>
> I've done a quick web search and nothing points to a solution. I need
> to restore much of the backup I clearly see on the remote drive, but
> nothing seems to work. I am holding off returning the failed drive until
> I can do a restore in the event I might need to try (an expensive)
> hardware restore of the data.
>
> Please help
>
> Tom
>
>
> --
> bernhtp
>