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    I have successfully backed up my files to my external hard drive but I can't find where they are being stored.  I avaliable space on my external hard drive has been decreased the amount of the backup, I just can't find where the files have been backed up to.
    Sunday, November 30, 2008 2:42 PM

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    On the external drive there will be a folder created by OneCare with hidden contents, protected by OneCare. To view your backups, use the Restore Process from within OneCare, but stop short of actually restoring any files.

    Restore files from a backup

     

    If your computer goes through a hardware failure or if some of your files are deleted from your computer and you've backed up your files, you can restore the files to your computer from a previous backup. If you're using a hub PC, you can restore backup files from any computer in your OneCare circle. You can choose which files to restore and which backup to restore the files from.

    To restore all files from a backup:

    1. Open Windows Live OneCare.
    2. In the main OneCare window, in the Backup and Restore area, click Restore files.
    3. Click Restore files from a local backup.
    4. Click Express Restore.
    5. Click Restore files.
    6. Click Finish.

    To select specific files to restore or to select a specific backup to restore from:

    1. Open OneCare.
    2. In the main OneCare window, in the Backup and Restore area, click Restore files.
    3. Click Restore files from a local backup.
    4. Click Custom Restore.
    5. To restore files from the most recent backup of your computer, click Restore files from the current backup on this computer.

    –or–

    Restore files that were backed up from another computer.

     

      1. Click Restore files from backup of another machine.
      2. Click the backup that you want to restore files from.

    –or–

    Restore files from an earlier backup.

     

      1. Click Restore files from an earlier backup or a backup from another computer.
      2. Click the location of the backup device, and then click Next.
      3. Click the backup that you want to restore files from.
    1. To restore all files that are no longer on your computer, click Restore all missing files.

    –or–

    Restore specific types of files.

     

      1. Click Restore files by file type.
      2. Next to the types of files that you want to restore, select the check boxes, and then click Next.
      3. Next to the files that you want to restore, select the check boxes, and then click Next.
      4. Decide whether you want to restore files that have the same name as files that are already stored on your computer, click the appropriate option, and then click Next.

    –or–

    Select the files that you want to restore.

     

      1. Click Search for files to restore.
      2. In the search box, type all or part of the name of the file that you want to restore, and then click Next.
      3. Next to the files that you want to restore, select the check boxes, and then click Next.
      4. Decide whether you want to restore files that have the same name as files that are already stored on your computer, click the appropriate option, and then click Next.
    1. Click Restore files.
    2. Click Finish.

    Note

    If OneCare detects that there are no appropriate files to restore, you won't receive the Restore files option.

     

    Sunday, November 30, 2008 8:19 PM
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    On the external drive there will be a folder created by OneCare with hidden contents, protected by OneCare. To view your backups, use the Restore Process from within OneCare, but stop short of actually restoring any files.

    Restore files from a backup

     

    If your computer goes through a hardware failure or if some of your files are deleted from your computer and you've backed up your files, you can restore the files to your computer from a previous backup. If you're using a hub PC, you can restore backup files from any computer in your OneCare circle. You can choose which files to restore and which backup to restore the files from.

    To restore all files from a backup:

    1. Open Windows Live OneCare.
    2. In the main OneCare window, in the Backup and Restore area, click Restore files.
    3. Click Restore files from a local backup.
    4. Click Express Restore.
    5. Click Restore files.
    6. Click Finish.

    To select specific files to restore or to select a specific backup to restore from:

    1. Open OneCare.
    2. In the main OneCare window, in the Backup and Restore area, click Restore files.
    3. Click Restore files from a local backup.
    4. Click Custom Restore.
    5. To restore files from the most recent backup of your computer, click Restore files from the current backup on this computer.

    –or–

    Restore files that were backed up from another computer.

     

      1. Click Restore files from backup of another machine.
      2. Click the backup that you want to restore files from.

    –or–

    Restore files from an earlier backup.

     

      1. Click Restore files from an earlier backup or a backup from another computer.
      2. Click the location of the backup device, and then click Next.
      3. Click the backup that you want to restore files from.
    1. To restore all files that are no longer on your computer, click Restore all missing files.

    –or–

    Restore specific types of files.

     

      1. Click Restore files by file type.
      2. Next to the types of files that you want to restore, select the check boxes, and then click Next.
      3. Next to the files that you want to restore, select the check boxes, and then click Next.
      4. Decide whether you want to restore files that have the same name as files that are already stored on your computer, click the appropriate option, and then click Next.

    –or–

    Select the files that you want to restore.

     

      1. Click Search for files to restore.
      2. In the search box, type all or part of the name of the file that you want to restore, and then click Next.
      3. Next to the files that you want to restore, select the check boxes, and then click Next.
      4. Decide whether you want to restore files that have the same name as files that are already stored on your computer, click the appropriate option, and then click Next.
    1. Click Restore files.
    2. Click Finish.

    Note

    If OneCare detects that there are no appropriate files to restore, you won't receive the Restore files option.

     

    Sunday, November 30, 2008 8:19 PM
    Moderator
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    I have the same problem, but this response doesn't exactly answer the question.  My question is, how do I view the files that I have backed up via Live backup on my external hard drive, in a way similar to the file structure from which they came?  the backup files & folders on my external backup hard drive appear to be unstrcutured, so I can't confirm that my backup has indeed occurred.  Is there any way to view your backup data in same data/folder structure as PC from which it came ?

    Monday, December 8, 2008 2:11 AM
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    You cannot view the files in an Explorer like view of the structure in which they exist on the local drive. You can use the Restore function to view the files, but that won't be a tree view like you want. You can search the list and your can sort and browse the list, but not in a tree view.

    -steve

    Monday, December 8, 2008 6:37 PM
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    Excuse me mate, you seem to be well informed. I have an external hard drive about 465GB in size but i seem to be missing 200GB after i've added up all my files. My system performs a back up every week and stores it on my external hard drive. For example another 12GB of free space has gone missing after the latest system back up. I can't locate these files anywhere on my external hard drive and it's becoming very irritating. I'd like my 200GB of free space back.  How do i locate these duplicate files and safely remove them without compromising any of my existing original files?. Advice would be greatly appreciated, cheers mate.   
    Tuesday, June 2, 2009 7:14 PM
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    Excuse me mate, you seem to be well informed. I have an external hard drive about 465GB in size but i seem to be missing 200GB after i've added up all my files. My system performs a back up every week and stores it on my external hard drive. For example another 12GB of free space has gone missing after the latest system back up. I can't locate these files anywhere on my external hard drive and it's becoming very irritating. I'd like my 200GB of free space back.  How do i locate these duplicate files and safely remove them without compromising any of my existing original files?. Advice would be greatly appreciated, cheers mate.   

    If you are using OneCare to backup to the external drive, what you are seeing is quite normal. OneCare will *add* new and changed files according to your backup plan selection to the backup each time it runs. It does not remove the older copies of changed files or those files that were deleted. There is no way for you to remove the older files without resetting the backup plan, performing a new, full backup, and deleting the entire original backup set. See this post for information on how to reset the plan, and this post for how to delete the old backups.
    Microsoft MVP Windows Live / Windows Live OneCare & Live Mesh Forum Moderator
    Wednesday, June 3, 2009 1:27 PM
    Moderator