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    I had a Hard Drive crash. The Back Up was on a Drive on a Desk Top Computer. Did a Restore from that Drive and received "Restore can not continue becaused the [ don't remember this piece of the error message] is not longer active."

    Copied all of the Files in that folder (85 Gigs) to an External Drive connected to the new computer. Found the help message that indicated that the External Drive be a NTFS format. Did the Convert f:/fs:ntfs and it completed. I can see all of the files with Windows Explorer.

    Did the Restore again, selected the folder indicated, still receive "Restore can not continue because the external drive is not longer available". I can still see the folder with the files with Windows Explorer.

    Your request is requested.

    Thank you
    Monday, August 17, 2009 7:00 PM

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    I think you may need to manually restore the data, which is going to be painful.
    use Winzip or another 3rd party utility to extract the files from within the .zip files for your backup. Any large files, split with OneCare backup will need to be renamed to have extensions of .001, .002 etc. and then rejoined with this free utility:

    http://www.freebyte.com/hjsplit/

    You may be able to proceed with using OneCare restore by configuring backup on the PC that you wish to restore to, pointing it to the location you are trying to restore from. Run the backup first, and then try the custom restore for restore from another computer.

    Was the backup a Share on the network and defined as Centralized backup? I think part of the issue is that the backup was on a Share and you've moved it to a different location - external drive - which is confusing OneCare. Try the above steps with configuring backup and then trying the restore with the data in the original location on the network Share, if possible.

    You can also contact support for help:
     

    How to reach support (FAQ) - http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/onecareinstallandactivate/thread/30400b52-7f26-4ba0-bc18-17e305329d90

    -steve

    Microsoft MVP Windows Live / Windows Live OneCare, Live Mesh, & MS Security Essentials Forums Moderator
    Monday, August 17, 2009 7:13 PM
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    I think you may need to manually restore the data, which is going to be painful.
    use Winzip or another 3rd party utility to extract the files from within the .zip files for your backup. Any large files, split with OneCare backup will need to be renamed to have extensions of .001, .002 etc. and then rejoined with this free utility:

    http://www.freebyte.com/hjsplit/

    You may be able to proceed with using OneCare restore by configuring backup on the PC that you wish to restore to, pointing it to the location you are trying to restore from. Run the backup first, and then try the custom restore for restore from another computer.

    Was the backup a Share on the network and defined as Centralized backup? I think part of the issue is that the backup was on a Share and you've moved it to a different location - external drive - which is confusing OneCare. Try the above steps with configuring backup and then trying the restore with the data in the original location on the network Share, if possible.

    You can also contact support for help:
     

    How to reach support (FAQ) - http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/onecareinstallandactivate/thread/30400b52-7f26-4ba0-bc18-17e305329d90

    -steve

    Microsoft MVP Windows Live / Windows Live OneCare, Live Mesh, & MS Security Essentials Forums Moderator
    Monday, August 17, 2009 7:13 PM
    Moderator
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    Steve.

    I have tried to restore from where the Back Up was initially created. I still get the error message that indicates that the drive isn't there.

    When I start the Restore, it shows me all of the files that I am trying to restore. PST files for example. They are listed. It's just that when the process begins then it says "Restore can not continue because the external drive is not longer available".

    Is there some setting that isn't correct? I did go from XP to Vista (Old Laptop to a Vista Laptop). A Security setting?

    There are almost 750 ZIP files. I have unzipped a couple of them, and before I start moving the files around I wanted to make sure what I need to do.

    Keeping with the most important information that I am missing, when I unzip one of the ZIP files and see a PST file, I should Copy/Paste them from the External Drive, to the Folder / Directory on the Laptop where the PST files are stored?

    What happens if the Filename in an early ZIP file appears again in a later / more recent ZIP file?


    I am just thinking that there is something really simple that I have missed not to allow OneCare Restore to work.

    Thank you.
    Tuesday, August 18, 2009 12:25 PM
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    The restore *should* work from the original location. However, there have been cases where the restore does not work because the PC that hosted the backup was the Hub in a OneCare Circle and the backup was to a Centralized Backup location. Since the hub no longer exists in its original state, the backup/restore process is apparently failing. You haven't said if this is your situation, though I suspect that it might be.
    If, however, the backup is in the original Share and it is still the Centralized Backup location defined from the Hub computer, then creating a *new* backup from the restored PC, after configuring it to be part of the Centralized Backup plan, should then allow you to perform a restore from OneCare on that PC and retrieve the old backup by using the custom restore from another PC option.

    I still suggest that you reach out to support for help as the manual process is not easy.

    If you choose to go the manual route - open and unzip the contents. When you encounter two files with the same name in different zip files that are sequentially named and/or time stamped, these are segments - that is, the parts of a larger file. You will want to place these parts in a temporary location and change their name to include the .001, .002, .003 extension at the end - as many numbered parts as there are file segments. When you have extracted all of the parts to a file, use the rejoin utility I linked to above to combine them into a single file with the original name. You can then move the file to its final location. In the case of a .pst file, once you have rejoined the bits, you probably want to run the scanpst.exe utility (found within the \Programs\Office folders) to scan and repair the file. Once the pst file is assembled and repaired, you'll probably want to import the data from that .pst into the one created when you initially opened Outlook on the newly configured PC.

    Remember, OneCare support is an option to try to help you do this restore via OneCare rather than manually.
    -steve

    Microsoft MVP Windows Live / Windows Live OneCare, Live Mesh, & MS Security Essentials Forums Moderator
    Tuesday, August 18, 2009 1:00 PM
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    One other thing - the collection of zip files will contain various versions of some data files. The backup files should be numbered and date stamped. If you only ever did one full/complete backup, all of the zip files would contain unique data which matches the state of the files when the backup was run. If you performed additional backups after that first one, any new or changed files are added to *new* zip files in the collection. Deleted files are not removed from old zip files. That means that you may have multiple copies of the same file contained within the zip files if the were changed between runs of backup. You probably only want to restore the newer version. Working back to the oldest zip files, you probably don't want to extract every file, as files that were changed or deleted exist in these older zip files. Files created after the earlier backups will only exist in the later zip files. In the case of large split files that were backed up multiple times, you'll really only want the latest group of files to be rejoined. You would not want to try to rejoin a part of the .pst file from January with another part backed up in July, for example.
    I hope this makes sense.
    -steve
    Microsoft MVP Windows Live / Windows Live OneCare, Live Mesh, & MS Security Essentials Forums Moderator
    Tuesday, August 18, 2009 1:06 PM
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    Steve,

    I think that when I started with OneCare, the Centralized Hub feature wasn't a feature back then.

    Configuration:

    Laptop ==> Desktop ==> Folder on C: drive of the Desktop.

    It has been automatically backing up for quite a while. I can see them and when the back ups were done.

    In thinking about this, is it possible that the issue is that I haven't Mapped the folder on the C Drive of the Desktop to the Laptop?

    You mentioned "OneCare support is an option to try to help you do this restore via OneCare " How do I do that?

    Thank you,

    Russ
    Tuesday, August 18, 2009 1:14 PM
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    Does the desktop PC backup to the same place? Is the desktop even running OneCare/ if so, open OneCare on the desktop and chechout the backup plan settings. If Centralized backup is enabled, that would mean that you need to configure the same plan on the laptop to do that small backup and then the full restore.
    If you can see the folder when you try the restore, then "mapping" isn't an issue. However, you might want to change the permissions for that backup folder to allow all users to have full access to the Share. If you shared the drive on the desktop at the top level, verify that it is is still shared that way. If you shared at a lower level, like a folder called "backups" on the desktop PC, verify the permissions for it.

    And here are the instructions for support: 

    How to reach support (FAQ) - http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/onecareinstallandactivate/thread/30400b52-7f26-4ba0-bc18-17e305329d90

    -steve

    Microsoft MVP Windows Live / Windows Live OneCare, Live Mesh, & MS Security Essentials Forums Moderator
    Tuesday, August 18, 2009 1:35 PM
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    Steve,

    No, the Desktop doesn't have OneCare. Again, when I started OneCare that feature (3 PCs) was not an option, as I recall. I started early Beta for OneCare, in hopes that I wouldn't be going through this. Since I had been making sure the back ups were being done, I had not needed to do a Restore. I DO know better and should have done a Restore. But didn't.

    I moved that folder to the External Drive. I have done a Back Up to it from the New PC. When I try to restore, that new back up is there and I do see the one I want. So, I think I have done what you suggested, that is Back Up to the External Drive from the New PC. Now, if I could only restore that folder with 750 Zipped files.

    I have verified to Permissions.

    I continue to think that the problem is something simple that I have overlooked.

    Thank you for your continued support.

    Russ
    Tuesday, August 18, 2009 2:51 PM
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    One minor change. Okay, it is a major one. Put the backup files *back* onto the desktop PC and then make that backup location a network Share. Reset the backup plan on the laptop to point to that network Share. Create the new backup from the laptop. Try the custom restore. Don't forget to set the permissions on the new Share on the desktop to be all users/full permissions.
    The original backup was performed to a network Share, so I believe that you have the best chance of running a Restore with the backup existing in the same location. There may be an internal identifier in the backup set that defines the location type as having been a network Share vs. an external drive vs. a CD/DVD, for example. The fact that you moved the files to another location may be the biggest hindrence.
    This is especially true if you originally did this backup in the days before Centralized backup. There was a bug that prevented a restore if the backup location/type changed from what it was during a backup.

    -steve
    Microsoft MVP Windows Live / Windows Live OneCare, Live Mesh, & MS Security Essentials Forums Moderator
    Tuesday, August 18, 2009 3:40 PM
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    Steve,

    OK, I can do that. Let me give that a try.

    Thank you,

    Russ
    Tuesday, August 18, 2009 3:42 PM
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    Any update on this, Russ?
    -steve

    Microsoft MVP Windows Live / Windows Live OneCare, Live Mesh, & MS Security Essentials Forums Moderator
    Wednesday, August 19, 2009 12:18 PM
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    Steve,

    While I was backing up, I received a call from OneCare, so couldn't work with them. A couple hours later the Back Up stopped. No idea why. There error message was something to the effect that communications to the back up PC had been dropped. It hadn't. But, knew that OneCare would be calling this morning, I didn't want to re-start the back up. Got the call, but it was not from a Technical Person.

    I will be calling shortly.

    Very frustrating and time consuming. Just don't understand what OneCare will not restore, especially, when it can see the files at the beginning of the restore process.

    Thank you,

    Russ
    Wednesday, August 19, 2009 12:45 PM
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    Yes, that is pretty frustrating. It sounds like some progress is being made, though, since you actually were able to start the restore process. Is the laptop hard wired to the network or is it connected to the router wirelessly? If it is not hard wired, I'd do that for the restore.
    -steve
    Microsoft MVP Windows Live / Windows Live OneCare, Live Mesh, & MS Security Essentials Forums Moderator
    Wednesday, August 19, 2009 1:07 PM
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    Steve,

    I have always been able to Start the Restore and see the files, BUT once it goes through the initial scan, (0% - 100%) I get the Error Message above.

    I just started a NEW Back Up to the same location.

    Russ
    Wednesday, August 19, 2009 1:10 PM
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    Ah, didn't realize that the error occurred at the same point again. :-(
    -steve
    Microsoft MVP Windows Live / Windows Live OneCare, Live Mesh, & MS Security Essentials Forums Moderator
    Wednesday, August 19, 2009 3:19 PM
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    Steve,

    I went through the Back Up process. I, again, received a message "Oncare could not back up file because the network is unavailable. Check your connection and then try backing up again.


    Reviewed the report - it said there are 164,298 files. Don't know why there are so many, as this is a new computer.

    I did a Restore, selected this most recent back up and selected the *.pst files. I received a message that the files in the back up and the files on my PC were the same. So, it appears that I can back up and restore.

    Now, back to the previous back up. The one I need.


    Selected previous Back Up, from the same location.

    "No Back Ups available" is the error message, with a blank box where the filenames should be. But, as before, in the Files folder, there are 749 Zip files.

    Tried to Restore from the folder on the External Drive.

    Went through the Restore process. Selected PST files. 1.9GB is listed and selected ALL

    Restore to User Account was selected. 38 files, 1.9 GB

    Restoring, then Error Message:

    Restore cannot continue because the external hard drive is no longer available.

    Tried to Restore to Public, same error message.

    One observation. There appears to be two User Accounts in the list of files that can be seen before the restore process actually begins. It appears that I may have set up the account for the old PC differently then the New PC. (don't know it that makes any difference or not).

    Bottom line: no change in that I can NOT restore from the OneCare Back Up but OneCare is able to see the files to be restored.

    Your assistance is requested.

    Thank you,
    Thursday, August 20, 2009 11:52 AM
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    I don't believe that the user accounts should be a concern as long your new PC has an account with admin rights that you are using the try the restore.
    In the location where the backup exists, have you tinkered with the file permissions? Normally, the entire backup folder is protected and will appear empty when browsing with Windows Explorer. Starting at the deepest level, perhaps try taking ownership of all files and fodlers, working your way up the tree to the top level of the backup folder. And make sure that the folder is shared with permissions set to all users having full permissions to read and write.
    If that still fails, then I believe that your best bet is going back to support (did they ever get back to you?) or dealing with the pain of manually extracting and rejoining the files.
    -steve
    Microsoft MVP Windows Live / Windows Live OneCare, Live Mesh, & MS Security Essentials Forums Moderator
    Thursday, August 20, 2009 12:41 PM
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    Steve,

    I have given full permission to folder that has the name of the back up

    2008-A

    Are you saying that I need to verify full permissions from the files / folders within that folder, opening up each ZIP file, going to the bottom of the file listing and chaning the permissions?

    When the permissions were set, it was set to that folder (2008-A) and subfolders. Doesn't that resolve this?

    Thank you,
    Thursday, August 20, 2009 12:45 PM
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    Steve,

    As I hav e said a couple of times, I CAN see the files using Windows Explorer.

    Russ
    Thursday, August 20, 2009 12:46 PM
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    I realize that you can see the files in Windows Explorer and also that you can open the zip files, which means that you did change the permissions at some point. Yes, I meant confirming that the permissions for all files in the entire backup folder are set correctly. In theory, changing the permissions of the top level backup folder and selecting to apply the change to all subfolders and their contents should take care of it, but by starting at the file level and repeating at the folder level and working your way up to the top level folder where all backups reside hopefully insures that they are set correctly.
    One other thought - in your Explorer options are you set to display hidden files and also system files? If not, set them temporarily and confirm the permissions for any files that are hidden/system files, too.
    I'm grasping at straws again, trying to understand why OneCare can see the backup and list the files from the catalog, but then fail to actually follow through with the restore with the error message you get about the location not being available. It leads me to think that the catalog that lists the backup contents is pointing to a different location that the actual location of the zip files. I am not familiar with the way the catalog or index is maintained, but that's what the problem seems to be if not a permissions problem with the actual files and folders containing the backed up data.
    We know that the data is there and that you even have another copy of the data, so the worst case scenario of manually restoring the data still exists, but perhaps working with Support you can get it to work from within OneCare.
    -steve
    Microsoft MVP Windows Live / Windows Live OneCare, Live Mesh, & MS Security Essentials Forums Moderator
    Thursday, August 20, 2009 2:19 PM
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    Steve.

    Thank you. So, is your suggestion that I call and refer to 110-976-0027 incident number?

    Thank you,

    Russ

    Thursday, August 20, 2009 2:23 PM
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    Yes, that would be the best course of action at this point. If you run into a wall with support, let me know and I can try to get it escalated. -steve
    Microsoft MVP Windows Live / Windows Live OneCare, Live Mesh, & MS Security Essentials Forums Moderator
    Thursday, August 20, 2009 6:09 PM
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    Steve,

    After a long call, I was able to restore the files. I am in the clean up process now.

    The outcome was to physically attach the External Drive on the Desktop to the Laptop.

    Thank you for your help.

    Russ
    Thursday, August 20, 2009 8:03 PM
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    I'm very happy to read that support was able to assist you in restoring the files. I'm not sure why it worked when connecting the drive directly to the laptop when you were not successful in trying that earlier, but I suspect that the support tech may have made some changes to get that to work. Once again, I'm glad it is resolved and thanks for confirming. You're welcome, too.
    -steve
    Microsoft MVP Windows Live / Windows Live OneCare, Live Mesh, & MS Security Essentials Forums Moderator
    Friday, August 21, 2009 12:16 PM
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