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Windows 7 and Restoring Windows Live Onecare Backup

Question
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I am upgrading to windows 7 so I backed up my vista computer with onecare. Installed windows 7 and now I find onecare doesn't work with windows 7 so I can't restore the backup. Is there any way to restore a windows live onecare back up on windows 7? I don't need the virus etc just to restore the backup
Elisabeth- Edited by Stephen BootsMVP, Moderator Friday, May 1, 2009 4:27 PM changed subject line
- Moved by Stephen BootsMVP, Moderator Friday, May 1, 2009 4:28 PM backup restore issue (From:Windows Live OneCare General)
Friday, May 1, 2009 4:15 PM
Answers
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If your subscription has expired I don't know if One Care restore would work but you could use the One Care Backup Restore Tool - http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=165528
Jim - MVP Windows Live - Forum Moderator - Live One Care - Live Mesh - Microsoft Security Essentials- Proposed as answer by VenkyV - MSFT Wednesday, October 28, 2009 9:17 PM
- Marked as answer by Stephen BootsMVP, Moderator Thursday, October 29, 2009 1:52 PM
Saturday, October 24, 2009 4:21 AMModerator
All replies
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The "easy" way would be to restore the backup to another PC running Vista or XP and then moving your restored data over the network or via an external drive.
The painful way is to do it manually. The backups are compressed into .zip files that 3rd party tools such as Winzip can open. You can manually open the zip files and extract the data within. Larger files may have been split by backup and stored in multiple .zip files. You will need to extract the parts, rename the extensions to be .001, .002, etc. and then use this utility to rejoin the files into the original:
http://www.freebyte.com/hjsplit/
-steve
Microsoft MVP Windows Live / Windows Live OneCare & Live Mesh Forum Moderator- Marked as answer by Stephen BootsMVP, Moderator Friday, May 1, 2009 4:26 PM
- Unmarked as answer by Stephen BootsMVP, Moderator Thursday, October 29, 2009 1:51 PM
Friday, May 1, 2009 4:26 PMModerator -
Note that I've moved your post to the backup and restore forum after changing the subject line.
http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/onecarebackupandrestore/threads
-steve
Microsoft MVP Windows Live / Windows Live OneCare & Live Mesh Forum ModeratorFriday, May 1, 2009 4:29 PMModerator -
I think that since we have paid for this service, and it is a good service, never let me down, that it would be most helpful if microsoft could develop a tool just for the purpose of restoring files and bookmarks to windows 7. I would download windows 7 rc1 but this is a sticking point.
I have two desktops that are easily capable of running windows 7 64bit which is much better than the 32 bit. I will be more inclined to upgrade if microsoft can develop a tool to allow users who paid for live onecare to restore their files to the new operating system.Wednesday, May 6, 2009 4:12 AM -
there already is a tool for this and it works quite well. I just used it to back up filies and settings on a PC running the January beta before deleting the partitions and installing RC fresh and clean. It's called the Easy Transfer Wizard.
Note that it does not copy programs, but it does provide a nice report after the restore to tell you what software to reinstall. In my case it migrated all of my documents and the settings for my Windows user account, IE Favorites, Office 2007 settings and preferences, including email settings, Windows Live Essentials settings and mail, and even my newsgroup data from Forte Agent.
The following is excerpted from a longer Technet article here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd446674.aspx
After your create the Windows 7 DVD, follow these steps (also applies to Vista as the old PC or switching from 32 bit to 64 bit):
Copy files using Windows Easy Transfer
- Insert the Windows 7 DVD while running Windows XP. If the Windows 7 installation window opens automatically, close it.
- Open Windows Explorer by right-clicking the Start menu, and then clicking Explore.
- Browse to the DVD drive on your computer and click migsetup.exe in the Support\Migwiz directory.
The Windows Easy Transfer window opens. - Click Next.
- Select An external hard disk or USB flash drive.
- Click This is my old computer. Windows Easy Transfer scans the computer.
- Click Next. You can also determine which files should be migrated by selecting only the user profiles you want to transfer, or by clicking Customize.
- Enter a password to protect your Easy Transfer file, or leave the box blank, and then click Save.
- Browse to the external location on the network or to the removable media where you want to save your Easy Transfer file, and then click Save.
- Click Next. Windows Easy Transfer displays the file name and location of the Easy Transfer file you just created.
Once you've installed Windows 7:
Copy files to the destination computer
- If you saved your files and settings in an Easy Transfer file on a removable media such as a UFD rather than on a network share, insert the removable media into the computer.
- Click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, click System Tools, and then click Windows Easy Transfer.
The Windows Easy Transfer window opens. - Click Next.
- Click An external hard disk or USB flash drive.
- Click This is my new computer.
- Click Yes, open the file.
- Browse to the location where the Easy Transfer file was saved. Click the file name, and then click Open.
- Click Transfer to transfer all files and settings. You can also determine which files should be migrated by selecting only the user profiles you want to transfer, or by clicking Customize.
- Click Close after Windows Easy Transfer has completed moving your files.
-steve
Microsoft MVP Windows Live / Windows Live OneCare & Live Mesh Forum ModeratorWednesday, May 6, 2009 1:07 PMModerator - Insert the Windows 7 DVD while running Windows XP. If the Windows 7 installation window opens automatically, close it.
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Thank you for your reply. What I have is two desktops that run windows vista home premium 32 bit but all the hardware is 64bit capable in both machines, core 2 duo and an amd system somewhat comparable. I have a large usb external hard drive. I understand now that I can back up my data, (not my programs) from my Vista 32 installation on my machines, (fof course I would have to do this for each machine) install windows 7 64 bit on each machine, then restore my data and settings that would be stored on the external usb hard drive. Will this work? I am excited about the possibility of upgrading to a 64 bit system and although I am by no means a computer genius, I believe that by design the 64 bit system appears to be much more secure that is the big draw for me. I expect that I will notice a speed increase, but it will be slight light 10%.
Again, thank you for your reply. You have very helpful.
JoeThursday, May 7, 2009 4:38 PM -
Yes, Joe that is exactly how it works.
You connect the external drive to the PC, then run the Easy Transfer Wizard to backup all of the settings and data from that PC to the external drive.
I would also recommend manually backing up data files such as pictures, documents, and perhaps even email files to another location of via another method to insure that if something went wrong with the transfer wizard, your data is not gone. Using Windows Explorer and copying the most important data to an external disc or perhaps a DVD or CD is probably easiest.
Once you've completed the backups and wizard, you can boot the PC you just copied the data/settings for and boot from the Windows 7 64 bit install DVD. (Remove the external drive first) Upgrade will not be available, so you will be doing a new install. Choose the advanced disc options to delete the existing partitions (drive letters). Then proceed with the amazingly fast install (about 20 minutes). When Windows 7 is installed, install the programs you plan to use again, and then connect the external drive, follow the instructions above to run the wizard to restore the saved data from the external drive. Depending on how much data was backed up, it might take a while. In my case, it was about 15 gigs of data and it took less than 30 minutes. You can also install the programs after restoring the data. If you do it before, don't configure the programs, just install them and leave them closed. The settings for these programs will be restored by the wizard and will overwrite anything you configure before running the wizard.
I'd recommend not doing both PCs at once. Do one, use it for a while and then take the plunge for the other one. :-) Enjoy!
-steve
Microsoft MVP Windows Live / Windows Live OneCare & Live Mesh Forum ModeratorThursday, May 7, 2009 4:54 PMModerator -
Stephen,
What if I don't have another machine with Vista/XP? All machines in my office are upgraded to Windows 7 now. I did have everything backed up to an external HD. Will I have to do it the 'painful' way?
"""The painful way is to do it manually. The backups are compressed into .zip files that 3rd party tools such as Winzip can open. You can manually open the zip files and extract the data within. Larger files may have been split by backup and stored in multiple .zip files. You will need to extract the parts, rename the extensions to be .001, .002, etc. and then use this utility to rejoin the files into the original:"""
JkMyPcThursday, September 17, 2009 9:13 PM -
Unfortunately, yes. There is no other way to restore the OneCare backups as you need to run OneCare in order to "automatically" restore.
EDIT - See the later post - a tool has been released that supercedes this statement.
-steve
Microsoft MVP Windows Live / Windows Live OneCare, Live Mesh, & MS Security Essentials Forums Moderator- Edited by Stephen BootsMVP, Moderator Thursday, October 29, 2009 1:51 PM edited
Friday, September 18, 2009 12:07 PMModerator -
If you have Vista computers and allow your OneCare subscription to lapse but don't uninstall OneCare, can you still restore from the last backup?
jwcrim- Proposed as answer by jwcrim Wednesday, October 28, 2009 10:53 PM
- Unproposed as answer by Stephen BootsMVP, Moderator Thursday, October 29, 2009 1:51 PM
Saturday, October 24, 2009 3:09 AM -
If your subscription has expired I don't know if One Care restore would work but you could use the One Care Backup Restore Tool - http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=165528
Jim - MVP Windows Live - Forum Moderator - Live One Care - Live Mesh - Microsoft Security Essentials- Proposed as answer by VenkyV - MSFT Wednesday, October 28, 2009 9:17 PM
- Marked as answer by Stephen BootsMVP, Moderator Thursday, October 29, 2009 1:52 PM
Saturday, October 24, 2009 4:21 AMModerator -
If your subscription has expired I don't know if One Care restore would work but you could use the One Care Backup Restore Tool - http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=165528
Jim - MVP Windows Live - Forum Moderator - Live One Care - Live Mesh - Microsoft Security Essentials
I installed the OneCare Restore tool behind this link and it installs on my Win7 x64 machine, was able to read the backup and select the files for restore. I will post if it fails, but right now, it is looking very promising.Wednesday, October 28, 2009 9:19 PM -
A few hours later, I have many of the files I need restored. There is NO need to use the "hard" way. Just use the "Windows Live OneCare Restore Tool" that JimR1 points to in the post above. I am so happy that I don't need to deal with manual unzipping and stitching together of files!!Thursday, October 29, 2009 6:44 AM
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A few hours later, I have many of the files I need restored. There is NO need to use the "hard" way. Just use the "Windows Live OneCare Restore Tool" that JimR1 points to in the post above. I am so happy that I don't need to deal with manual unzipping and stitching together of files!!
Thanks for commenting on this older thread, VenkyV. The tool was only recently released. I've changed the answer of the thread to reflect that the tool is the way to go.
-steve
~ Microsoft MVP Windows Live ~ Windows Live OneCare| Live Mesh|MS Security Essentials Forums Moderator ~Thursday, October 29, 2009 1:53 PMModerator -
JimLink to Restore tool seem to be broken. Any further developments there?Monday, November 9, 2009 2:03 PM
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Jim
Link to Restore tool seem to be broken. Any further developments there?
We've contacted Microsoft and I received a response this morning that they are investigating. Check back later.
-steve
~ Microsoft MVP Windows Live ~ Windows Live OneCare| Live Mesh|MS Security Essentials Forums Moderator ~Monday, November 9, 2009 4:06 PMModerator -
Hi sir, I have the same problem as Karljacob (above). The only difference is I upgraded from XP.
Then I saw this post and tried the OneCare Restore tool you mentioned about above. But then after
I've downloaded it and everything, it kept on giving me an error message saying that "Restore
Wizard has stopped working" and here's the problem details:
Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: RestoreWizard.exe
Application Version: 2.5.2901.40
Application Timestamp: 4aef5c12
Fault Module Name: StackHash_3250
Fault Module Version: 0.0.0.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 00000000
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 0001136c
OS Version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: 3250
Additional Information 2: 325055436168101a578479ab72a66d1a
Additional Information 3: c8b0
Additional Information 4: c8b0deb27397de66dbbb0cb7ca788765
I have no idea what's wrong with it. Any help how to restore them would be awesome. Thank you.
Thursday, January 7, 2010 6:33 PM -
I have no idea what's wrong with it. Any help how to restore them would be awesome. Thank you.
Since you are unable to use the Restore Tool, please contact support for help with getting it running.
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 ~- Proposed as answer by Dabur972 Thursday, March 3, 2011 3:01 AM
Monday, January 11, 2010 3:11 PMModerator -
Will do, sir. Thank you.Tuesday, January 12, 2010 3:46 AM