Re: Can't restore bkf files from disk

Tech-Archive recommends: Fix windows errors by optimizing your registry

The 6 steps you listed are exactly what I did. I saved it to disk and also
on a flash drive, neither of which works on the restore utility.

Here is the vbs document. The date time and size of the bkf file is
7/25/09; 11:45 am; 350,040 KB. For the zip file it's 7/25/09; 12:05 pm;
244,589.

However, there is another issue: the above files created on 7/25 was my
second attempt to restore. The first attempt was on 7/17 and the files are
considerably larger - 570 MB on the zip and 88659 KB (584,433 (packed) on the
bkf (why was the zip so much larger than the bkf?). When I tried to create a
vbs file for this first attempt, it would not find the bkf file, yet it shows
up on drive c: in windows explorer. What is the reason for that?

"Pegasus [MVP]" wrote:


"CS" <CS@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:F56C3044-074B-4B61-A74B-8AB298504E0B@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I recently did a clean reinstall (windows xp pro sp2) and had saved my
files
(favorites, documents, photos, etc.) using the Windows backup utility
(ntbackup). I saved the backup to my hard drive, zipped it, and
transferred
the zip to a disk in drive D. After the reinstall of Windows XP Pro, I
moved
the zip back to the hard drive, unzipped it (with Winzip) but could not
restore my files. I get the message "The backup file contains unrecognized
data and cannot be used." Googling the problem, I found a some programs
to
recover the corrupted files but they cost anywhere from $80 to $150. I
can't
afford to pay that!! The most frustrating part is microsoft making the
backup part a breeze (oh sure, just click here and there and pick what you
want to back up -- nothing to it!) and then they leave you high and dry by
NOT telling you you're on your own when it comes to the restoring part.
Are
there any free programs out there I can use? I think Microsoft should
provide one!! It seems there are tons of people with the same problem!!

Any ideas???

There were several steps involved in creating and manipulating your backup
file:
1. Create it with ntbackup.exe.
2. Zip it with some compression tool.
3. Transfer it to drive D:.
4. Transfer it back from drive D:
5. Unzip it.
6. Restore it.
Mistakes can happen in each and every one of these steps, which is why it is
absolutely essential to check one's ability to restore irreplaceable files
*before* deleting the source data. Blaming ntbackup.exe is perhaps a little
premature - the problem could have happened in any one of the six steps you
performed. Whether your data can be recovered is uncertain but an
examination of your .bkf file might shed some light on the cause of the
problem. Try this process. It will extract the header from your .bkf file,
which you can then attach to your reply for examination.
1. Click Start/Run
2. Type this command:
notepad c:\Extract.vbs
3. Click OK.
4. Allow a new file to be created.
5. Copy and paste the code below into the notepad.
6. Save & close the file.
7. Click Start / Run
8. Type this command:
c:\Extract.vbs
9. Click the OK button.
10. Select your .bkf file when prompted.
11. Click the OK button.
12. Attach the file c:\Test.bin to your response.
13. Report the date, time and size of your .bkf file.
14. Report the date, time and size of your .zip file.

Note also that backing up your files before re-installing Windows was a good
idea but fell well short of standard data processing practice. If important
data is stored on a PC then this data must be backed up to an external
medium at regular intervals, e.g. weekly. Not doing this is asking for
trouble. A 2.5" disk in an external USB case is a low-cost but highly
effective backup medium.

sTest = "c:\Test.bin"
sFSO = "Scripting.FileSystemObject"
sDialog = "UserAccounts.CommonDialog"
Set oFSO = CreateObject(sFSO)
Set oDialog = CreateObject(sDialog)
oDialog.Filter = "All Files|*.bkf"
oDialog.InitialDir = "c:\"
If oDialog.ShowOpen <> 0 _
Then sName = oDialog.FileName _
Else WScript.Quit
Set oFile = oFSO.OpenTextFile(sName)
sData = oFile.Read(10000)
oFile.Close
Set oFile = oFSO.CreateTextFile(sTest, True)
oFile.Write sData
oFile.Close
MsgBox "10,000 bytes of data written to " & sTest, 0



.

Quantcast