Restore a Complete PC Backup when your computer won’t start
Your hard drive has died, or your computer has been taken over by spyware or viruses. If you’ve made a Complete PC backup, you can be up and running in less than an hour.
To restore a Complete PC backup, follow these steps:
1. If your hard drive failed, replace it.
2. Insert your Windows Vista DVD, and boot your computer. When prompted, press a key to start from the CD/DVD.
3. Windows Vista setup starts. Select your regional settings, and click Repair Your Computer on the second page.
4. Follow the prompts that appear. Startup Repair will probably try to fix your startup problems without recovering from backup–if you don’t want it to bother, you can cancel the attempt.
5. When the System Recovery Options dialog appears, click Windows Complete PC Restore.
6. On the Restore Your Entire Computer From A Backup page of the WIndows Complete PC Restore wizard, click Next to use the most recent backup.
7. On the final page of the wizard, you can select the Format and repartition disks checkbox if you don’t want to save any of your data. This is the only way to be completely sure your computer is clean of any spyware, viruses, or worms. It will delete all the files on your disk before restoring the backup, however. If you don’t select the checkbox, it’ll leave your files on the disk and overwrite any files found in the backup. Therefore, any files you created after the backup was made will still be there if you do not format the disk. Click Finish to start the restore.
The restore will take a while. When it’s done, your computer will restart, back at the state it was in the last time you did a Complete PC backup. Now, you should recover any files you’ve backed up since your Complete PC backup.
Posted: December 23rd, 2006 under Troubleshoot, Backup, Administration.
Comments: 4
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Pingback from How to Schedule a Complete PC Backup - Windows Vista help
Time: December 28, 2006, 8:41 pm
[…] Windows Vista can automatically schedule file backups that back up your most important documents. It does not, however, give you a wizard to schedule Complete PC backups. Complete PC backups store your entire hard disk (well, your system volume), so if your hard drive dies at some point, you can do a quick restore and be up and running again in minutes. That’s better than file backups in many ways, because all your applications will be restored, and none of your files or settings will be lost. It’s so useful, you should schedule automatic Complete PC backups to an external hard disk. Just follow these steps: 1. Click Start, type Task Scheduler, and then press Enter (you’ll need admin rights). 2. In Task Scheduler, in the Actions pane, click Create Basic Task. 3. The Create A Basic Task wizard appears. In the Name box, type Complete PC Backup. Click Next. 4. On the Task Trigger page, click Next to accept a daily schedule. 5. On the Daily page, configure the time that you want the backup to run. It should run at a time when your computer is turned on and connected to your backup media (like your external hard disk). Don’t worry if your computer won’t always be connected–the backup will fail, but as long as it runs most nights, you’ll be fine. Click Next. 6. On the Action page, click Next to accept Start a program as the default. 7. On the Start A Program page, in the Program/script box, type Wbadmin. in the Add arguments box, type start backup -backupTarget:BackupDriveLetter: -include:C: -quiet. Replace BackupDriveLetter with the drive letter of your backup drive. For example, my backup drive is my L drive, so I used the arguments shown in this screenshot. Click Next. 8. Click Finish. To test your backup, click the Task Scheduler Library node in the left pane of Task Scheduler. Then, right-click your Complete PC Backup task and click Run. If this is the first time you’ve run a Complete PC backup, it’ll take a while–more than an hour. After that, it’ll only take 10-20 minutes (maybe less). […]
Pingback from Computer won’t Start-How to Fix Startup Problems - Windows Vista help
Time: January 15, 2007, 11:04 pm
[…] If you still can’t start your computer and Windows Vista still fails to see your hard disk, you might have a failed hard disk. It happens, and when it does, it sucks. Hard disks have moving parts, though, so they have a limited lifetime. Hopefully, you’ve got a backup. After replacing your hard disk, follow these instructions to Restore a Complete PC Backup when your computer won’t start. Next time, be sure to backup your files and backup your whole computer. […]
Pingback from Antivirus software - Windows Vista help
Time: January 25, 2007, 12:44 pm
[…] So, give them a shot, if you want. I think I’ll pass for now. Antivirus software is only one way to manage the risk of malware. For me, I think the built-in features like UAC and Internet Explorer Protected Mode will do enough. Also, I test any questionable software in virtual machines. If I do get bitten by malware, I’ve got nightly backups, and restores are easy to do in Vista. Basically, I’m betting that running antivirus software would waste more of my time than it would save. […]
Comment from Ejiro
Time: April 2, 2008, 3:32 pm
pls i have a travelmate 7720. the notebook won’t boot. and i cannot access the backup partition made by acer to restore the system, what do i do. pls help
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