Windows 8.1 Recovery Won't Recognise External Hard Drive

coleyman

New Member
Messages
12
Hello,

After experiencing some malfunctions in my hard drive I decided to buy a more reliable one before my existing hard drive completely died. I've used Windows 8.1's backup and recovery tools to create an image of my existing hard drive in the hopes that I can restore this image to my new drive. The image was saved to a Seagate FreeAgent Desk external hard drive.

I've swapped the hard drive out now and put my Windows 8.1 recovery media USB drive in to begin the repair by clicking 'Repair your computer'. I then went to Troubleshoot > Advanced options > System Image Recovery as I'm supposed to in order to restore this image. I then select my operating system, which is currently Windows 7 (I've installed Windows 7 temporarily on my new hard drive whilst trying to get this sorted). All whilst this is going on my external hard drive is plugged in to my PC, however at this point the recovery settings won't find a system image. I'm getting the following message:

'Windows cannot find a system image on this computer

Attach the backup hard disk or insert the final DVD from a backup set and click Retry. Alternatively, close this dialog for more options.'

Clicking retry doesn't seem to do anything, so I click Cancel and go through and select the location of the backup. The external hard drive does not appear on the list. I suspect this may be because the recovery environment has not loaded the drivers to use the external hard drive, so I click Advanced to try and find them and no matter what I try I can't get this to work.

I've checked what driver my external hard drive is using in Device Manager and it's using the disk.sys and prtmgr.sys drivers in C:\Windows\system32\drivers, but trying to select these to load brings up a message saying that these do not contain information about my hardware, so I'm a little stuck.

Any advice/help on this? Ideally I'd like to use this backup so that I don't have to purchase another Windows 8.1 license and start over from scratch.

Thanks!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
From my understanding of this this post - you are using windows 8 system recovery to restore windows 8 on a system that has windows 7, is this not correct

another question - what OS came with the PC?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
From my understanding of this this post - you are using windows 8 system recovery to restore windows 8 on a system that has windows 7, is this not correct

another question - what OS came with the PC?

It's Windows 8.1, but yes. I had to install Windows 7 on the new hard drive in the meantime.

The PC originally came with Windows 7, however I was able to upgrade through the recent special upgrade offer to Windows 8, then up to 8.1.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
use the link in my sig below to create windows 8.1 media, install windows 8.1 on the new harddrive using the windows 8 upgrade key.. then try to recover the system image

depending on when that system image was taken - take may or may not restore your problem..

Another issue may be the boot method - MBR or UEFI-GPT

Unless you know the boot method used before you upgraded windows 7..

A fresh install of 8.1 can be via MBR or UEFI and unless the System image recovery matches the current boot method - it will fail
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
use the link in my sig below to create windows 8.1 media, install windows 8.1 on the new harddrive using the windows 8 upgrade key.. then try to recover the system image

I don't have the upgrade key anymore, will this be an issue?

One thing I previously tried before posting was that, as my old hard drive still works, I've been able to grab my Windows 8.1 product key, then un-register it (the idea was to un-register the product key, get a clean install and register the product key on my new hard drive). But when I go through the recover media to install, when it asks for my product key it won't accept it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
using the media created in my link?

the upgrade was a retail purchase..

the new media will accept that key - assuming the it is not a media center key or you added media center also

the issue will be activation, since changing the hard drive will result in MS seeing it as a used key on new hardware..

If you disconnect from the internet, choose activate by phone and follow the phone prompts, when asked it was activated once..
you will get an activation code, and windows will activate..
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
using the media created in my link?

I believe so - I tried this a few days ago before posting here and the page linked is the one I used. I'm not at home at the moment so I can't check for certain, let me try this over again and I'll post back with the outcome. Maybe I made a mistake when creating the media?

Surely, if I un-registered my Windows 8.1 product key, when I'm going to install Windows 8.1 on the new hard drive that key should work?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
once again assuming you captured the right key..
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
Hello,


I've swapped the hard drive out now and put my Windows 8.1 recovery media USB drive in to begin the repair by clicking 'Repair your computer'. I then went to Troubleshoot > Advanced options > System Image Recovery as I'm supposed to in order to restore this image. I then select my operating system, which is currently Windows 7 (I've installed Windows 7 temporarily on my new hard drive whilst trying to get this sorted). All whilst this is going on my external hard drive is plugged in to my PC, however at this point the recovery settings won't find a system image. I'm getting the following message:

'Windows cannot find a system image on this computer

Attach the backup hard disk or insert the final DVD from a backup set and click Retry. Alternatively, close this dialog for more options.'

Clicking retry doesn't seem to do anything, so I click Cancel and go through and select the location of the backup. The external hard drive does not appear on the list. I suspect this may be because the recovery environment has not loaded the drivers to use the external hard drive, so I click Advanced to try and find them and no matter what I try I can't get this to work.

!

I had a similar problem once where the ext. HDD didn't show up, it was because in recovery environment windows didn't see the USB 3.0, so after I figured it out I switched to USB 2.0. I was an ASUS with Windows 7 which needed the ASMEDIA 3.0 driver.

Also a word of warning:warn:--If the ext. HDD is MBR and windows image is GPT it won't be able to reimage your system disk either..I just had this problem putting windows 7 back on my laptop.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Update Pro in Hyper-V/Windows 10 Pro 64 bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Cliff's Black & Blue Wonder
    CPU
    Intel Core i9-9900K
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero
    Memory
    32 GB Quad Kit, G.Skill Trident Z RGB Series schwarz, DDR4-3866, 18-19-19-39-2T
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS GeForce RTX 3090 ROG Strix O24G, 24576 MB GDDR6X
    Sound Card
    (1) HD Webcam C270 (2) NVIDIA High Definition Audio (3) Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    BenQ BL2711U(4K) and a hp 27vx(1080p)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080 x 32 bits (4294967296 colors) @ 60 Hz
    Hard Drives
    C: Samsung 960 EVO NVMe M.2 SSD
    E: & O: Libraries & OneDrive-> Samsung 850 EVO 1TB
    D: Hyper-V VM's -> Samsung PM951 Client M.2 512Gb SSD
    G: System Images -> HDD Seagate Barracuda 2TB
    PSU
    Corsair HX1000i High Performance ATX Power Supply 80+ Platinum
    Case
    hanteks Enthoo Pro TG
    Cooling
    Thermaltake Floe Riing RGB TT Premium-Edition 360mm and 3 Corsair blue LED fans
    Keyboard
    Trust GTX THURA
    Mouse
    Trust GTX 148
    Internet Speed
    25+/5+ (+usually faster)
    Browser
    Edge; Chrome; IE11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender of course & Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit as a
    Other Info
    Router: FRITZ!Box 7590 AX V2
    Sound system: SHARP HT-SBW460 Dolby Atmos Soundbar
    Webcam: Logitech BRIO ULTRA HD PRO WEBCAM 4K webcam with HDR
I had a similar problem once where the ext. HDD didn't show up, it was because in recovery environment windows didn't see the USB 3.0, so after I figured it out I switched to USB 2.0. I was an ASUS with Windows 7 which needed the ASMEDIA 3.0 driver.

Also a word of warning:warn:--If the ext. HDD is MBR and windows image is GPT it won't be able to reimage your system disk either..I just had this problem putting windows 7 back on my laptop.

I've tried USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports on my computer, neither worked.

How can I check if the external HDD is MBR, or if my image is GPT?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
Go to Disk Management and right click where I marked in yellow > choose properties > volumes tab > partition style it will say GPT or MBR. Also like KYHI said in post #4
Another issue may be the boot method - MBR or UEFI-GPT
View attachment 57048
you need to make sure your bios is set accordingly to your disk partitioning. Also I reread your first post and maybe you should put your old drive back in get Macrium Reflect Free make a new Image to your ext. HDD with it, then put your new drive back in and use recover image.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Update Pro in Hyper-V/Windows 10 Pro 64 bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Cliff's Black & Blue Wonder
    CPU
    Intel Core i9-9900K
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero
    Memory
    32 GB Quad Kit, G.Skill Trident Z RGB Series schwarz, DDR4-3866, 18-19-19-39-2T
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS GeForce RTX 3090 ROG Strix O24G, 24576 MB GDDR6X
    Sound Card
    (1) HD Webcam C270 (2) NVIDIA High Definition Audio (3) Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    BenQ BL2711U(4K) and a hp 27vx(1080p)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080 x 32 bits (4294967296 colors) @ 60 Hz
    Hard Drives
    C: Samsung 960 EVO NVMe M.2 SSD
    E: & O: Libraries & OneDrive-> Samsung 850 EVO 1TB
    D: Hyper-V VM's -> Samsung PM951 Client M.2 512Gb SSD
    G: System Images -> HDD Seagate Barracuda 2TB
    PSU
    Corsair HX1000i High Performance ATX Power Supply 80+ Platinum
    Case
    hanteks Enthoo Pro TG
    Cooling
    Thermaltake Floe Riing RGB TT Premium-Edition 360mm and 3 Corsair blue LED fans
    Keyboard
    Trust GTX THURA
    Mouse
    Trust GTX 148
    Internet Speed
    25+/5+ (+usually faster)
    Browser
    Edge; Chrome; IE11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender of course & Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit as a
    Other Info
    Router: FRITZ!Box 7590 AX V2
    Sound system: SHARP HT-SBW460 Dolby Atmos Soundbar
    Webcam: Logitech BRIO ULTRA HD PRO WEBCAM 4K webcam with HDR
Okay, so I think the product key I grabbed from my Windows 8.1 installation was actually the product ID... I've run Belarc Adviser to grab the proper key, and have used my recovery media to install Windows 8.1 on my new hard drive.

Looking in Disk Manager, I can see that both my external drive and my new hard drive are both set to MBR - how can I check that my BIOS is set accordingly? Going through the recovery options in the usual way on Windows 8.1 comes up with the same initial problem.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
Can't help with your problem, but will suggest you try, in the future---

Macrium Reflect FREE Edition - Information and download

I use the Standard version for the boot time recovery environment. :)

A while back I did something so stupid I had to use my factory recovery disks to reinstall my 8 OEM.
Once I reinstalled 8 OEM I installed my Standard version of Macrium & set up the boot time environment.

I then inserted my Macrium image usb & restored straight to 8.1.1 Pro WMC.
That was easy. :)

Better than the Microsoft way, IMO.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Gateway
    CPU
    AMD K140 Cores 2 Threads 2 Name AMD K140 Package Socket FT1 BGA Technology 40nm
    Motherboard
    Manufacturer Gateway Model SX2110G (P0)
    Memory
    Type DDR3 Size 8192 MBytes DRAM Frequency 532.3 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics
    Sound Card
    AMD High Definition Audio Device Realtek High Definition Audio USB Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Name 1950W on AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x76
    Screen Resolution
    Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x768 pixels
    Hard Drives
    AMD K140
    Cores 2
    Threads 2
    Name AMD K140
    Package Socket FT1 BGA
    Technology 40nm
    Specification AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon HD Graphics
    Family F
    Extended Family 14
    Model 2
    Extended Model 2
    Stepping 0
    Revision ON-C0
    Instruction
    Browser
    Opera 24.0
    Antivirus
    Avast Internet Security
You can use this vbs script to get your OEM & installed product keys---

View attachment ShowKey v1.3.vbs

A picture---

screenshot_243.jpg
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Gateway
    CPU
    AMD K140 Cores 2 Threads 2 Name AMD K140 Package Socket FT1 BGA Technology 40nm
    Motherboard
    Manufacturer Gateway Model SX2110G (P0)
    Memory
    Type DDR3 Size 8192 MBytes DRAM Frequency 532.3 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics
    Sound Card
    AMD High Definition Audio Device Realtek High Definition Audio USB Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Name 1950W on AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x76
    Screen Resolution
    Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x768 pixels
    Hard Drives
    AMD K140
    Cores 2
    Threads 2
    Name AMD K140
    Package Socket FT1 BGA
    Technology 40nm
    Specification AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon HD Graphics
    Family F
    Extended Family 14
    Model 2
    Extended Model 2
    Stepping 0
    Revision ON-C0
    Instruction
    Browser
    Opera 24.0
    Antivirus
    Avast Internet Security
ok two questions
Is this MBR info you just posted, the new installation of windows 8.1?

explain this?
Going through the recovery options in the usual way on Windows 8.1 comes up with the same initial problem

Because two things - that windows system image has to be MBR or the windows system image will fail..
and two - I have never had any luck restoring from a "windows" system backup image
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
ok two questions
Is this MBR info you just posted, the new installation of windows 8.1?

explain this?
Going through the recovery options in the usual way on Windows 8.1 comes up with the same initial problem

The MBR info I posted was for both my external hard drive and my new installation of Windows 8.1.

What I mean is that going through the recovery options in Windows 8.1 results in the same troubles as when I do it through the recovery media. So Charms > Change PC settings > Update and recovery > Recovery > Advanced Start-up. Then going Troubleshoot > Advanced options > System Image Recovery to try and recover my backup image leads to the same problem that I outlined in my original post - that it can't find the image on my external hard drive.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
have you tried or can you copy the files to a usb and see if that works

so what you are saying is file explorer finds the ext HDD but system recovery does not

advanced startup causes a reboot to go into the other options
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
The backup is over 400GB in size as my old hard drive is 1TB, so copying to USB isn't possible. Let me check the partition style of my old drive and see what that was.

Yes,I can actually navigate to the external hard drive as normal, but the recovery doesn't find the backup image on it. I can even navigate to the hard drive when in the recovery environment when it asks me to install drivers after it fails to find the backup image.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
So Charms > Change PC settings > Update and recovery > Recovery > Advanced Start-up. Then going Troubleshoot > Advanced options > command prompt

type> diskpart
type> list volume

is your ext HDD listed

Also now that you have a bootable disk with new windows - you can copy your files from old to new disk..
you will have to reinstall the programs, but the files will be there.. As you should have file access to the old user folders, just copy over the contents of the user folders from one hd to the other.. Or any other folder with your data files..
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
Just checked the partition style of my old HDD and it's MBR too, so the backup I made will be for MBR as well, right?

Just went into command prompt and it's listing my ext. HDD.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
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