windows 8 pro system image recovery can't see backup

jaypea500

New Member
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I have spent most of the past 12 hours trying to restore my win8pro system from a system image. the image was saved to a usb hard drive. win8pro system image recovery won't see the usb hard drive. I tried copying the backup to a drive on my network, but recovery won't see that either, even when entering the exact path to the backup using the network option. I then tried to copy the backup to a second hard drive, installing that hard drive directly into the machine. no go, wouldn't even recognize the drive.
I'm at my wits end. any ideas? :cry:

...joe
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win8pro
I have a similar problem. I have a Samsung Series 7 laptop with pre-installed Windows 8 and no CD/DVD reader. I have an external USB3-connected Seagate drive to which I have saved several System Image files. The system image recovery doesn't see the USB external drive in the same way as jaypea500 described. I can get as far as "Add Drivers" with the instruction to "insert installation media for the device and click OK to select the driver". My laptop doesn't have floppy or DVD drive. I have no installation media. Where do I get the drivers for the external disk from please?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 (64-bit)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Samsung Series 7 Chronos
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 3230M
    Memory
    8GB
I have an external USB3-connected Seagate drive to which I have saved several System Image files.
Do you have a USB2 port on the computer? If so are you able to try plugging the drive into that before you boot the computer?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1, 10
Thank you for the quick response. Yes, there is a spare USB2 port on the laptop. I swapped the external drive over to it and re-booted as you suggested. I'm afraid it made no difference that I can see however.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 (64-bit)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Samsung Series 7 Chronos
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 3230M
    Memory
    8GB
If the problem is drivers, you add a folder with drivers on the USB Recovery Drive.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    ME, XP,Vista,Win7,Win8,Win8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    Notebooks x 3

    Desktops x 5

    Towers x 4
Yes but my original question was - where do I get the drivers from?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 (64-bit)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Samsung Series 7 Chronos
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 3230M
    Memory
    8GB
Just to eliminate one possibility - in the Recovery options, there should be a Command Prompt option tucked away somewhere.

If you locate that, open up the command prompt, and look through all the drives using the following, can it "see" the USB drive from the Command Prompt? (If it can, it may be that you don't need extra drivers and it's something else.)

To look at a drive, type each drive letter, and then run the DIR command, make a note of the results of the DIR (which should let you work out which drive it is), then repeat with the next one, eg.
Code:
C:
DIR

D:
DIR
keep going until you start finding drives that don't exist, although there are also some around the letter X: which you may want to check as well.

The Drive letters will not be in their usual order (drive C: is unlikely to be the normal C: ), and some extra drives such as the recovery partition will be visible.

To exit the command prompt, type
Code:
Exit
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1, 10
OK, I am familiar with the command prompt. I presume that the sequence - Choose an option / Troubleshoot / Advanced options / Command prompt is the sequence you refer to. I find that the "C:" drive is my Windows system drive, and the "D:" drive is the external drive containing the system image files I wish to access. The "X:" drive appears to be another copy of the "C:" drive. Anyway, the significant point that you wish to confirm is that the external drive and the files it contains are indeed visible to the command prompt. Does that help?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 (64-bit)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Samsung Series 7 Chronos
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 3230M
    Memory
    8GB
Thanks for that.

I'm making an assumption (and possibly someone will come in and correct me) that if the command prompt can read the external drive, the System Image will be able to see it too, and therefore it may not be an issue of missing drivers.

Are the System Image files in the root directory of the USB drive? I've a hunch that this is where it will look for them.

I don't have System Image to hand to look at, but from memory I think it's expecting that in the root directory of the USB drive, there will be a folder with the folder name the same as the PC name.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1, 10
The root directory of the external drive has the following structure:

Autorun.inf
cleanVersion2 *
FileHistory
OfficeVersion5 *
OfficeVersion6 *
Seagate
SeagateExpansion.ico
Setup.exe
TidyVersion4 *

The directories marked with an asterisk are the image files I created previously. Each of these directories contains a file named CustomRefresh.wim. I am using the same disk to hold the File History.

Is it significant that the names of the image files are ones that I have chosen arbitrarily have no connection with the computer name? I wasn't aware that there was a restriction on naming of these directories.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 (64-bit)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Samsung Series 7 Chronos
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 3230M
    Memory
    8GB
You have NO Windows System Image listed.

Capturebackup001.PNG
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    ME, XP,Vista,Win7,Win8,Win8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    Notebooks x 3

    Desktops x 5

    Towers x 4
You have NO Windows System Image listed.

View attachment 28005
Thanks for that - I was wrong here when I said would have the computer name; in my memory I was getting mixed up with the folders created by the Windows 7-style backup.
I don't have System Image to hand to look at, but from memory I think it's expecting that in the root directory of the USB drive, there will be a folder with the folder name the same as the PC name.


The root directory of the external drive has the following structure:

Autorun.inf
cleanVersion2 *
FileHistory
OfficeVersion5 *
OfficeVersion6 *
Seagate
SeagateExpansion.ico
Setup.exe
TidyVersion4 *

The directories marked with an asterisk are the image files I created previously. Each of these directories contains a file named CustomRefresh.wim. I am using the same disk to hold the File History.
If a file is called CustomRefresh.wim, it sounds like they are files that would be used by a Refresh. If you create a Custom Refresh image using this process, you'd end up with files of that name - does this look familiar?
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/3610-refresh-windows-8-create-use-custom-recovery-image.html

I believe that to use these files, you would need to use the /setcurrent parameter to choose the one you want to use, like this:
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/9310-refresh-windows-8-set-custom-recovery-image-active.html

Be aware though that a Refresh isn't the same as restoring a system image; the idea is that it will leave the user data on the file alone, but some user settings will be lost. There's a post here with more information about what a Refresh will keep:
http://www.eightforums.com/general-...ly-does-refreshing-my-pc-keep.html#post242040
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1, 10
Ah... You are right. I realise now that when I thought I was creating a system image using the RECIMG utility as described in your references above, I was really creating a Custom Refresh Image. I have since found and read elsewhere on this forum an article describing how to create a proper system image, and it is quite a different procedure. No wonder it could not find the system image on the disk. I hadn't put it there.

I was following the advice given in the book Windows 8 for Dummies where it says "System Image Recovery requires a system image that you can make only by using the DOS command line ... etc" and gives a link to an article describing how to use RECIMG.

Oh well, I will have to live with the Custom Refresh Images for now. It's not the end of the world. Many thanks for correcting my misunderstanding. You have been a great help.

:thumb:
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 (64-bit)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Samsung Series 7 Chronos
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 3230M
    Memory
    8GB
You are welcome. :)

In the Preview version of windows 8.1, the System Image option disappeared, and Custom Refresh and File History were pretty much the only options for backup, so it's not a totally unreasonable way to do it, although I wouldn't rely on it myself as a total solution, I think there are times when Custom Refresh will come in very handy.

System Image has quietly reappeared in Windows 8.1 RTM, apparently, but I think when I go to 8.1, I'll use one of the free 3rd party backup/imaging tools.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1, 10
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