T
TimCampbell8
Recently I discovered that all the files on my C: Drive (An SSD) had disappeared.
Fortunately I have a D: (Data) drive that I use to hold all my personal data and when I had a look, using a CMD window and some old DOS recollections, I noted that there was a "WindowsImageBackup" folder with an image dated the day before. There was also a "FamilyRoom-PC" folder containing a backup of the dame date.
I thought, "Great I should be abele to get my system back to its original state quite easily." My recollections from working with some system engineers in the past suggested that the image should contain the windows system, any software that had been loaded and the settings for the entire system. i.e. everything needed to bring it all back to it's original state.
My next step was to buy a new Samsung SSD (1 TB) which would provide plenty of space, The old SSD was always running out of room.
I installed the new SSD and downloaded a windows "ISO" file to a thumb drive using another computer and used the thumb drive to install windows 10 on the new SSD.
However I had difficulty getting Windows to Find the "WindowsImageBackup". I called Technical support and after a bit of confusion, found the tool to restore the "WindowsImageBackup". As a watched I could see a lot of files going into a "C:\users\family room" folder, which was the original name of the PCs user name folder.
At the end of the process nothing happened. No errors were reported, my desktop was unchanged (empty except for two icons), none of the original software (Office, Spy hunter, etc) was loaded.
When I did some investigation I discovered that the Windows installation has set up a "timch" user folder.
I assume the installation process had created the "timch" folder from my Microsoft.com username (i.e. part of my email address).
I contacted technical support again and have found difficulty finding someone who knows what to do. Three times I was promised call backs from a supervisor, none eventuated.
The strange thing, is the number of "Experienced" people that seem to think that it is simply a matter of "Changing the folder name".
That was the first thing I tried and I wasn't surprised to find that I couldn't. There is all sorts of data in the active user's folder that Windows uses. The only way I can think of to change that folder's name would be to go into the mode that you get when you have startup problems (I can't recall the term).
I hesitate to do this anyway as I fear it would cause registry issues (I did a scan through the registry for "timch" and its there multiple times.
To me the only way to do this correctly would to get the system to change the folder name through the account settings, however I have only been able to create a local account this way. This leaves the "timch" account very much active.
Does any one know the right way to get the "family room" folder to become the active user folder so the "WindowsImageBackup" can do its job properly?
Should I expect that the data in the "WindowsImageBackup" folder to install all the original software?
While I have managed to get the system back fairly close to its original state manually, I am happy to blow that all away and reinstall Windows etc. But only if I have confidence that whatever needs to be done will work properly.
Continue reading...
Fortunately I have a D: (Data) drive that I use to hold all my personal data and when I had a look, using a CMD window and some old DOS recollections, I noted that there was a "WindowsImageBackup" folder with an image dated the day before. There was also a "FamilyRoom-PC" folder containing a backup of the dame date.
I thought, "Great I should be abele to get my system back to its original state quite easily." My recollections from working with some system engineers in the past suggested that the image should contain the windows system, any software that had been loaded and the settings for the entire system. i.e. everything needed to bring it all back to it's original state.
My next step was to buy a new Samsung SSD (1 TB) which would provide plenty of space, The old SSD was always running out of room.
I installed the new SSD and downloaded a windows "ISO" file to a thumb drive using another computer and used the thumb drive to install windows 10 on the new SSD.
However I had difficulty getting Windows to Find the "WindowsImageBackup". I called Technical support and after a bit of confusion, found the tool to restore the "WindowsImageBackup". As a watched I could see a lot of files going into a "C:\users\family room" folder, which was the original name of the PCs user name folder.
At the end of the process nothing happened. No errors were reported, my desktop was unchanged (empty except for two icons), none of the original software (Office, Spy hunter, etc) was loaded.
When I did some investigation I discovered that the Windows installation has set up a "timch" user folder.
I assume the installation process had created the "timch" folder from my Microsoft.com username (i.e. part of my email address).
I contacted technical support again and have found difficulty finding someone who knows what to do. Three times I was promised call backs from a supervisor, none eventuated.
The strange thing, is the number of "Experienced" people that seem to think that it is simply a matter of "Changing the folder name".
That was the first thing I tried and I wasn't surprised to find that I couldn't. There is all sorts of data in the active user's folder that Windows uses. The only way I can think of to change that folder's name would be to go into the mode that you get when you have startup problems (I can't recall the term).
I hesitate to do this anyway as I fear it would cause registry issues (I did a scan through the registry for "timch" and its there multiple times.
To me the only way to do this correctly would to get the system to change the folder name through the account settings, however I have only been able to create a local account this way. This leaves the "timch" account very much active.
Does any one know the right way to get the "family room" folder to become the active user folder so the "WindowsImageBackup" can do its job properly?
Should I expect that the data in the "WindowsImageBackup" folder to install all the original software?
While I have managed to get the system back fairly close to its original state manually, I am happy to blow that all away and reinstall Windows etc. But only if I have confidence that whatever needs to be done will work properly.
Continue reading...