I just upgraded from Vista Basic to Windows 7 Ultimate. It looks nice and I'm sure it runs really well. That's not my problem. I did the custom version of upgrading because that's what my university's IT department recommended; I spoke to them in person. They told me that doing custom would delete all my files, so I needed to be sure to back up everything to an external source before I upgraded. And I did. I have a Toshiba terabyte that holds backup of all of my family's files, and I just reran a backup this afternoon before installing Windows 7. So I was following a tutorial to get my files back right? And keep in mind my files included over 3000 songs, all of my writing files, programs that I paid for, photos, videos, and other things that I actually consider very precious. It's important that I get it back. But now, only my dad's backup is showing for me to install. Not mine, not my mom's, not the ancient pc's backups... just my dad's. I AM FREAKING THE **** OUT. HOW DO I GET MY FILES BACK?!!??!?!
This is probably incredibly basic if I know how to do it, but when you open the drive, is it set to display all files or just a specific type of file? That's all I can think of, and I wanted to try and be helpful, since I know how stressful this sort of thing is...been there. I hope you get your files back!!!!
I dont even think I have that option. Okay, so what I did was this: I went into my external hard drive's folder and located the folder that has all 45.7 gigabytes of information that my computer contained before I installed windows 7. I went into one of the subfolders and mostly it has these gobbledegook titles, but there's thousands and thousands and thousands and maybe even millions of kilobytes, so I hope this is all the right stuff that my computer compressed and renamed when I did the backup. I then dragged and dropped that folder onto my desktop. It says I have to wait 21 minutes for everything to transfer... I hope that means that I just did the right thing...? We'll see. I'll post again after it's done transferring and let you know if I did it right. I'm so ****ing nervous.
No. Of course not. why am I always ****ing up? I am going to call my favourite computer nerd in the morning. And if he cant help me, then I will have to call geek squad. which sucks, because they really, really hate me over there...
Okay. Fantastic. I am trying to tell myself that I didnt really need all of my files anyway. Sure, not having copies of my old writings AND WRITINGS THAT I WAS WORKING ON YESTERDAY is gnawing away at my soul, but I didnt look at the old files all that much anyway. And the new files... well, those were first drafts, I guess, and now I just have to rewrite them. I found my music folder. Apparently I'd saved my 3000+ songs and videos that I used in iTunes in a different location. I havent redownloaded iTunes yet, but I'm sure they still work. So that's what would have hurt, financially, the most. But that's safe, I think. And the programs I had? All I really had was iTunes, Microsoft Office, Norton Antivirus, and like... Paint. I can redownload iTunes for free, and my university allows me to download the Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 package for free using my student ID. And I'm sure my dad can redownload Norton Antivirus, right? I'm trying to tell myself that this is not a big deal. And on the bright side, Windows 7 is really pretty, and I dont really know what it does, but it's definitely not as slow as Vista was. And I'm sure that I will come to love it as time goes on. Although it is screwing my Internet settings up. I will have to work with that. I'm superhellamegauber****mylife pissed off and upset because I TALKED TO MICROSOFT BEFOREHAND AND THEY SAID THIS WOULDNT HAPPEN! But. It's not that big of a deal. Right? Breathe, Mercurial. Breathe. You will talk to your computer nerd friend in a few hours and then if he can save you, then he can save you. And if he cant... then it's just time to start from the bottom up again. Computers really hate me.
Your compunerd friend should be able to help you restore your backed up files, if the backup was completed successfully. Meanwhile, take some advice from the cover of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Don't Panic
Haha, thanks... I am trying not to panic. If he can fix it, great! And if he cant... great. I have no idea if I did it right. Microsoft said it was fine, but obviously it isnt fine.
Like Cog said, don't panic. I'm sure your computer nerd friend will be able to help you find everything and put it back!!!
Nope. The problem is with my external hard drive, not Win7. It converted everything into these unreadable files, so syncing doesnt work, and it wont let me use the restore function. So all my stuff is lost for good. Awesome. I have a headache from staring at this piece of **** all day, and I'm tired of people sending me links. As if they assume that I actually know how to use my computer. I cant even manage a ****ing backup. Obviously I cant handle downloading "retriever" programs. Not to mention that the install deleted my Norton Antivirus. I'm not about to click on ANY link I havent been to before without having my antispyware back. I hate life. I hate computers. My friend is just saying that next time, I shouldnt use the backup program and instead should just back up everything, individually and manually. I've learned my lesson.
Mercurial, what program did you use to backup? Have you tried using the Restore feature of that same program? It should be able to decompress the files. If you do restore the backup, make sure to only restore the files you want (music, documents, etc), so you don't overwrite Windows 7 with your old Windows files.
Yeah, the backup software I used came with the hard drive. It was just called BackupSoft; it's not very quality... It does have a restore function but it's not working, which is why I tried the sync. I did make some progress though. I finally was able to reinstall Microsoft Office 2010 off of my school's web site. I cant get my Norton Antivirus to reinstall yet (that's today's priority; to reinstall Norton Antivirus without having to purchase it again), but I at least have the trial vesion back... My friend still wants to work on it, I think because he loves a challenge, which is cool with me, but I have pretty much thrown in the towel on my end. I learned my lesson; I'll backup everything manually next time. I'm just glad I didnt lose things that were valuable, just of sentimental importance.
