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Unable to find or restore Windows backup after reinstall
I made a backup before reinstalling Windows 10 Pro to a bigger hard drive, and now I'm stuck trying to restore the files and not delete them... I initially went to restore and it seemed like it couldn't find them (I think I may have misread something though), so I found them in the file path like this:
F:\FileHistory\Me\MyPC\Data\C\Users\Me
I then copied over one of the folders (the one I needed the most, but it was huge), and then after a while noticed the file names had dates appended to them, like this:
Valuable document 1 (2020_02_16 01_34_47 UTC).txt
There's about 300GB of files, and I'm sure you can understand not wanting them named like this or having to change them.
I moved them back, but there were actually 2 "MyPC" folders, and I think I may have moved them to the other folder!
F:\FileHistory\Me\MyPC (2)\Data\C\Users\Me
Now that I've found the backups in Backup Settings, I get a warning that I'm not sure I understand...
The "User name" (Me) and "Computer name" (MyPC) values are the same, and I get the pop-up warning for both "Last backup dates"... and I don't understand what exactly the warning is trying to tell me to do!
"File History" - "Do you want to use this drive for File History again?" - "This drive doesn't have your most recent files. To restore those files, you'll need to reselect the drive you last used."
But... the Backup (F) drive is the only one I made the backup on; that's the only drive to be "last used". I don't know what it's trying to tell me. I don't know if I screwed something up. I don't want to lose my backup if I click something I don't really understand.
Sorry to be an idiot... I really am not seeing how to fix this. Thanks for your patience.
- - - Updated - - -
Oh, I just discovered File History in Control Panel, but I seem to be in a conundrum now...
So, I clicked on "Restore personal files", which brought me to the "Home - File History" window, which says "No file history was found" and "File History is currently turned off".
I click "Configure File History settings", and it opens the window I was at which says "File History is on"... :facepalm:
I have a "Run now" link below the drive, and then a "Turn off" button below the box... I'm completely confused now.
Is File History on or off? Why am I being told in Restore that it's off, but Backup that it's on? If I click "Run now", will it run the backup of my current files on the new hard drive and wipe the backed-up files on the external drive?
I'm about ready to yank the plug out of the external drive, but I'm too busy ripping my hair out.