Unable to select the backup file that I want in Win7 b/u and restore

Windows 10 Home v. 22H2
The system browse selects this Backup of C: which is not located on the Seagate Expansion Drive as shown in the other picture.
The one I want to select is in the actual pic of Drive (E:)
I am out of ideas on how to select this.
Info: my system was hacked and it took a long time to get it restored and working again. Lost a lot of files and other information. This is why I'm trying to recover from a 2 year old b/u.

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Here are the pics

The Tutorials section has this:
Restore Windows Backup in Windows 10

If you read thru carefully you may find a way to access your particular folder.

Otherwise, assuming the backup file is a .vhd file, then use 7-zip/WinRAR etc to open the .vhd file.
You will be able to see all your files in an explorer-like listing and pick the ones you want to restore.


You may perhaps have noted that Backup and Restore (Windows 7) has a big hint in the name- it's there for legacy reasons and MS itself recommends users turn to 3rd part imaging tools, which are maintained, current, supported, updated and documented.

E.g. Macrium Reflect (free version still available), Aomei Backupper etc.

If you are trying to restore an individual file from within your old system image / file backup then do not use Windows backup & restore to do so. Just use File explorer.

If this is a file backup then just keep browsing around it as you evidently started doing.
- You don't say what stopped you.
- I know it shows the folders & files as being on a 'virtual CD/DVD disk' but they are really still on your Seagate disk.
- When you find it, use Ctrl-C to copy it then browse to the destination of your choice and paste the file there.
- Personally, when I'm hunting for a file, I run File explorer twice. I keep one File explorer window showing the destination folder I'm going to copy files to. Then I can browse around in the second File explorer window as much as I want and get as lost as I want without losing site of that destination.

If it is a system image backup then just go to your Seagate external drive, double-click on the SystemImageBackup folder then browse down through the innards of the backup to find the file you want.
- If the backup is a system image, you'll see large vhdx files in there. Those are the ones containing your files. You'll need to double-click on them to open them. Keep browsing around the vhdx files. You might have to check each one of them before you find the file you are after.

[This is an old picture showing vhd files instead of vhdx files but the overall layout is the same. I have not used Windows backup & restore for years.]

- When you find it, use Ctrl-C to copy it then browse to the destination of your choice and paste the file there.



And as soon as you have completed the job, find a modern system imaging facility to use instead.
MS told us to stop using Windows backup & restore six years ago. It was widely regarded as unreliable even before that.


By the way, I've relied on your words not your pictures. Because you lumped everything into a single picture and attached it the way you did, it cannot be expanded in order to study it closely.
In future, you could more usefully post pictures [individually] using the Picture icon in the post's editing toolbar.

See How to Upload and Post Screenshots and Files - TenForumsTutorials


Best of luck,
Denis

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Oh, and welcome to TenForums. You'll find you'll get used to how to make use of the forum's features pretty quickly.

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