Selecting an existing backup to be restored through File History

[wuser]

Windows 10 Pro (build 18363.1256). Up to date.

I got myself a new laptop and proceeded to configure File History.
I wanted to use an existing File History backup on a USB drive from my previous computer.

The issue I now have is the following.
The USB drive has two File History backups on it.
One is mine, called "Moi", and the other is not mine, called "User".
The problem is that the "Select Drive" window of File History, once I've selected my USB drive, only shows the backup of "User". The backup of "Moi" is not listed. My guess is that it might be because the backup of "User" is slightly more recent then the backup of "Moi".

Is there a way to fish out the backup of "Moi" so it can be used by File History to restore those backed up files onto my new laptop?

Thank you in advance!

 

[Wolfie]

Hi wuser,

what back-up tool are you using?. You should be able to browse the path to the file(s) and point it to the one you want?.

 

[wuser]

"File History" is what I'm using, the tool that comes integrated with Windows 10.

Yes, I can see the folders and files on the USB drive if I browse to it with Windows Explorer.

Yes, I could copy the folders off the USB key back onto my new laptop, but if you use "File History", you know you don't want to do that.

 

[Wolfie]

If you simply want to copy both folders, open File Explorer and browse to the two folders and mark them both then copy and paste to your new laptop, that should be enough unless I am missing something?.

 

[wuser]

Yes, you are missing something.
In a "File History" backup, your files get renamed, for example, from
mydocument.doc
to
mydocument (2020_12_26 20_13_02 UTC).doc

Imagine having hundreds of folders and subfolders, containing thousands of files getting renamed like this...

Both backups are on the USB drive. The issue is that the software only offers one of them to select from. There has to be a way to get "File History" to list all backups available on a drive!!

Any ideas anyone?

 

[Bastet]

See Glen Gailey’s reply here:

File History and restore to another PC

I would like to use the File History feature of Windows 8 and so far it has been working fine. However, I have come across a scenario and need input on practicality for the following: 1. File History

answers.microsoft.com

The answer is still good for Windows 10.

He states:
I just had to try to do this, and I was able to (on a new Win8 machine) point at the previous backup by clicking Drives and then selecting my backup drive (a network share in my case). Then I was able to check "I want to use a previous backup on this File History drive" and it displayed my existing backups on that drive. Finally, I was able to do the regular (if not very intuitive) restore files by clicking the settings icon in the upper right of File History.

More in-depth tutorial here:

How to correctly use File History to transfer data files to a new Windows 10 installation | TechRepublic

Many users hit a wall when trying to use File History to transfer data files between Windows 10 installations. Learn how to avoid common stumbling blocks and make the process successful.

www.techrepublic.com

I hope this helps.

 

[Bastet]

If you open the drive containing File History & double click on the File History Folders then you should be able to search through the files similar to Windows Explorer.

 

[wuser]

Hummm... I guess my original post was not very clear.

Looking at the tutorial Bastet is pointing at, "Figure C" is where my issue is.
I put a checkmark in "I want to use a previous backup...'
but then in the window below, called "Select an existing backup", I don't see my backup. I only see the backup of the other user. That is why I cannot select my own backup (but yes, if I use Windows Explorer to browse the USB drive, I see my backup with all my folders and files).

I've used File History to restore files on a new system before and it worked fine. The difference back then I guess is that there was only one user's backup on the USB drive, as oppose to two users' backups in this case.

 

[Wolfie]

Hi wuser,

how many user accounts do you have?. If you have more than one, are you trying to do the back-up from the admin account or from a normal user account?.

 

[wuser]

Hi wuser,

how many user accounts do you have?. If you have more than one, are you trying to do the back-up from the admin account or from a normal user account?.

There was two of us using the previous system. My user (Moi) and my lady account (User). Both accounts were regular non-admin accounts.

 

[Wolfie]

Both accounts were regular non-admin accounts

That sounds a bit strange as normally an admin account is a requirement for at least one of the users?. Have you tried opening the the process as admin and see if you can access the folder "Moi"?.