Vista to Win 10 backed up data files are not available

[dannyboy]

I used my Vista Home Premium 32 bit OS to create data file back-ups to an external hard drive.
I bought and used the Win 10 Home 64 bit disk to install Win 10. I have copied the " Backup Set" to my C drive, but I can not open any files. Vista was "Backup & Restore"..... Is Restore different from copying?

advice is appreciated.

Dannyboy

 

[Trouble]

Hello DannyBoy and welcome to the forum.
It's been a long time for me since Vista and I am not sure exactly what method you may have used to

create data file back-ups to an external hard drive.

I suppose we might be able to help if you can use file explorer to access the "external hard drive" and explain what it might contain.
Make sure that you use the view menu to change folder options to remove the check from the box next to "Hide file extensions of known types" and then see what the drive contains in the way of actual files and their extensions.
It's possible that if you see a file with a .vhd or .vhdx extension you might be able to mount the file as a virtual drive and then browse the contents like any other drive on your computer.
You may have to use disk management to assign the virtual (mounted) drive a drive letter before you can actually explore it.

 

[dannyboy]

Trouble,

I used the Vista Control Panel Backup & restore, and saved to my HP Pocket Media Drive, there is no virtual involvement.

I am still mixed up in the differences among restoring vs. extracting compressed files.

Win 10 installed easily
I have 65GB of data on the HP PMD but I have no clear path forward.

thanks in advance for any help.

Dannyboy

 

[Trouble]

When you open the HP Pocket Media Drive in file explorer.....
Can you tell us what you see as far as the contents of the drive, does it contain a backup folder, if so does the backup folder contain files, if so what are the file extensions of the backup files.