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Unrecognized Media

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9 replies

by keith.phillips

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Anybody ever seen this when trying to restore a Win2K backup file?

"The backup file is unusable. You must erase it, or choose another file"

I've been looking for a possible piece of software that will allow me to restore at least some of the data I have in a seemingly useless 4 gig backup file.

Any help would be more than I'm getting from MicroSoft's web site.

9 replies

by dklippert

Can't find any software to do what you want. I'm sure you have looked at:

MSKB Q269826

There has also been some discussion of a bug when the AD is included in a backup.
Sorry I don't have better news.

by mike (from canada)

What is the extension of the backup file? is it .cab? .zip?
Microsoft usually has files packaged into a .cab file (better known as a cabnet). so you need to get a .cab extracter and then run it and then load the backup file you want and extract thenecessary file(s). If the file is corrupted, try using scandisk or defrag to fix your disk. the backup file might by lying in a new bad sector.

by estebandelatorre

I'm sure you know, but I will try to write down a list of the possible issues that may lead to an unusable tape. If you can identify your problem may be you can restore a piece...

1.- Discard any hardware related problem. Double check that your software+hardware can perform a backup and a restore.
2.- Use the SAME software to restore that you have used to backup. If you used the win2k embeded software, Did you made any changes?, any new w2k service pack ?
3.- Perfom a tape retension at least 3 times.
4.- If the tape drive has changed, although it may be the same model, head aligment may be different, so try another hardware if possible.

Hope it helps!!
5.-

by keith.phillips

This is not on a tape, it's on my server in a temp volume. According to MicroSoft, anything over 4GB will do this.....thanks for the info in hind-site MS. Thanks anyway.

by mike (from canada)

check the extension of the backup file.

If it is ZIP, download winzip at http://www.winzip.com.
If it is CAB, download chippy from www.cnet.com or use Microsoft's Cabinet extraction tool
If it is EXE, run it.

If it is not in any one of theseformats, then use the program that associates with this file.

Also, scan the backup disk for errors.

by maxwell edison

The backup file is corrupt and it is not in a valid Windows 2000 backup file format. When Windows 2000 opens a backup file it checks the file to ensure that it is a valid backup file. If the file is incomplete or corrupt, the backup file process cannot add or restore any data to or from the file.

When a backup file is corrupt, it can no longer be used by the Windows 2000 backup process. To ensure the integrity of a backup file, you must choose the Verify Data After Backup advanced option when you perform any backups. This option ensures that your computer system's backup process completes successfully and maintains the integrity of the backup files. You should also check the backup report to ensure the backup process completed without errors.

The backup process posts two event messages in the Application Event log for each backup operation, followed by two more event messages for the verify operation process.

Maxwell

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