Accessing Backups

[Lee-Sherman]

To start off, I have a Lenovo Thinkpad Edge Type 0578, and I don't know a lot about computers.

A program has been backing up my files every few days since I bought this computer 2 years ago.  It came with the computer, and I've never understood how it worked. I've backed everything up on a rewritable disc, but that just became unreadable so I need the other backups.  I can't access them and I can't find any instructions on my computer or the Internet.  I located a program called Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox which at least mentions backups, but won't let me see them.  It says the following.

Last backup: Not available
Backup location: Not available

I called Lenovo tech support, but I'm not sure the person I talked to knew what he was talking about.  He said I needed to install Lenovo Rescue and Recovery to access the backups that are already there.  This didn't make sense to me, but I did it, and the program doesn't work.  There are no instructions for it, either.

I would appreciate any help you can give me, since this is very frustrating.

[Lee-Sherman]

Is there anybody who knows the answer, or can at least point me in the right direction?

[takosan]

Hi Lee,

I got a bit confused from your message so bear with me.

Are you trying to start a new backup process using the Rescue & Recovery program that you just installed? Or are you trying to read the rewritable disc?

If the former then does the program even start? If the latter then the first question that comes to mind is whether Rescue & Recovery was the program that has been doing the backup every couple days since you purchased your ThinkPad Edge?

I'm taking a guess that you just want to start a new backup process from here in forward  ... assuming you can start the program & it defaults into the 'basic' mode, you first click on the arrow next to the label "Change schedule, name a backup, delete backups". Then in the next window where it says "save backups to" click on the down-arrow & select the CD/DVD (assuming that you will be backing up to a blank DVD). The problem might be that after two years you have 'outgrown' the capacity of a blank DVD disc. I, personally, use an external USB drive for backups through Rescue & Recovery (Resuce & Recovery backups the whole hard drive and is flexible as to giving you a choice of restoring the whole computer or select files when disaster strikes. I also keep my important data files on a separate USB thumb drive as cmputers can be recreated but data, if you don't have backups, will be impossible to replace.

Rob

[sameerbhan Support Specialist]

I would like to share with you that if you want to create the Recovery disc from the ThinkVantage Rescue and Recovery then  please visit the mentioned below web link and follow the steps.

http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloads/detail.page?DocID=HT002482

If you want to create the backup of the preloaded software applications then please follow the steps in the
mentioned below web link

http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/detail.page?LegacyDocID=MIGR-41963

Also you can take backup of your personal data in the USB device, from that USB device you can retrieve data whenever
you need.

Thanks & Regards,

Sameer

[Lee-Sherman]

I have a better way of making backups.  I want to know how to access the backups the computer program already made.  My laptop came loaded with some program that used to make regular backups every couple days.  I thought this was standard to Lenovo laptops.

I used searches to go through every program on my computer with "backup" or "Lenovo" in the name.  I found quite a few data backup programs (I really don't know why there are so many different redundant programs), but each said that no backups had been made yet, or else I got an error when I tried to access the backups.  So I still don't know what program was making regular backups, why it stopped, or where those backups might be.  I'm starting to wonder if it ever worked at all.

Unless some new miraculous solution presents itself, I'm just going to give up.