# All Backup Image Folders Said To Be Empty



## likekinds (Sep 30, 2007)

On the advice of 'Corday', I've made a Win 10 Repair Disc. And I've made a Windows Image Backup on an external hard drive. I'll look for and read tutorials on using these tools. In the meantime, I have a couple of questions.

First, I am concerned as to whether my backup is usable. After it completed, I went to look at it. The folder said it was empty. I opened it anyway and found more folders, all of which were said to be empty. And so on. I eventually got to the actual backup images.

When I clicked on one, I got an error stating the file could not be mounted. I'm sure this error needs to be corrected before I have an actual need for the image. I've never used Disk Management Snap In on an external hard drive. I'm sure I should read a tutorial first.

The repair disc seems to be OK. I did not get any errors when burning it. But I would like to test it somehow to make sure it is OK before I should need it. And the same for the image. Where wil lI find instructions for testing the repair disc and for properly mounting the image?

(The last time I opened all the folders to get to the image, they were not shown to be empty. Still, I'm concerned that it showed they were, initially).


----------



## Corday (Mar 3, 2010)

https://www.howtogeek.com/239312/how-to-restore-system-image-backups-on-windows-7-8-and-10/ and scroll down to: How to Restore Your Backup Through Windows’ Startup Options (7, 8, and 10)
There used to be a way to do it from the desktop, but no longer.
To boot from the boot disc, change the boot order in the bios.
For the Mount problem: Right click on the .vhxd file and select Mount>Disk Management>assign an unused drive letter.

I'm assuming your System Image is on an external hard disc and not a thumb drive or DVD. You must have a drive or partition of one with sufficient space.


----------



## likekinds (Sep 30, 2007)

Yes, as I stated in my second sentence " And I've made a Windows Image Backup on an external hard drive"

But, did you notice there are two .vhdx files. Is this normal? How should they be treated?


----------



## likekinds (Sep 30, 2007)

On the subject of booting from a boot disk: I was told by a local repair technician that I could leave the boot disk as first in the boot order. He said that if 'boot from disk' was set as first and there was no boot disk in the drive, the computer would automatically look for another means to boot and open with 'C'. I haven't tried this and wondered if it was true.


----------



## Corday (Mar 3, 2010)

.vhdx= one might be backup one incremental or different dates.
As far as boot disc is concerned, I'd just put it in a safe place and keep the default order.


----------



## likekinds (Sep 30, 2007)

This is my first time to use Windows Imaging. I ended up with two .vhdx files. They show the same date just hours apart though I ran the imaging just once. One file is almost twice the size of the other.

I have no idea which to chose for mounting, and if I did, it wouldn't matter because neither will mount. The error states neither has been initialized.

I tried to delete the images and make a new copy. I cannot because the file is said to be in use elsewhere although I have stopped everything else.


----------



## likekinds (Sep 30, 2007)

The images were put on My Book D. This is a 2 TB ext HD. Everything I have of importance is on this drive. I can't afford to lose anything in the process of partitioning or assigning drive letters to accommodate the image file. 

Attached is a screen shot showing the D drive and its current state but I don't know where to go from here.

If you are busy with weekend activities and would rather take this up Monday evening, it would be fine with me.


----------



## Corday (Mar 3, 2010)

You have to create a partition on an un-allocated area of your disc "D". If you're uncomfortable with this, then a second external HD would work.


----------



## Stancestans (Apr 26, 2009)

likekinds said:


> ...I've made a Windows Image Backup on an external hard drive...
> 
> First, I am concerned as to whether my backup is usable. After it completed, I went to look at it.


The _Backup and Restore (Windows 7)_ feature of Windows 10, unfortunately, doesn't offer a way for the user to manually check or verify the integrity of the backup image. However, if the backup image was *created successfully* and you did NOT tamper with it in any way afterwards, then the image is good to go. I believe the image creation process involves checking for inconsistencies that would render it unusable. The ultimate test for usability, however, would be to actually use it to restore the system. *You can do so by restoring the image onto a spare HDD* that doesn't contain important or non-backed-up data, that is, one that can be wiped and formatted without losing anything.



> The folder said it was empty. I opened it anyway and found more folders, all of which were said to be empty. And so on. I eventually got to the actual backup images.
> 
> When I clicked on one, I got an error stating the file could not be mounted. I'm sure this error needs to be corrected before I have an actual need for the image. I've never used Disk Management Snap In on an external hard drive. I'm sure I should read a tutorial first.
> 
> ...


The folder named _WindowsImageBackup_ in the backup drive is NOT empty IF the image creation completed successfully. It does seem to be empty because of the *permissions that are applied to it by default*, which make it and its contents inaccessible. If you check its properties before you gain permissions to access it, it appears as being 0 (zero) bytes and containing 0 files and 0 folders, but in reality that is not the case. This is by design and for good measure, to prevent exactly what you're trying to do to its contents. It's not iron-clad defence, but it's a start especially in the hands of noobs. If you switch to the _Security_ tab of its _Properties_ dialog, you will see a message saying "You must have Read permissions to view the properties of this object." The same applies to its contents, but once you've gained the necessary permissions, they cease to appear "empty" or 0 bytes in size. Having said that, you shouldn't be probing inside that _WindowsImageBackup_ folder because you risk damaging the compressed image(s) or deleting/altering something that's required for proper detection and restoration of those images. Those vhdx files are not regular virtual HDD files that you could just mount or attach via Disk Management, so failure to mount them is not an error that needs to be corrected.



> This is my first time to use Windows Imaging. I ended up with two .vhdx files. They show the same date just hours apart though I ran the imaging just once. One file is almost twice the size of the other.
> 
> I have no idea which to chose for mounting, and if I did, it wouldn't matter because neither will mount. The error states neither has been initialized.
> 
> I tried to delete the images and make a new copy. I cannot because the file is said to be in use elsewhere although I have stopped everything else.


The two vhdx files are for the *two partitions that get backed up when you create a system image backup*. You referred to this process as cloning drive C, but *it's more than that*. Apart from the Windows partition, the system partition (contains files that are used by the firmware/bios to boot the operating system, for example, the Windows bootloader and boot configuration data aka BCD) is also backed up and is much smaller than the Windows partition. When you restore that backup, each of those vhdx files gets restored to a separate partition, so the target drive will end up with two partitions respectively.

Again, as a security measure, you cannot straightaway delete the _WindowsImageBackup_ folder or the vhdx files. They are locked by the "System" process which you can't stop or end without triggering the system to shut down! However, you can trick the system into thinking the backup drive is no longer present on the system and then delete the entire _WindowsImageBackup_ folder. I usually do this by changing the drive letter of the backup drive to something else. For example, if the drive containing the backup image is D: you can use Disk Management to change it to E: Once the change is in effect, go ahead and delete the folder. Afterwards, you can revert the drive letter to D: if you so wish. You'll probably want to revert the drive letter to the original since the drive contains other important stuff and you're used to accessing it via that letter. If the backup image is not very old (less than a month old) and it was created when the system was stable and problem-free, say before the permissions fiasco on your other thread, I would advise against deleting it. However, if you like how your system runs at this point, then go ahead and delete it then create a fresh one.


----------



## Stancestans (Apr 26, 2009)

likekinds said:


> The images were put on My Book D. This is a 2 TB ext HD. Everything I have of importance is on this drive. I can't afford to lose anything in the process of partitioning or assigning drive letters to accommodate the image file.
> 
> Attached is a screen shot showing the D drive and its current state but I don't know where to go from here.
> 
> If you are busy with weekend activities and would rather take this up Monday evening, it would be fine with me.


No need to create a partition, your 2TB backup drive already has a partition (NTFS formatted drive D: ) occupying all of its space (no unallocated space), so it's ready for storage of the backup image. You should be able to simply select it as the target backup drive when running the backup wizard. Changing the drive letter shouldn't adversely affect anything, and it definitely won't cause a loss of data. You can do this safely without fear, perhaps to delete the system image backup as described in my previous reply, then revert it to its original letter when done.


----------



## likekinds (Sep 30, 2007)

Thanks for the wealth of information. I was happy that I had finally gotten around to making a back up image and was eager to report back to the forum.

I looked inside the folder and saw about 10 files (which have mysteriously disappeared) in addition to the actual backup files. I did not try to open these files. By hovering the mouse over the files, I found they were said to be empty.

Having no prior knowledge of creating an image backup, I thought the backup had failed. I wanted to gather information to report back to the forum to find out why. It was then that I clicked on the two vhdx files to see if I could learn more to report to the forum.

When I did click on these two files, I was given the option to Mount. Thinking I was wrong and that the backup had not failed and that the files should now be mounted, I chose that option.

It was then I was told mounting could not take place due to lack of initialization. I don't know what initialize means here. If I click on the file and it offers the option to mount and I select that option, I wouldn't think that would amount to tampering. Maybe I'm wrong.

I am glad that you brought to light the fact that I will not need to do any partitioning. My plans were to start over with another ext HD and I was going to ask if I should partition the drive for the backup image before creating an image.

If the image I just made was in fact good, what did I not do right to cause the 'not initialized' error?


----------



## Stancestans (Apr 26, 2009)

likekinds said:


> I looked inside the folder and saw about 10 files (which have mysteriously disappeared)


Maybe they were just temporary files that got cleaned out when no longer needed. Like I said, the backup folder and it's contents are not to be probed. It should be left as it is IF the backup image creation completed successfully. Exploring its contents out of curiosity could lead to confusion and subsequently erroneous actions.



> Having no prior knowledge of creating an image backup, I thought the backup had failed. I wanted to gather information to report back to the forum to find out why. It was then that I clicked on the two vhdx files to see if I could learn more to report to the forum


What made you think it had failed? If the backup had failed, it wouldn't have said it completed successfully, would it? It also would have given more information about the failure. If it had just exited without telling whether it completed successfully or failed, then it would have been appropriate to think something had gone wrong and attempt to figure out what.



> When I did click on these two files, I was given the option to Mount. Thinking I was wrong and that the backup had not failed and that the files should now be mounted, I chose that option.
> 
> It was then I was told mounting could not take place due to lack of initialization. I don't know what initialize means here. If I click on the file and it offers the option to mount and I select that option, I wouldn't think that would amount to tampering. Maybe I'm wrong.


Yes, mount is an option in the right-click/context menu as well as many others such as delete, open with etc. You don't have to use any of them, especially if you're not sure what you're doing. It's alright though, you're learning, we all have to at some point.



> If the image I just made was in fact good, what did I not do right to cause the 'not initialized' error?


What you're doing wrong is thinking the "not initialized" message implies the backup image(s) are bad. You think it's a problem that needs fixing. Like I said before, it is NOT an error that needs to be fixed. I'll ask again, what makes you think the backup was unsuccessful IF the backup process itself reported successful completion? Also, what makes you think that mounting the images is the right process for checking if they are good? Let's assume the vhdx files did mount without issues, how would you have proceeded to check they are good? If you ask me, its a good thing they don't mount like regular vhdx do because that would have opened more doors for erroneous actions from users who do not know what they are doing. Backup images ought to be handled with care. They are, after all, your recovery option when things go south. Most experienced folks will tell you once they have a successfully created backup, they stash it away and not tinker with it or the drive containing it, unless they are creating a newer one.


----------

