A Microsoft Help and Support post that gives an overview of what System Restore does, and links to instructions on using it. Keep reading →

The existing File system APIs in Windows Vista do not provide an easy way to discover and restore deleted files. A new version of the File system API is available that enables third-party developers to discover and restore deleted files from nonencrypted volumes by extending the File Management APIs.

This new API also lets developers pass a password or a recovery key file. Therefore, you can discover and restore deleted files from BitLocker-encrypted volumes. This API does not support the restoration of files from other kinds of encrypted volumes.

This API can only be used to extend the File Management APIs for Windows Vista. Additionally, these functions are only supported when you use the functions in an offline environment, such as Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) or Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE).

Consider the following scenario:

• On a Windows Vista-based computer (computer A), you perform a full backup to an external drive.
• You connect the external drive to another Windows Vista-based computer (computer B).
• On computer B, you try to restore from the full backup on the external drive.

In this scenario, you receive the following error message:

Windows was not able to find any backup sets on [DRIVE] for the following reason:
The system cannot find the file specified. (0×80070002)
Verify that this location is valid and contains backups or try a different location.

Note: For example, the external drive may be a universal serial bus (USB) disk drive or a file share.

Problems with Vista’s Backup and Restore technology? There’s a group waiting to help you! Keep reading →

Consider the following scenario:

• You are running a Windows Vista-based computer that has a Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) recovery partition.
• The recovery partition is not hidden.
  Note: Hidden partitions are type 0×27.
• The recovery partition is marked as active.
• You try to restore an image by using Windows Complete PC Backup and Restore.

In this scenario, the image is not successfully restored.

When you use the Backup and Restore Center on a Windows Vista-based computer that has the Turkish Language Pack installed, you receive the following error message when you back up files to a storage device that is larger than 2 gigabytes. For example, you receive this error message when you back up files to an external hard disk, to an optical drive, to a USB flash drive, to a personal media drive, or to a Secure Digital (SD) card that is larger than 2 gigabytes:

Backup could not complete successfully.
Backup is continuing.

When you use the Restore Files option to restore a backup file on a Windows Vista-based computer, you may receive the following error message:

The restore did not finish successfully. Error code:
The backup file could not be found. Check your hardware configuration or restore from a different backup (0×8100001A).

When you try to perform a file backup operation or a system restore operation in Windows Vista, you may receive the following error message:

Incompatible version of the serializing package. (0×80070724)

When you try to completely restore a Windows Vista-based computer by using Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE), the operation may not be successful. This problem may occur if the following conditions are true:

• You try to restore from a backup that was created by using the Complete PC Backup option.
• WinRE is installed on the boot volume that is marked as an active partition.
• The hard disk drive is encrypted by using BitLocker Drive Encryption.

When you try to restore system files by using third-party system restore applications on a Windows Vista-based computer, the backup system files are not restored as expected.

Note: This problem does not occur when you use the Windows Vista System Restore feature.