PC Data Backups

File Restore Instructions

1) Open PC Data Backups

1. *Note: You will need to perform at least two backups before you can successfully retrieve backed up files.
2. Open your PC Data Backups software by clicking Start, Programs, PC Data Backups, PC Data Backups.
3. If you want to retrieve an entire drive (e.g. C:), you should instead use Easy System Restore, which will restore the Windows registry and other system settings.

2) Retrieve Tab

1. Click on the "Retrieve View" tab.
2. Click on the "Retrieve Options." button.

3) Retrieve Options Dialog

1. Choose "Show all versions of all files" to see all versions (dates) of your files.
2. Choose "Show files that were on my system on: (mm/dd/yy)" & enter the appropriate date to just see files available on a certain date.
3. Choose "Show data and executable files" to see all files that were backed up. (*Some files will be hidden, unless you choose this option.)
4. Click OK.

4) Select Files to Retrieve

1. Back in the Retrieve View, click in the box to the left of the file versions and folders you want to retrieve.
   • A green check mark will appear in the box next to selected files.
   • Folders with selected files will have blue bottoms.
2. In the far left column, you will see the number and size of files set to retrieve.
3. Click the "Retrieve Now." button.

5) Retrieve Preferences

1. Typically, you will want to restore files to their original location. By default, the first option is checked to append the conflicting files already on your hard drive with the word " original" just before the extension.
2. Otherwise you can choose to rename the files you are restoring using the second option.
3. You can also choose to restore files to a different directory. Select "Retrieve all files to a different folder".
   • This is a smart option if you are trying a "test restore." To do so, create a folder on the root of your C: drive, named "TestRestore". (Open Windows Explorer, click "My Computer", "Local Disk (C:)", right click in the right panel and select "New Folder" and name it "TestRestore".
   • It is a good idea to use the original directory structure. If you use this option, "Retrieve original directory structure" should be checked.

6) Choose the folder to retrieve files to

1. If you are retrieving to a different directory, follow the steps below.
   • Click the "Browse" button, then click on the "+" next to the C: drive folder and scroll to the folder named "TestRestore" (or whatever folder you are copying to), highlight it, then click "OK".
2. Click "OK" again and the retrieve operation will start.

7) Data Transferring

1. Wait a moment for the data to download.

8) Retrieve Completed

1. When the retrieval is finished, you will see this message showing the number of files retrieved and their sizes.
2. Verify the files you selected are there. When you are finished with this test, you can delete this folder ("TestRestore").