i bought a external hard drive from dell. installed the software for it and ran the back up for all my files and such. now it doesn't show any of them on it for us to install on the new hard drive we had to install.

My first thought is that the files you backed up are hidden on your external drive. I know I can go to Control Panel/Folder Options and change the folder aspect for my C: drive, but I don't know if it would apply to your external drive.

I just looked at my expansion drive and under tools on the task bar there is a folder option where I can change the aspect of the files stored on this drive. Perhaps you have the same thing.

The other possibility is that the files you thought you backed up to your external drive did not go to your external drive. But may be stored on your C: drive instead. If you gave your backup files a name do a search for that name to see where that name shows up.

Post the model number of the drive; we can try to locate a manual. When you start the software is there a "restore" option - and if so, does it list the files on the external drive?

Also, all OEM's (or at least every one I've seen) provide a utility that allows you copy the content of the old drive to the new one. If you don't have a CD you can download the utilities from the OEM's web site.

the external hard drive is an Apollo 2.5" portable hardrive, 160 gb/go. model number is Apollo 25 PHOD-160gb. i was able to install the software when i connected it to my laptop, but after everything was done and we put in the new hard drive i reconnected the apollo and went to restore it showed nothing there but folders

What's in the folders?

shows nothing in the folders. when i copied all them to this external drive it took over 4 hrs .

Right-click the folders and check Properties to find the size of the folders.
If they aren't empty, the files inside may be hidden.

This might be the manual on ***this page***.

ok thank you jenny. will have to wait to check on all this . got water problems today.

The drive ships with Total Media Backup from ArcSoft. According to the FAQ's on the page below:


Q: How do I view the files I have backed up?

A: You cannot directly use or view the files you have backed up using ArcSoft Total Media Backup. These files are combined into a series of 2GB archive files to protect them from accidental modification and viruses. To view what files are in a specific backup, choose Restore from the Main Menu of ArcSoft and select where your backup is stored. On the following page highlight the backup that you would like to review and choose open. Click next and choose the Advanced Restore option, then click next again. On the following screen you will see a menu similar to Windows Explorer where you can browse through the folders and files included in your backup. You will not be able to access or modify the file without restoring it to your system


Here's the FAQ section referenced -

FAQs and Troubleshooting Tips