What do I do when I can't read my backed up files?

Question

I keep my machine backed up. My machine went down and needed a new hard drive. Now I need to find a document on one of the disks and when I open it (if I am doing it correctly???)all I get are a bunch of symbols instead of text. All 32 disks are like that. What am I doing wrong? PLEASE, PLEASE HELP ME. Thank you. Shirley Simon -

Answer

This question was answered on September 22, 1999. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.

When you back up, your files are compressed. When you restore them, they will stay compressed and be unreadable until you decompress them with the same software. Use the same software to decompress as you used to back up.

Author

Posted by Ken of Data Doctors on September 22, 1999