Restore from an external drive to a new computer or drive
Who is this article for?
Instructor, no.
Incydr Professional, Enterprise, Horizon, and Gov F2, no.
Incydr Basic, Advanced, and Gov F1, no.
CrashPlan Cloud, no.
Retired product plans, yes.
CrashPlan for Small Business, no.
Overview
This article provides a step-by-step guide for restoring your files from an external drive to a replacement computer or main hard drive.
Alternatively, if you are not replacing a computer or main hard drive, but you would like to restore files from a backup archive on an external drive to a different computer, see our tutorial on Attaching An Archive instead.
Consideration
(Code42 for Enterprise only) If inbound backup is disabled and locked by your administrator, do not attempt the steps below. Doing so will result in the loss of your archive. Instead, follow the steps for attaching the archive after adoption. When Accept inbound backup is disabled and locked, you must adopt your previous computer’s GUID first or CrashPlan will treat it like an inbound computer’s archive and delete it immediately.
Restore from an external drive to a new computer or drive
Step 1: Install CrashPlan
- Download and install the Code42 app on your computer.
- Open the Code42 app and select Existing Account.
- Sign in with the email address and password associated with your account.
When you sign in, a message prompts you to adopt your previous computer. Don't adopt yet—you should adopt after restoring your files.
Step 2: Attach your backup archive
- Connect the drive containing the backup archive to your computer.
- Open the Code42 app and go to Destinations > Folders.
- Choose Select.
- Navigate to the archive you'd like to attach.
Look for the folder that matches the source computer's ID: for example, 948212309528060501 - Click Ok.
Your backup archive is stored in a folder labeled with an 18-digit number. This number corresponds to the computer ID CrashPlan assigned to the computer you backed up. If you have multiple backup archives stored on your external drive, and you are unsure which one corresponds to the backup you want to attach, see locating your computer ID below.
Step 3: Restore your files
Once your backup archive is attached, you can restore your files. We recommend reviewing our tutorial on restoring all your files to a new computer or drive for best practices, tips, and warnings.
Step 4: Assign a new computer ID
Now, prepare your new computer to adopt your original computer. Adoption is the process by which you connect your existing backup archives and settings to your new computer. The steps below describe how to prompt the Adopt option.
- Open the Code42 app.
- Double-click the CrashPlan logo in the upper-right corner.
The CrashPlan command-line area opens. - Enter:
guid new - Press Enter and close the window.
Step 5: Adopt previous computer
When you sign back in to the Code42 app, you will see the option to Adopt. Follow our instructions for adopting your previous computer and updating your file selection to resume backing up.