TL;DR

Hard drive crashed, tried to recover using System Image Backup stored on secondary internal drive with a copy on USB drive. Windows could not find either backup. I am unable to restore, even though I have several copies of the WindowsImageBackup folders.

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The Long Story,

I found several instructions on how easy it is to create a system image of Windows 8.1 online. I followed the instructions and ended up with a WindowsImageBackup folder on my secondary hard drive. I copied the WindowsImageBackup folder to my usb hard drive just to have a backup of my backup.

After a month I created another WindowsImageBackup, putting the first WindowsImageBackup in a dated backup folder of it's own in case I wanted to restore to that older point, I also made a copy of the newer WindowsImageBackup file to my usb hard drive.

So now I feel preeeety secure knowing I have multiple backups of my precious windows drive. Today, CRASH! As expected, usually once every two months my system will get rebooted from a lightning strike or power failure, then I'll get the new blue screen of death and no recovery options ever work. Until now I thought. This time I've got the full backup! Wrong, MS wins again.

Excitedly I break out my pristine windows 8 pro CD and throw it in the drive. I follow the online instructions to get to the area where I restore from a backup. Then I get the error, windows did not find any available backups. :( 

I am able to click the advanced button and connect to a networked computer sure, but I can't look at the internal G drive holding my backup. I plug in my usb hard drive because I am prepared for windows to kick me in the teeth at least once. Still no backups show up, and no options to allow me to tell windows where my backup is hiding. 

I reinstall windows normally, then share my backup drive so that I can try and fool MS Windows in to thinking the backup drive is on the network. Sure enough I am able to navigate to the backup drive and point to the WindowsImageBackup, but it will not add it to the list so I can do the backup. :(

Why? Is there a way to get my backup actually restored? Are my backups uselessly wasting space on my internal backup drive and external usb drive? What gives? 

Thanks in advance, and apologies for my unfiltered irritation of the backup fiasco.

• Edited by FrostCandy 1 hour 9 minutes ago