I recently up my H/D using XP's backup to an external hard drive now i cant restore any of my files. It doesn't recognise the backup but all the data is there when i look at the external H/D
You wouldn't be able to see "all the data" because the Windows backup utility saves it as a backup file. To restore it, open the backup utility and select "Restore". You then navigate to where the fine is stored and select it.