Backup will not recognize/detect the DVD onto which I stored my files.

Question

The system: TouchSmart tx2-1275dx system running Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit).  Unit is two years old.
The problem: I am doing a complete restore after complete HDD failure.  I have used the HP recovery disks, purchased online for $16.50 , to reinstall the operating system; it is now back to its as-purchased state and functioning okay.  When I open up the Backup/Restore application and attempt to restore from the backup files on my DVD drive, the system does not recognize those files.  I have tried making a small backup of the restored system thinking that would enable the backup process.  The system will recognize the small backup but not pre-failure backup.  Thinking that the problem was the disks, I tried them on my desktop machine.  Though it runs XP Home, it quickly recognized the backup-disks and successfully restored the files in a temporary profile without issue.  
The question: What can I do to restore the backup files (*.vhd) I made prior to this failure.  I did monthly backups specifically to avoid this kind of data loss.  There has to be some way of getting the system to recognize them.
General remarks: The hardware portion of this restoration was easy.  The software reinstallation/restoration has, to date, taken a suprisingly large amount of time and money; yuck.  

Answer 1

If you are using the built in Vista backup, here is what I think has happened.
Vista backup uses an image based backup, it stores an image of the hard drive and the files you selected for backup, it also stores a disk signature in the image, it contains partition data and other parameters, since you replaced the disk and most likely is not the same size, Vista backup will not recognize that backup as legitimate, signature mismatch of sorts.
What you can do:
1. If you have acess to a W7 PC you can use disk management in W7 to mount the vhd image and the copy all your data out of the image to flat files.
2. You can do this in Vista but takes some software to be installed
http://www.pronetworks.org/forums/how-to-mount-completepc-backup-vhd-file-t84349.html
Conclusion, you most likely can get your data but you will have to decide where it goes.
I don't guarantee this is the issue, but is most likely.
One other thing you can try is to copy the contents of the DVD to your hard drive, then point to the directory.
Vista and W7 backup is not a full featured backup solution and has its limitations, I sugget this software for backups and disk images, it also has a rescue boot disc you can make.
Easeus Todo Backup Free v2.5
http://www.easeus.com/disk-copy/