[dnanian]

Scott:

Sorry to hear of your troubles!

Since I don't know how you created the backup in the first place, it's hard for me to be sure if you created something that should be bootable. But, assuming that you did, it's likely that the reason it's not showing up is that the drive isn't spinning up.

So, what I'd do is power everything off, including unplugging the drive from both the wall (if plugged into the wall) and the computer.

Then, hold down option and power on the computer (keep the drive disconnected).

When the internal drive has shown up, wait until the cursor changes to an arrow. Then, plug in the external drive to AC and into the computer. Once it's plugged in and you hear noise, click the "refresh" arrow.

Does the drive then show up? If so, boot from it and try the restore.