Solutions for Backup and Recovery
This resource will provide you with enough information to assist you to decide how to approach making backups for later restoration in the event of failure. If you need to know how to use ntbackup, simply type the word ntbackup into the Windows XP Help and Support Centre.
NTBACKUP allows you to archive selected files and folders on your hard disk and to restore those archives back to your hard disk or to another disk. The Automated System Recovery (ASR) component of Backup allows you to save and restore system files and configuration settings needed to recover from a system failure. Imaging software takes a byte for byte image of your hard disk.
A number of potentially misleading statements are made in various Microsoft documentation sources that could cause you to make invalid assumptions about XP's backup and restore capabilities. This article also deals with those issues and attempts to clarify the situation.
This article is designed to help prevent the loss of data due to corruption. If you are currently experiencing a corruption problem, you need to read the Dealing with Data Corruption article on this site.
NTBACKUP for
XP Home Edition and OEM Versions
Windows XP Professional automatically installs ntbackup.exe. Retail XP HE (both full and upgrade versions) include ntbackup.exe on CD but it is not installed by default. If you have a retail XP HE, read here for instructions on How to Install Backup from the CD-ROM in Windows XP Home Edition .
OEM versions are often modified and/or "cut down" by distributors, so OEM installations vary considerably. Your particular OEM version might not include ntbackup.exe, or any of the "value add" items included in the retail package. The problem with OEM versions is that they often come pre-installed and you are either given a recovery CD or your HDD has a hidden partition on it with the recovery files stored there. Other OEM systems include a Valueadd directory below the Windows directory. If you are unsure about what recovery mechanisms you have available, ask the people who sold you the system to tell you just exactly how you are supposed to go about recovering from a system failure.
If you are considering buying a new machine with an OEM Windows XP, read this discussion at annoyances.org for other people's experiences.
If you are already stuck with an OEM installation and only have a recovery disk, your best course of action is to install from scratch, configure the system into a state where you are happy with it then image the hard disk. See below for information about imaging software.
NTBACKUP
Versus Imaging Software
NTBACKUP copies files. Imaging software takes a byte for byte image of your hard disk. That is a very important distinction. Copying a file does not preserve certain important information, for example, the file's original position on the hard disk. Imaging the disk essentially results in the position of all files being recorded. All files are put back to their original location when an image is restored in its entirety.
Most disk imaging software provides you with the ability to restore a single file from inside an image. The restored files is copied to your hard disk, it is not restored to its original position.
The Windowx XP Help and Support Centre states that ntbackup will "Make a copy of your computer's system partition, boot partition, and the files needed to start up your system in case of computer or network failure." It can be argued that this statement can be used to infer that you can use ntbackup to copy the system partition and/or boot partition and subsequently restore it to its previous state. That is a highly misleading inference and leads to a down-right innacurate assumption. NTBACKUP copies files, it does not perform imaging functions that may be implied in the statement "make[s] a copy of your computer's system partition, boot partition".
The potentially misleading statements made in the Help and Support Centre do not end there. The help text also states that "Backup creates a volume shadow copy of your data to create an accurate copy of the contents of your hard drive.." It also states that a volume shadow copy is "a volume that represents a duplicate of the original volume taken at the time the copy began." That may be true, but ntbackup only copies files from the duplicate or shadow volume, it does not image the volume.
In Windows XP, and other versions of Windows, certain files must be restored to their original position in order to effect a recovery from a backup. Since ntbackup only copies files, the requirement to put certain files back where they came from is why it is potentially misleading to state that ntbackup will "make a copy of your computer's system partition, boot partition." Copying the files on a partition and recording information about the partition is not the same as imaging it.
You can directly restore a system or boot partition from an image.
You cannot directly restore a system or boot partition from an ntbackup archive and expect it to boot. You must perform a significant amount of additional work, and the end results are not always satisfactory.
Backup to CD with
NTBACKUP
NTBACKUP does not directly support writing to CD, however XP stores files that have been dragged to the CD icon in Explorer within a spool folder. By forcing ntbackup to save the backup file to the spool folder, XP will write the data directly to CD-RW.
In ntbackup, on the Backup tab, under Backup media or file name:, browse to the following location:
C:\documents and settings\[user name]\Local Settings\ Application Data\Microsoft\CD Burning\Backup.bkf
Substitute [user name] for the name of the currently logged on account.
Start the backup and when it is complete, right-click on the CD icon in Explorer and select "Write these files to CD". The size of the backup file must not exceed the capacity of the CD.
Alternatively, perform the backup to another partition and just drag/drop the files onto the CD icon in Explorer then write the file to CD.
Backup
OptionsThere are a number of options available to you for backing up your important files and also for making sure that recovering from a system failure is as painless as possible.
At the very least, you should have another partition on your hard disk to store backups on. There isn't much point storing backups on your boot/system partition because if the partition fails, you'll probably lose your backups, too. Additionally, storing backups on the same physical disk is a less than satisfactory solution because if the hard disk fails, you will probably lose everything on the disk. Ideally you should have a separate hard disk and/or a CD burner. The best backup regimen that poses least risk to your data invloves regular and frequent backing up to a different physical disk and regularly but less frequently to CD.
Backup
Files Only
NTBACKUP will perform this task without the need for you to invest in imaging software. You would choose this option if you were only concerned with keeping your data safe, such as word-processing documents, databases, spreadsheets and presentations etc.
If this is your preferred backup method and you suffer a system failure, you will have to either attempt a repair installation or clean install Windows XP, along with reinstalling whatever applications you use.
Advantages: Quick, relatively easy and no additional cost.
Disadvantages: If the system fails, will require time investment for a reinstallation.
Use Automated
System Recovery (ASR)
Before you can restore from ASR, you must have first created an ASR floppy disk, which contains system settings. You must also have created a backup of your system files. Both of these are accomplished by using the ASR wizard in ntbackup. You will also need the original operating system installation CD.
It is vital that you appreciate that ASR will not restore your data files. ASR restores disk signatures, volumes, and partitions on the disks that are required to start the computer. It installs a new and simplified installation of Windows XP on your hard disk then attempts to restore the system state information and system files using the backup created by the ASR Wizard. If you are familiar with the word kludge, you may be forgiven for seeing the word in your mind's eye in huge, gaudy, flashing neon lights right now.
ASR should only be used in the direst of circumstances and only when all other recovery options have failed. For information on the tools available to you in the event of disk failure or corruption, read the related article, Dealing with Data Corruption, on this site.
If you have an OEM installation, the ASR option may not be available to you. As stated previously, if you are unsure, ask the people who sold you the system to tell you just exactly how you are supposed to go about recovering from a system failure.
To get an idea of the work ahead should you decide not to use ASR or invest in imaging software (discussed next,) read the MSKB article titled How to Recover from a Corrupted Registry That Prevents Windows XP from Starting.
Information on how to setup and use ASR is available in the Help and Support Centre, but you may also find these three Microsoft articles provide additional assistance and information:
How to Set up and Use Automated System Recovery in Windows XP
Creating an Automated System Recovery Set Using Backup
Recovering from a System Failure Using Automated System Recovery
Advantages: Can recover a system to a usable state in a reasobale period of time. No additional cost.
Disadvantages: Requires multiple media, including floppy disk. Does not always recover the system to its prior state. Is more of a disaster recovery procedure than a serious backup procedure. Can be time consuming, confusing and complex if additional work is required to get the system functioning. Does not restore data files.
Disk Imaging
Software
Disk drive imaging has several major advantages over the Windows XP ntbackup file copying solution. Because imaging software copies each disk sector, the physical locations of position dependent files are preserved, as are any optimisations you may have performed on the hard disk. This means that when you restore from an image, the hard disk is in the exact same state it was when you took the image, byte for byte. Imaging software is also unaffected by disk fragmentation because it does not read the files, it reads the sectors on which the files are stored.
With most modern imaging software you can copy the contents of one disk to another disk or move your entire operating system, applications, and data to a brand new disk in one operation. You can also restore the operating system, applications, and data from an image on disk or CD in no more time than it takes to make a cup of coffee starting out with cold water, and all your menu, screen and personalisations are all restored as well. Compare that to the 45+ minutes just to install the OS, then add any number of hours or days to get all your applications back to the state you want them in.
The only real disadvantage to imaging software packages is that they cost money. You must also make sure that whatever software you buy, it supports your operating system's file system.
The four most popular imaging packages are:
Revision Date: 29 Nov
2003