Re: Back up

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From: Rocket J. Squirrel (rocky_at_bullwinkle.com)
Date: 03/19/04 

Date: Fri, 19 Mar 2004 16:13:55 -0500

You wrote: "I knew NTbackup on XP Home was worthless, but I didn't realize
how worthless."

Rocky

"Wesley Vogel" <123WVogel955@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:kbJ6c.43299$SR1.50138@attbi_s04...
> Rocky;
>
> And your point is...?
>
> --
> Hope this helps. Let us know.
> Wes
>
> In news:ujpcg7cDEHA.2600@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl,
> Rocket J. Squirrel <rocky@bullwinkle.com> hunted and pecked:
> > Before you jump on ntbackup and call it worthless, consider this: Are
> > there people on the Microsoft campus who know how to write excellent
> > backup software? I think so. Is Microsoft prepared to be sued for
> > bundling backup software into Windows? I don't think so.
> >
> > Rocky
> >
> > "Wesley Vogel" <123WVogel955@comcast.net> wrote in message
> > news:rWE6c.38943$JL2.449979@attbi_s03...
> >> Jeff;
> >>
> >> I knew NTbackup on XP Home was worthless,
> >> but I didn't realize how worthless.
> >>
> >> Interesting article.
> >>
> >> --
> >> Hope this helps. Let us know.
> >> Wes
> >>
> >> In news:WTt6c.19955$4B1.15196@twister.rdc-kc.rr.com,
> >> mrtee <hingelicker@new$.rr.com> hunted and pecked:
> >>> It wont do you any good to get it because it doesn't work (to do an
> >>> Automated System Restore (ASR)) in XP home.
> >>>
> >>> The following is from Woody's XP Watch #2.05 (2/4/2002):
> >>>
> >>> Last week I promised you that I would tell you about backup
> >>> techniques for Windows XP/Home. If you'll recall, I told you that
> >>> Windows XP/Pro has a downright decent backup and restore wizard,
> >>> which runs as part of Automated System Recovery, accessible by
> >>> clicking Start | All Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Backup.
> >>> I also told you about the way Microsoft decided to include the
> >>> backup half of the wizard in Windows XP/Home but, uh, neglected to
> >>> include the restore part. In my WinXP book, I say "that makes
> >>> XP/Home's backup just about as useful as a Ferrari Testarossa with
> >>> no wheels." If you really, really want to use the ASR backup
> >>> routine in XP/Home (it's the NTBackup program that Windows 2000
> >>> users have come to know and love), you can install it from the
> >>> Windows XP/Home CD. To do so, put the XP/Home CD in your CD drive.
> >>> When the installer asks, "What do you want to do?" click "Perform
> >>> additional tasks" then "Browse this CD", navigate to
> >>> VALUEADD\MSFT\NTBACKUP and double-click NTBACKUP.MSI.
> >>>
> >>> But don't bother installing the program until you've the rest of
> >>> this newsletter. It should send a chill down your spine.
> >>>
> >>> I tried a few experiments and learned a few surprising things about
> >>> XP/Home backup. There's an MS Knowledge Base article that's supposed
> >>> to tell you what you need to do in order to perform an XP/Home
> >>> restore, but I tried and tried and couldn't make heads from tails
> >>> out of the article. The boot diskette generated by the backup
> >>> program, following the description in the KB article, doesn't work
> >>> on any of my systems. The steps detailed there for creating a
> >>> backup file do work - you have to manually override the wizard's
> >>> settings - but in the end, the backup isn't much use.
> >>>
> >>> Microsoft outright lies in their Knowledge Base article Q309340
> >>> where it says the restore feature "applies to Microsoft Windows XP
> >>> Home Edition" when it most assuredly does not - any backup that you
> >>> make in XP/Home is essentially worthless. Even if you tell the
> >>> XP/Home "Backup or Restore Wizard" to restore the entire contents
> >>> of the c: drive, it misses parts.
> >>>
> >>> The only way I found to restore the c: drive, after using NTBACKUP
> >>> to create a backup file was to boot from the Windows XP/Home CD,
> >>> completely delete the partition that held Windows, re-install
> >>> WinXP/Home, re-install NTBACKUP using the steps I outlined above,
> >>> and immediately run the restore using the Advanced settings in the
> >>> wizard.
> >>>
> >>> You know the worst part of it all? At every turn, it appears as if
> >>> everything is working correctly, No error message. No warnings. No
> >>> nothing. The Knowledge Base articles occasionally warn you that the
> >>> procedures don't work with XP/Home - then go ahead and give you
> >>> specific steps for performing the procedures that don't work! Unless
> >>> somebody's clued you in, you'll only get heartburn over XP/Home's
> >>> clueless backup when you need it - and find out that it didn't do
> >>> what it was supposed to do.
> >>>
> >>> Trustworthy computing, eh?
> >>>
> >>> So now I've spoiled all your illusions about Backups in Windows XP
> >>> what can you do? In the next issue I'll tell you what I do and what
> >>> options you can try.
> >>>
> >>> From #2.06 (2/12/2002):
> >>>
> >>> There are a million ways to back up your system, and at least a half
> >>> million of them work.
> >>>
> >>> I've been playing the backup game for a long time, and I've only
> >>> bumped into three basic scenarios where I really needed a backup.
> >>> Mind you, I'm not a major multinational corporation, and I don't
> >>> have a server farm. Although I do have an orchid farm. But that's
> >>> another story.
> >>>
> >>> I need backups for three reasons.
> >>>
> >>> First, sometimes my c: drive dies. When that happens, I need to
> >>> stick a new drive in the machine, boot, restore the hard drive,
> >>> restore my data, and get going. I also lose at least two hanks of
> >>> hair and at least one night of sleep.
> >>>
> >>> Second, sometimes I screw up a file so badly I need to go back and
> >>> retrieve an earlier copy. When that happens, I know about it right
> >>> away: I shout and kick the computer and swear a few times, then go
> >>> spelunking to look for an old copy of the file.
> >>>
> >>> Third, on rare occasions, I'll make a change that needs to be undone
> >>> and not catch it right away. I can only think of a couple of times
> >>> I've done that, and it usually involves dial-up networking settings
> >>> - I get the wrong password typed in, or I forget the name of a mail
> >>> server, or something else equally obscure, and it's a couple of days
> >>> later before I realize that I changed something I shouldn't have.
> >>>
> >>> The technique I use for backup works very well for the second kind
> >>> of problem, and pretty well for the first kind. It doesn't do beans
> >>> for the third type.
> >>>
> >>> My method is really simple. I like it that way.
> >>>
> >>> 1. All my PCs have two hard drives. The second one is primarily for
> >>> backups, but I'll also stick device drivers and Service Packs and
> >>> other not-critical-but-a-pain-to-download files on the second drive.
> >>> The second drive also has copies of my old Outlook files, which I
> >>> cycle manually once a month.
> >>>
> >>> 2. Every week or two (or whenever I'm going to do something fun like
> >>> install new software) I run PowerQuest's Drive Image and create a
> >>> full backup image of my main boot drive on the secondary drive.
> >>> Drive Image generates boot disks and all the other goodies
> >>> necessary to recovery from a crashed c: drive.
> >>>
> >>> 3. Every day - usually at the end of the day, I run a little batch
> >>> file that copies all of my important data files from the main hard
> >>> drive onto the backup drive. This is really a bailing wire 'n
> >>> chewing gum approach, but it works fine for me. To make your own
> >>> batch file that copies your data files from the c: drive to the d:
> >>> drive, just do this:
> >>>
> >>> a.. Right-click on the desktop, pick New | Text document
> >>> b.. Immediately type the name backup.bat and hit Enter. Windows
> >>> will warn you not to change the file name extension. Which is really
> >>> weird because Windows doesn't bother to show you file name
> >>> extensions in the first place, but such is the Wonder of Windows.
> >>> What you have is an old-fashioned batch file.
> >>> c.. Right-click on the new backup.bat file and pick Edit
> >>> d.. Type in this line:
> >>> xcopy "c:\Documents and Settings\*.*" "d:\Backup" /d /e /c /h /y
> >>>
> >>> a.. Close backup.bat.
> >>> b.. When you want to run a backup, double-click on backup.bat. The
> >>> first time you run it, Windows will ask if you're trying to create a
> >>> file or directory. Type "d" for directory. After the first time,
> >>> it'll run without a hitch.
> >>> Hate to disappoint you, but that's my entire backup strategy.
> >>>
> >>> That strategy might not suit you, not all of us have to install beta
> >>> versions of Office and Windows from time to time.
> >>>
> >>> XP/Home users have some other options. For example, Microsoft has a
> >>> set of six (six!) setup boot diskettes that you can download. Those
> >>> diskettes will let you boot from your floppy drive, so you can run
> >>> Windows XP setup from the CD, if your computer won't boot from the
> >>> CD.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> The archives are at http://www.woodyswatch.com/winxp/archives.asp.
> >>>
> >>> MS was originally not even going to include ntbackup in XP home but
> >>> (apparently) someone talked them into including it, with reduced
> >>> functionality.
> >>>
> >>> I used ASR with XP pro, it worked as advertised. However I now use
> >>> an imaging program from www.acronis.com TrueImage which works very
> >>> easily and does the job much better.
> >>>
> >>> Look on your XP CD in the value added folder for ntbackup.msi if you
> >>> want to try it.
> >>>
> >>> --
> >>> Just my 2¢ worth
> >>> Jeff
> >>> __________in response to__________
> >>>
> >>> "Bill Pinkel" <bpinkel@aol.com> wrote in message
> >>> news:d01201c40d4b$84a85870$a601280a@phx.gbl...
> >>>> I have Windows XP Home Edition. I click "Start", "All
> >>>> Programs", "Accessories", "System Tools", and there is
> >>>> no "Backup" shown. It states "Activate Windows" but I
> >>>> know that Windows is activated. I have seen other
> >>>> computers with the "Backup" listed in the "Systems
> >>>> Tools". How do I get it???
>