NTBackup doesn't back up all files on XP Pro

[Guy Scharf]

I was experimenting with ntbackup and discovered that it does not back
up all files in my \windows\system32 directory for the active
partition. While there are almost 2,000 files in that directory, the
backup has less than half of them, and is missing key files like
ntoskrnl.exe. Thus, when I restore from a backup, Windows doesn't
work.

The log shows no errors and states that a shadow volume copy was
performed.

What am I missing? How can I get a complete backup of all files with
ntbackup?

Thanks.

Guy

 

[Guy Scharf]

ntbackup is backup software not ghosting software it is
not meant to backup windows only your data,

That doesn't say a thing. I've used several file oriented backup
products in the past that would back up and restore operating system
files. For example, I used to use Seagate Backup Exec and it would
back up and restore the OS just file.

If ntbackup is going to skip some files without any messages, then at
least I need to know the algorithm by which it decides which files to
skip. What if it decides to skip some key files that are part of my
application? Now am I to know what it likes and doesn't like?

Guy

 

[mrtee]

If you use the ASR backup wizard in ntbackup it copies everything but the OS (XP). The reason the OS is not backed up in the file is when ASR is run from the CD the OS is installed first - then the .bkf file (all data and programs) is restored. That is how it works, it is not an imaging program. It does work, I have used it.

--
Just my ¢ worth
Jeff
__________in response to__________
|
| That doesn't say a thing. I've used several file oriented backup
| products in the past that would back up and restore operating system
| files. For example, I used to use Seagate Backup Exec and it would
| back up and restore the OS just file.
|
| If ntbackup is going to skip some files without any messages, then at
| least I need to know the algorithm by which it decides which files to
| skip. What if it decides to skip some key files that are part of my
| application? Now am I to know what it likes and doesn't like?
|
| Guy

 

[Guy Scharf]

If you use the ASR backup wizard in ntbackup it copies everything
but the OS (XP). The reason the OS is not backed up in the file
is when ASR is run from the CD the OS is installed first - then
the .bkf file (all data and programs) is restored. That is how it
works, it is not an imaging program. It does work, I have used
it.

Jeff,

Thanks for the info.

I've done a lot more investigating and discovered the files weren't
missing after all, but instead backed up in separate directories. I
ran a test using ASR, and the backup it created seems essentially the
same as a full backup, but with the addition of the floppy disk. It
made a "copy" backup instead of a "normal" backup.

I can't simply recreate the floppy disk right now because I can no
longer make a successful backup of the old C: drive. The drive is
failing and sectors are corrupted.

I have a backup from a few days ago created by ntbackup of the old c:
drive and the system state. I have a temporary partition on the h:
drive. I tried restoring the backup of C: to the new, freshly
formatted C:. That's when I found that not all files were present (I
didn't then know they were in another directory). I then restored the
system state to C:. It left the files in some temporary directories; I
had to move them to their correct directories. Unfortunately, the
system still won't boot from c:, now complaining about a corrupted
vgaoem.fon file.

So what I'll try next is to install a new copy of XP, then restore the
old c: on top of the new one, followed by restoring the system state.
Hope that works.

Guy

 

[CMF]

If you use the ASR backup wizard in ntbackup it copies everything but the OS
(XP). The reason the OS is not backed up in the file is when ASR is run
from the CD the OS is installed first - then the .bkf file (all data and
programs) is restored. That is how it works, it is not an imaging program.
It does work, I have used it.

So, what about us poor people with with XP home instead of XP pro? I did
grab ntbackup from the XP cd, but have read that ASR is not supported on XP
home even if you install ntbackup. Does the ntbackup image created hold the
OS as well?

Maury

 

[mrtee]

No, it does not. To use ntbackup in XP home read this; Backup Utility to Back Up Files and Folders in Windows XP Home Edition http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;320820 and Use Backup to Restore Files and Folders on Your Computer in Windows XP http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q309340 then
An Error Message Is Displayed When You Attempt to Use the Automated System Recovery Wizard http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q302700 (home) HTH.


--
Just my ¢ worth
Jeff
__________in response to__________
|
| | If you use the ASR backup wizard in ntbackup it copies everything but the OS
| (XP). The reason the OS is not backed up in the file is when ASR is run
| from the CD the OS is installed first - then the .bkf file (all data and
| programs) is restored. That is how it works, it is not an imaging program.
| It does work, I have used it.
|
| So, what about us poor people with with XP home instead of XP pro? I did
| grab ntbackup from the XP cd, but have read that ASR is not supported on XP
| home even if you install ntbackup. Does the ntbackup image created hold the
| OS as well?
|
| Maury
|
|

 

[Al Dykes]

not meant to backup windows only your data,

Oh Really ?

What files do you suggest that ntbackup skips on a full backup.

ntbackup's job in life is to make a copy of a system, and to be
capable of restoring the system to the state is was in when the backup
was made. After you restore and reboot you are back where you were.
This means the the entire C drive, including registry files, if that's
what you select.

The fact that ntbackup can make a good OS backup while NT/XP is
running is a major advantage over the cloning tools like ghost.
These need to be booted from a floppy, or the equivalent.

It's your responsibility to have application files and databases
closed if you expect them to be backed up correctly.

There are many other backup tools with more bells and whistles, but
ntbackup does the basics just fine.

 

[Guy Scharf]

Oh Really ?

What files do you suggest that ntbackup skips on a full backup.

ntbackup's job in life is to make a copy of a system, and to be
capable of restoring the system to the state is was in when the
backup was made. After you restore and reboot you are back where
you were. This means the the entire C drive, including registry
files, if that's what you select.

The fact that ntbackup can make a good OS backup while NT/XP is
running is a major advantage over the cloning tools like ghost.
These need to be booted from a floppy, or the equivalent.

It's your responsibility to have application files and databases
closed if you expect them to be backed up correctly.

There are many other backup tools with more bells and whistles,
but ntbackup does the basics just fine.

After further examination, I found the "missing" files. They had been
backed up to shadow directories named Registry, Boot Files, COM+... and
I think something else.

The backup was of the C: drive, which was the boot drive and Windows XP
Pro drive.

I put a new hard drive in the system and created some partitions on it.
I installed a temporary copy of WIndows in another partition (F:, I
think). I then tried to restore the backup to C:. The resulting
partition was not bootable. I found that the shadow directories had
not been restored to their correct locations. I tried to manually move
the files to their correct directories, but the resulting partition
still wouldn't boot up properly, now complaining about some kind of
missing vga oem font file if I recall correctly.

I gave up on restoring and just rebuilt the system, recovering
application data from the backup tape. That worked fine, but I'd hoped
for a faster solution with just a restore.

What is the correct procedure for restoring the Windows partition to a
new drive? I.e., what did I do wrong and what should I have done?

Thanks.

Guy

 

[mrtee]

Did you want to make the new drive the system drive?

Did you write the .bkf file using the ASR wizard in ntbackup.exe?

--
Just my ¢ worth
Jeff
__________in response to__________
| (e-mail address removed) (Al Dykes) wrote:
|
| After further examination, I found the "missing" files. They had been
| backed up to shadow directories named Registry, Boot Files, COM+... and
| I think something else.
|
| The backup was of the C: drive, which was the boot drive and Windows XP
| Pro drive.
|
| I put a new hard drive in the system and created some partitions on it.
| I installed a temporary copy of WIndows in another partition (F:, I
| think). I then tried to restore the backup to C:. The resulting
| partition was not bootable. I found that the shadow directories had
| not been restored to their correct locations. I tried to manually move
| the files to their correct directories, but the resulting partition
| still wouldn't boot up properly, now complaining about some kind of
| missing vga oem font file if I recall correctly.
|
| I gave up on restoring and just rebuilt the system, recovering
| application data from the backup tape. That worked fine, but I'd hoped
| for a faster solution with just a restore.
|
| What is the correct procedure for restoring the Windows partition to a
| new drive? I.e., what did I do wrong and what should I have done?
|
| Thanks.
|
| Guy

 

[Guy Scharf]

Did you want to make the new drive the system drive?
Yes.

Did you write the .bkf file using the ASR wizard in ntbackup.exe?

No. It was just a full backup of the C: drive using NTBackup.

Thanks.

Guy

 

[Guy Scharf]

Guy, you need 3 HDDs to make this work.
1. Open ntbackup.exe.
2. Click on ASR wizard.
3. Write the .bkf file to the 2nd HD.
4. Insert the floppy when instructed to.
5. 3 files are written to the floppy.
5. Remove the old system drive.
6. Install the new system drive.
7. Boot from the XP CD.
8. When the bottom of the screen says "press F2 to run ASR" press
F2. 9. You will be instructed to insert the floppy.
10. XP is installed to the new drive and everthing that was on the
system drive is restored as it was.

That is how it works, I did this very thing last week. The size
(partition) of the system drive was restored to the same size as
the original and I had to make use of 3rd party partitioning tools
to increase the size of it.

Just follow the on screen prompts for using and restoring from the
ASR wizard.

But (you know a "but" was coming, right?)...

I was unable to run a backup to create an ASR disk, as the hard drive
had corrupted sectors and ntbackup would no longer complete. That left
me having a backup that I could not figure out how to restore to a
working system drive.

Also, I run ntbackup automatically in the middle of the night using a
batch file. I have not found any way to create the needed SIF files
for the ASR disk when running ntbackup from the command line. I also
want just to create the files on the backup, not on a diskette (which I
obviously cannot insert in the middle of the night for an automated
backup).

Thanks.

Guy

 

[Al Dykes]

Jeff,

Thanks for the info.

I've done a lot more investigating and discovered the files weren't
missing after all, but instead backed up in separate directories. I
ran a test using ASR, and the backup it created seems essentially the
same as a full backup, but with the addition of the floppy disk. It
made a "copy" backup instead of a "normal" backup.

I can't simply recreate the floppy disk right now because I can no
longer make a successful backup of the old C: drive. The drive is
failing and sectors are corrupted.

I have a backup from a few days ago created by ntbackup of the old c:
drive and the system state. I have a temporary partition on the h:
drive. I tried restoring the backup of C: to the new, freshly
formatted C:. That's when I found that not all files were present (I
didn't then know they were in another directory). I then restored the
system state to C:. It left the files in some temporary directories; I
had to move them to their correct directories. Unfortunately, the
system still won't boot from c:, now complaining about a corrupted
vgaoem.fon file.

It sounds like you missed one more step; you have to make the
C partition bootable. I haven't done this in XP but I expect
that you boot the XP CD, go into recovery mode and play with it.