NTBackup Functionality

[Rafael]

I am going to use NTBackup to backup my XP machine to an external hard
disk. I want this to run in an automated a fashion as possible and I
want to automatically retain the last 5 backups.

I may also want to run a batch file before or after the backup.

Can anyone suggest how any or all of the above might be acheived
please?

Many thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

I am going to use NTBackup to backup my XP machine to an external hard
disk. I want this to run in an automated a fashion as possible and I
want to automatically retain the last 5 backups.

I may also want to run a batch file before or after the backup.

Can anyone suggest how any or all of the above might be acheived
please?

Many thanks in advance for your help.

Much depends on your batch file writing skills - but you might check out

http://www.jsifaq.com/SF/Tips/Tip.aspx?id=2265

You might also look at
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/ - it's awesome. Not
free, but worth it.

 

[Patrick Keenan]

I am going to use NTBackup to backup my XP machine to an external hard
disk. I want this to run in an automated a fashion as possible and I
want to automatically retain the last 5 backups.

I may also want to run a batch file before or after the backup.

Can anyone suggest how any or all of the above might be acheived
please?

Many thanks in advance for your help.

I'm sure that you will get a number of detailed replies on how to do this,
but two things:

First - it'd help if define how much of the system you want to back up.
Complete system state or just selected data? This matters because doing
the complete system requires a floppy, which may or may not be present.
You might consider a mix - an attended complete system backup followed by
data backups.

Second - by default, the Windows Task Scheduler requires passwords to run on
local accounts. This is a security measure, and while it can be defeated,
consider whether the reduction in security is worth simply creating a
password. You can easily have Windows remember the passwords.

HTH
-pk