Re: Windows XP Backup Catalog Location?

[GSV Three Minds in a Can]

Does anyone know where XP stores its Backup catalogs? I rebuilt my
system, and I want to restore the catalogs from previous backups, but
I cannot find them. I found the logs, and the backups are on tape, but
I don't know where the catalogs are.

maybe under:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows
NT\NTBackup

But I think you have to =explicitly= catalog the backup file to get an
on-disk catalog, otherwise it is only stored on the tape. (select
restore tab on NTbackup, then go to tools, and select 'catalog' .. read
the help files).

 

[GSV Three Minds in a Can]

The only thing I found in C:\Documents and Settings\All
Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows NT\NTBackup was the backup
logs.

Backup normally catalogs each tape (media set) as it performs a
backup. Unfortunately, unless I can determine where it stores that
info, I'm back to square one.

Not NTBackup on my PC .. the catalog is stored on the tape. One of the
options under 'tools' (general tab) is to use the catalog on the media
to build the catalog on disk, rather than reading all the files and
doing it the hard way. That wouldn't make sense if the catalog was
already on disk - I assume it exists on disk for some brief period of
time, since I do have a 'catalog51' folder (empty) under all users.

The only catalog I can find on disk is the RSM catalog that says 'yeah,
these N tapes are backup tapes, suitable for use with the NTBackup
program'.

 

[hurricane51]

Yes, I've got the option to store catalogs on media checked. That way,
you can simply search for a file to restore, then Backup will prompt
you for the correct tape. The way you are doing it, you would need to
re-catalog the tape before you could restore. In a large backup set,
that will take hours! I'm in the process of rebuilding the catalogs
from tape now, and I've been at it for a long time (backups average
130 GB each).

I wish Microsoft would add a LITTLE more functionality. Like being
able to backup the system state on a remote computer, and a "format
tape" option. I've used dfferent backup solutions (like BackupExec),
but that always puts you at the mercy of having to have the
application installation CD, whihc can be a problem. So I've returned
to the native funtionality.

Once I've got these tapes re-cataloged, I'm going to make a real
effort to find those catalog locations on disk.

 

[hurricane51]

I found them -- they don't show up in a search unless you search for
hidden files AND you know part of the file name. Very strange...the
file attributes don't show them as hidden. If you search by date for
hidden and system files, they don't appear in the results. When I
performed the same search and used *.V0* as the file mask, I found
them.

Anyway, XP/2003 saves them in C:\Documents and Settings\All
Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows NT\NTBackup\catalogs51. They
have alphanumeric names like 2F2D65D5.V01.

You know, it's not like these would ever be VALUABLE. I mean, they're
only for disaster recovery. So...let's HIDE these things from the
user!

 

[GSV Three Minds in a Can]

I found them -- they don't show up in a search unless you search for
hidden files AND you know part of the file name. Very strange...the
file attributes don't show them as hidden. If you search by date for
hidden and system files, they don't appear in the results. When I
performed the same search and used *.V0* as the file mask, I found
them.

I've been running some tests, and yep, these are only created if you do
backup + verify .. otherwise the only catalog is on the media. Why that
should be is a mystery, but then NTBackup is one very poorly documented
piece of toyware. 8<,

(Did you know, for instance, that the 'repair' copies of the registries,
in c:\windows\repair are updated IFF you do an NTBackup of the system
state (? I think it's the system state that does it) .. a fact I can't
find documented anywhere in the system.