Restore system from a BKF? How?

[Phisherman]

I have a very large bkf file saved two weeks ago on a separate hard
drive. Starting from a clean drive do I need to start with FDISK C:?
Do I boot from a floppy first or does it matter? How then can I
restore the bkf file without a restore program on the floppy? Can I
run ntbackup from a floppy to restore this BKF? Or, is there a small
program that will restore huge bkf files successfully?

 

[Uncle Grumpy]

I have a very large bkf file saved two weeks ago on a separate hard
drive. Starting from a clean drive do I need to start with FDISK C:?
Do I boot from a floppy first or does it matter? How then can I
restore the bkf file without a restore program on the floppy? Can I
run ntbackup from a floppy to restore this BKF? Or, is there a small
program that will restore huge bkf files successfully?

Looks as if you shoulda done some research before making the file,
huh?

 

[Rock]

I have a very large bkf file saved two weeks ago on a separate hard
drive. Starting from a clean drive do I need to start with FDISK C:?
Do I boot from a floppy first or does it matter? How then can I
restore the bkf file without a restore program on the floppy? Can I
run ntbackup from a floppy to restore this BKF? Or, is there a small
program that will restore huge bkf files successfully?

First you install XP, then using ntbackup restore the backup file. Now if
this was made a part of an ASR backup then boot from the XP CD, and choose
ASR backup when the option is presented.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I have a very large bkf file saved two weeks ago on a separate hard
drive. Starting from a clean drive do I need to start with FDISK C:?
Do I boot from a floppy first or does it matter? How then can I
restore the bkf file without a restore program on the floppy? Can I
run ntbackup from a floppy to restore this BKF? Or, is there a small
program that will restore huge bkf files successfully?

Restoring a system from a .bkf file is a rather complicated
affair and must always be tested before wiping the original
system. You must use ntbackup.exe, which will only run
from a working Windows installation.

I tried a recovery from a .bkf file a few months ago but
was not entirely successful. I did it by installing a bare-bones
version of Windows on the empty hard disk, then running
ntbackup.exe to restore the original system from the .bkf file.
Perhaps it will work for you. If not then maybe an other
respondent can give you a step-by-step guide.

Instead of using ntbackup to back up your system partition,
consider using an imaging product such as TrueImage from
Acronis. It lets you burn a recovery boot CD which you
can use even if your hard disk is completely blank. Version 7
is now freely downloadable from here:
http://www.acronis.com/mag/DVhbcjdI

 

[Phisherman]

Restoring a system from a .bkf file is a rather complicated
affair and must always be tested before wiping the original
system. You must use ntbackup.exe, which will only run
from a working Windows installation.

I tried a recovery from a .bkf file a few months ago but
was not entirely successful. I did it by installing a bare-bones
version of Windows on the empty hard disk, then running
ntbackup.exe to restore the original system from the .bkf file.
Perhaps it will work for you. If not then maybe an other
respondent can give you a step-by-step guide.

Instead of using ntbackup to back up your system partition,
consider using an imaging product such as TrueImage from
Acronis. It lets you burn a recovery boot CD which you
can use even if your hard disk is completely blank. Version 7
is now freely downloadable from here:
http://www.acronis.com/mag/DVhbcjdI

Many thanks. I was wondering how this would (or could) work. If
windows is installed on C: then you want C: to be the target
partition, it must clobber itself (the active partition) to do the
restore. Makes sense to restore from a bootable Windows CD. Can
ntrestore be run from a Windows installation CD?

My second plan will be to FDISK C:, reload all the apps, and restore
my data folder using ntbackup. I don't think ntbackup works for
installed applications, unless it is an all-or-nothing deal and
restores the active partition. The other concern is that Windows XP
may think it was compromised (or not genuine) when it sees a new hard
drive.

Good to see there is a free backup utility available--there are no
funds available here (at work) for software purchases which is the
reason ntbackup was used.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

See below.

Many thanks. I was wondering how this would (or could) work. If
windows is installed on C: then you want C: to be the target
partition, it must clobber itself (the active partition) to do the
restore. Makes sense to restore from a bootable Windows CD. Can
ntrestore be run from a Windows installation CD?

No, it can't. As I said before, you must have a running
Windows installation in order to run ntbackup.exe.

My second plan will be to FDISK C:,

Fdisk.exe is a DOS tool. There is no reason and no
point in using it before loading Windows. The Windows
installation process has all the tools you need to create
and format the receiving partition.

reload all the apps, and restore
my data folder using ntbackup. I don't think ntbackup works for
installed applications, unless it is an all-or-nothing deal and
restores the active partition.
Correct.

The other concern is that Windows XP
may think it was compromised (or not genuine) when it sees a new hard
drive.

Good to see there is a free backup utility available--there are no
funds available here (at work) for software purchases which is the
reason ntbackup was used.

.. . . as long as you test these backup tools. Running a backup
process without testing it immediately and then once every
six months is a waste of time. You must also examine your backup
reports every week.