Scheduled Backups

[JR13]

I have an external hard drive that I want to use for my daily backups. I can
run a one-time backup just fine, but when I schedule a backup, it starts at
the proper time but when it is finished, there is no new file on my external
drive and the backup file that I ran previously still shows the date I first
ran that. I have tried scheduling "normal" backups and "incremental" backups
without any luck. When I look at the scheduled tasks list, it appears that
the task has run at the scheduled time, but where is it? I'd certainly
appreciate any advice anyone can give me.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I have an external hard drive that I want to use for my daily backups. I
can
run a one-time backup just fine, but when I schedule a backup, it starts
at
the proper time but when it is finished, there is no new file on my
external
drive and the backup file that I ran previously still shows the date I
first
ran that. I have tried scheduling "normal" backups and "incremental"
backups
without any luck. When I look at the scheduled tasks list, it appears
that
the task has run at the scheduled time, but where is it? I'd certainly
appreciate any advice anyone can give me.

- What does the backup log file say?
- What does your backup command look like? You can see it in the scheduled
task.

 

[JR13]

- What does the backup log file say?
- What does your backup command look like? You can see it in the scheduled
task.

Here's the command line:

C:\WINDOWS\system32\ntbackup.exe backup "@C:\Documents and
Settings\Owner\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows
NT\NTBackup\data\AM Backup.bks" /a /d "Set created 01/08/2009 at 9:22 AM"
/v:yes /r:no /rs:no /hcff /m incremental /j "AM Backup" /l:s /f "D:\AM
Backup.bkf"

I don't know how to find the backup log.

My User name is "Owner". I created a new user called "backup" with a
password specifically for the scheduled backups.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Here's the command line:

C:\WINDOWS\system32\ntbackup.exe backup "@C:\Documents and
Settings\Owner\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows
NT\NTBackup\data\AM Backup.bks" /a /d "Set created 01/08/2009 at 9:22 AM"
/v:yes /r:no /rs:no /hcff /m incremental /j "AM Backup" /l:s /f "D:\AM
Backup.bkf"

I don't know how to find the backup log.

My User name is "Owner". I created a new user called "backup" with a
password specifically for the scheduled backups.

Your ntbackup.exe command looks fine.
You can find your backup log files here:
C:\Documents and Settings\backup\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Windows NT\NTBackup\data. There are up to ten of them. It is
essential that you check the most recent one at regular intervals. It is
equally essential that you perform a test recovery now and then again twice
each year. If you don't then there is a good chance that you cannot recover
your files when you need them. Been there, done that . . .

By the way, a backup only deserves its name if you keep the .bkf file well
away from your PC most of the time. If it is kept on the PC itself then it
gives you little or no protection against file system corruption, disk
failure, user error, fire, theft or accident.

 

[JR13]

Your ntbackup.exe command looks fine.
You can find your backup log files here:
C:\Documents and Settings\backup\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Windows NT\NTBackup\data. There are up to ten of them. It is
essential that you check the most recent one at regular intervals. It is
equally essential that you perform a test recovery now and then again twice
each year. If you don't then there is a good chance that you cannot recover
your files when you need them. Been there, done that . . .

By the way, a backup only deserves its name if you keep the .bkf file well
away from your PC most of the time. If it is kept on the PC itself then it
gives you little or no protection against file system corruption, disk
failure, user error, fire, theft or accident.

I found the backup log folder that you describe, but it is empty. Thanks for the advice on performing a test recovery. I'll plan to do that if I ever get the scheduled backup working. I actually do have two external hard drives that I plan to use for my backups. I want to run one around noontime and the other late in the day so it finishes just before closing time. I also have a fireproof box where I will put one of the external hard drives while the other remains connected. With any luck, I'll remember to exchange the two at least once every day so I will have a fairly recent backup in a safe place. Does this sound like a feasible plan to you?

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

=============

You write "I'll plan to do that if I ever get the scheduled backup working".
May I suggest that you replace the words "if I ever get" with "when I get"?
Creating a reliable backup task is no magic but it may require a little
perseverance until we know what's going on. Let's tackle it one step at a
time.

You previously reported that you use this command:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ntbackup.exe backup
"@C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Local Settings\Application Data\
Microsoft\Windows NT\NTBackup\data\AM Backup.bks"
/a /d "Set created 01/08/2009 at 9:22 AM" /v:yes /r:no /rs:no
/hcff /m incremental /j "AM Backup" /l:s /f "D:\AM Backup.bkf"
Now do this:
1. Copy this command into c:\MyBackup.bat.
2. Remove the extra line breaks.
3. Replace the string
"C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Windows NT\NTBackup\data\AM Backup.bks"
with the string
"c:\AM Backup.bks" (with the quotes).
4. Save & close c:\MyBackup.bat.
5. Manually copy the file
C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Windows NT\NTBackup\data\AM Backup.bks"
to
"c:\AM Backup.bks"
6. Click Start/run/cmd {OK} to open a Command Prompt.
7. Type this command:
c:\MyBackup.bat{Enter}
8. Let the job run.
9. Check if the backup file "D:\AM Backup.bkf" exists.
10. Examine the most recent log file in the folder
C:\Documents and Settings\{UserName}\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Windows NT\NTBackup\data
where {UserName} is your current logon name.
11. Report the results. They will determine your next step.

The above process may look complex. It isn't really - it's just a
step-by-step execution of what happens during the automatic process.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I found the backup log folder that you describe, but it is empty. Thanks
for the advice on performing a test recovery. I'll plan to do that if I
ever get the scheduled backup working. I actually do have two external hard
drives that I plan to use for my backups. I want to run one around noontime
and the other late in the day so it finishes just before closing time. I
also have a fireproof box where I will put one of the external hard drives
while the other remains connected. With any luck, I'll remember to exchange
the two at least once every day so I will have a fairly recent backup in a
safe place. Does this sound like a feasible plan to you?==============
I forgot to respond to your question about your backup plan. Yes, your plan
is good: Swapping between two or thee backup media is an excellent way of
doing things. To help you remember changing disks you could create a
repetitive reminder in Outlook (if you use Outlook) or else a scheduled task
that runs at least once each day and that invokes this batch file:

@echo off
echo > c:\TempVBS.vbs msgbox "Time to swap the backup disks"
cscript //nologo c:\TempVBS.vbs

When you get the backup job working and if you're interested then I can
suggest a further batch file that performs two tasks:
1. It runs your ntbackup command.
2. It emails you the latest backup log file once every month.

 

[JR13]

=============

You write "I'll plan to do that if I ever get the scheduled backup working".
May I suggest that you replace the words "if I ever get" with "when I get"?
Creating a reliable backup task is no magic but it may require a little
perseverance until we know what's going on. Let's tackle it one step at a
time.

You previously reported that you use this command:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ntbackup.exe backup
"@C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Local Settings\Application Data\
Microsoft\Windows NT\NTBackup\data\AM Backup.bks"
/a /d "Set created 01/08/2009 at 9:22 AM" /v:yes /r:no /rs:no
/hcff /m incremental /j "AM Backup" /l:s /f "D:\AM Backup.bkf"
Now do this:
1. Copy this command into c:\MyBackup.bat.
2. Remove the extra line breaks.
3. Replace the string
"C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Windows NT\NTBackup\data\AM Backup.bks"
with the string
"c:\AM Backup.bks" (with the quotes).
4. Save & close c:\MyBackup.bat.
5. Manually copy the file
C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Windows NT\NTBackup\data\AM Backup.bks"
to
"c:\AM Backup.bks"
6. Click Start/run/cmd {OK} to open a Command Prompt.
7. Type this command:
c:\MyBackup.bat{Enter}
8. Let the job run.
9. Check if the backup file "D:\AM Backup.bkf" exists.
10. Examine the most recent log file in the folder
C:\Documents and Settings\{UserName}\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Windows NT\NTBackup\data
where {UserName} is your current logon name.
11. Report the results. They will determine your next step.

The above process may look complex. It isn't really - it's just a
step-by-step execution of what happens during the automatic process.

I've done as you prescribe, but no luck. The only backup file that exists on Drive D is dated 1/08/09 and has a different name. It appears that you intended for me to omit the @ from my revised string. Is this correct? Also, I'm not sure what you meant by "Remove the extra line breaks", so didn't do that. One thing that does look promising is that this time when I checked the log file, I do see several backups listed. They go back to December 23, the date that I first started trying to set up scheduled tasks for backing up. I can't imagine why I didn't see them the first time. The most recent one is dated 01/10/09, and was the one I ran without scheduling it.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

No, I never asked you to omit the "@" - it is essential. I only asked you to
replace one .bks folder+file name with another and leave the whole rest
intact.

I think there is a degree of confusion about the backup log files. If you
run the backup job under the Task Scheduler then they will be kept in a
folder that has the account name "backup" in the middle because you
scheduled the task to run under the "backup" account. When you run the
backup job directly then the log file will be in a folder that has the word
"owner" in the middle. No magic here!

I suggest you examine your log files in more detail to get some clarity on
the subject.

 

[JR13]

A reminder would be good, but first I've got to get it to work. Another thing
I've noticed these past couple of days is that there are two scheduled
backups that appear to start at the appropriate time, but then they never
finish. One starts at 7:45 a.m. and the other at 9:30, and both were still
running when i turned my computer off at 8:00 last night. Both are showing
"running" in the status box right now. Until I get things working right,
I'm trying to only back up small amounts of data so these should both be done
in less than 15 minutes. Any ideas why this is happening?

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

A reminder would be good, but first I've got to get it to work. Another
thing
I've noticed these past couple of days is that there are two scheduled
backups that appear to start at the appropriate time, but then they never
finish. One starts at 7:45 a.m. and the other at 9:30, and both were
still
running when i turned my computer off at 8:00 last night. Both are
showing
"running" in the status box right now. Until I get things working right,
I'm trying to only back up small amounts of data so these should both be
done
in less than 15 minutes. Any ideas why this is happening?

They are probably waiting for some user input. Log on under the "backup"
account, terminate all existing jobs, then make one run immediately through
the Task Scheduler so that you can see what's going on.

 

[JR13]

They are probably waiting for some user input. Log on under the "backup"
account, terminate all existing jobs, then make one run immediately through
the Task Scheduler so that you can see what's going on.

Now I think I'm getting somewhere. I logged on as "Backup" and attempted to schedule a backup, but couldn't because it told me I didn't have permission. I attempted to find a place to grant "Backup" full permissions, but ended up assigning Administrator status for this User. Was worried that this might cause "Owner" to lose Admin status, but apparently not. Then I scheduled a quick one-time backup and it was successful. Will attempt a few more test runs before setting up my final daily runs, but I think I'm over my hurdle. Thank you, Pegasus, for you expert advice and patience.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Thanks for the feedback. Yes, you must obviously ensure that the "backup"
account has appropriate access rights to all files and folders it needs to
read or write to.