| in message | I've never quite figured out (despite a search) whether backing
| up the SystemState (from within the XP backup utility ntbackup)
| is quite enough. Enough, for example to deal with a disk
| failure. The last time I did this, it produced a backup file
| of 9Gb, which seems to have included user data including a lot
| of huge audio files.
|
| I have the alternative available to using Ghost to backup the
| single 60Gb partition (I now wish I'd split that in two).
| Would Ghost be better / more complete? Does either record disk
| partitioning information?
|
| I'd be interested in any pointers to detailed information on
| how ntbackup works, because I haven't found much yet.
|
| (any XP Home edition users reading this - be aware you can
| install ntbackup from the ValuPack folder on a full
| installation disk, and itworks a treat.)
You say you are preparing for "disk failure". If that is indeed
what you are preparing for and you have some reason to believe
that your hard disk is going to fail then I recommend that you
immediately use Ghost to backup everything. Unfortunately I know
little about the program (or other similar programs) so I cannot
answer any specific questions about it
Also, AFAIK all hard drive manufacturers have tools that you can
use to diagnose problems that could lead to "disk failure". I
recommend that you visit your hard drive manufacturer's Web Site,
download the diagnostics tools, and run them. Note, you may
already have the tools if you purchased a hard drive that came
with a CD-ROM.
And Windows XP has a built-in tool for performing error checking
on your hard drive. There are two methods you can use to detect
and repair disk errors. The GUI error-checking tool is described
in the Windows XP Professional Help and Support Center Full-text
Search Matches titled: "Detecting and repairing disk errors".
And the command-prompt method is described in the Windows XP
Professional Help and Support Center Full-text Search Matches
titled: "Chkdsk".
And Windows XP has built-in error detection that logs disk error
messages to the Event Viewer. For example, when an I/O operation
to a hard disk is unsuccessful this will be logged. For more
information search the Windows XP Professional Help and Support
Center for "Using Event Viewer" (with the double-quotes) and read
the Full-text Search Match by that title.
And (most likely) your hard drive supports Self-Monitoring,
Analysis, and Reporting Technology (SMART) error reporting. This
technology monitors disk drive degradation and will produce an
error message if it predicts future catastrophic disk failure.
So if you have received any warning signs such as the above, or
you are truly concerned about "disk failure", I recommend that
you perform a backup immediately and replace your hard drive
ASAP.
As for Ghost vs. Windows Backup (ntbackup.exe)
AFAIK, if you use Ghost you will be able to create an image, and
restore your system to an exact state in the past using it.
If you use Windows Backup you will need to run Windows Backup and
backup your entire computer including the System State Data and
all the other system and data files from your computer (such as
the backup set that is created when use the "Automated System
Recovery Wizard"). Store the backup file in a safe and protected
location. Then, recover by formatting your hard drive.
Installing a new version of Windows XP Home. Installing
ntbackup.exe (since you are running Home). And then running
Windows Backup to restore (recover) your system using the backup
set that you previously created.
Note that I have never done a total system restore using the
above procedure. And this is only my personal belief, but I
doubt that a recovery done using this procedure would actually
restore my system to an exact state in the past (like Ghost
apparently can do).
For some information about using ASR in Windows XP Home see the
following Microsoft Knowledge Base article and documentation:
KB302700 - An Error Message Is Displayed When You Attempt to Use
the Automated System Recovery Wizard
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?Product=winxp&scid=kb;en-us;302700
And for more information about using Microsoft Backup to prepare
for disk or drive failure see the following:
Windows XP Professional Resource Kit Documentation
Part II | Desktop Management
Backup and Restore
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/Windows/XP/all/reskit/en-us/prdg_dsm_htwo.asp
BTW, like the "Backup and Restore" document says, "The System
State data does not represent the entire system". And as follows
is a summary of a "test" I performed using the Backup Wizard to
"Only backup the System State data".
A quick review of the log file shows that it is definitely only
system-type data. There are no personal files. Just files such
as *.exe, *.dll, *.sys, *.cat, *.cpl, *.tlb, *.tff, *.drv, *.cpx.
And the bulk of the backup appears to be the Windows\System32
folder. Here is a summary of the time started and completed, and
number of directories and files that were included, etc.:
Backup started on 5/31/2004 at 7:05 AM.
Backup completed on 5/31/2004 at 7:10 AM.
Directories: 177
Files: 2039
Bytes: 346,245,176
And like the "Backup and Restore" document says "ASR is a
recovery tool that backs up all files on the system partition and
is used to bring a system back online if startup fails." As
follows is a summary of a "test" I performed (previously) using
the Automated System Recover Wizard. The backup does indeed
include everything on my System partition including System State
Data information. Note that after clicking the Finish button on
the ASR wizard it actually performs all three backups listed
below in what appears to be one step.
----
Backup started on 5/15/2004 at 4:09 PM.
Folder C:\
Backup completed on 5/15/2004 at 4:41 PM.
Directories: 2272
Files: 42258
Bytes: 6,133,514,560
Time: 31 minutes and 19 seconds
----
Backup started on 5/15/2004 at 4:41 PM.
Folder System State\Boot Files
Backup completed on 5/15/2004 at 4:42 PM.
Directories: 177
Files: 2070
Bytes: 357,327,012
Time: 1 minute and 42 seconds
----
Backup started on 5/15/2004 at 4:42 PM.
Folder C:\WINDOWS\Repair
Backup completed on 5/15/2004 at 4:42 PM.
Directories: 3
Files: 2
Bytes: 17,273
Time: 1 second
BWT, if you do decide to use Windows Backup (ntbackup.exe) I
suggest that you see if your version of the program can be
configured to create a Detailed Log. That way when you create a
backup file the program will create a detailed report with a list
of all files included in the backup set (even those that you do
not have permission to access).
The following is one way to do configure Windows Backup to create
a Detailed Log if you are using Windows XP Professional. Maybe
the method will work for the Home Edition, too.
Start Backup utility. If you are using "Wizard Mode" click the
"Advanced Mode" hyperlink. On the Tools menu, click Options. In
the Options window, on the Backup Log tab, select Detailed, and
click OK.
To view the log either:
Click the "Report..." button in the "Backup Progress" dialog box
after the backup is finished.
Or click [menu bar] Tools | Report...
Or use Windows Explorer to navigate to the directory where the
log is located. By default the path is:
C:\Documents and Settings\~YourUserName~\Local
Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows NT\NTBackup\data
