Unable to get backup start

[M]

I am unable to get the backup utility to start. I am running XP Pro SP2.
When I double click

C:\WINDOWS\system32\ntbackup.exe

nothing happens. When I look in the Process list of Sysinternals Process
Explorer the utility is running. If I click on the listing a properties
dialog box pops up. If I click on the 'Bring to Front' button I get a
message box 'No visible windows found for this process'.

I have uninstalled and reinstalled but it does not make a difference. Does
anyone know a fix or failing that a free replacement?

Thanks

 

[Poprivet]

I am unable to get the backup utility to start. I am running XP Pro
SP2. When I double click

C:\WINDOWS\system32\ntbackup.exe

nothing happens. When I look in the Process list of Sysinternals
Process Explorer the utility is running. If I click on the listing a
properties dialog box pops up. If I click on the 'Bring to Front'
button I get a message box 'No visible windows found for this
process'.
I have uninstalled and reinstalled but it does not make a difference.
Does anyone know a fix or failing that a free replacement?

Thanks

I don't know where it is, but I DO know I've seen posts about whre you can
download it from at Microsoft's site. Perhaps a search there.

Pop`

 

[Guest]

Same problem...I must have loaded and unloaded it a dozen times, and it
still no longer works... It just fizzles out after the short cut is
tapped...to nothing! I now have a pile of back ups with no way to restore
them...

Come on MS, somebody over there must be able to help. What is the point of
designing stuff then abandoning us when it does not work...

 

[Rock]

Same problem...I must have loaded and unloaded it a dozen times, and it
still no longer works... It just fizzles out after the short cut is
tapped...to nothing! I now have a pile of back ups with no way to restore
them...

Come on MS, somebody over there must be able to help. What is the point of
designing stuff then abandoning us when it does not work...

You might have a misunderstanding of this newsgroup. You are not talking to
MS here. This is a peer to peer user support newsgroup, not official MS
support. On occasion an MS employee might post here but they do so on their
own time. If you want to talk to MS support contact them through the normal
channels.

Personally I stopped using ntbackup for a variety of reasons a long time
ago. I use a drive imaging program, currently Acronis True Image Home,
version 10, to regularly create and save images of the drives to an external
hard drive. Images can be full, incremental or differential (saving space
and time for subsequent images), made on a drive or partition basis.
Restores can be done on a file, partition or drive basis. It also does file
backup and disk cloning.

Sorry I don't have a resolution for your problem. I haven't used that
program in years. Good luck.

 

[Guest]

Rock: yes, I am aware...but I would hope the someone from MS monitors this
and other sites, even if to take the pulse of the "real world." Or a
programmer or two might be "listening in" and could jump into the discussion.
I "belong" to many such fora, so am aware of how they work.

Getting back to my issue...I have spent since Jan. 01-07 trying to get a
handle on this issue... This must be a programmer's nightmare...for they are
not coming forth to offer assistance.

You can go up and down the internet. This problem is well known by MS and
just about anyone still using XP...it will happen eventually, that the system
will fail in this area...it is the foot in the door to get us over to
VISTA... i.e. ignoring our continuing problems...they have moved on...they
can afford it...while we are stuck with it...

It is so hard to determine the "best" prog to use anymore...it is a constant
battle with the old issue of re-inventing the wheel. If you think about it,
how many real probs with a computer are there...and yet, there are an endless
number of progs that all do the same thing... Bread is bread, whether it is
white or brown, whole wheat or rye, etc.

My hobby is beta testing software, so I have a fairly good feel for stuff
right off the get go. I have yet to find an imaging prog that is
uncomplicated, easy to use, and delivers in a crunch. So, my answer is to
keep a copy of XP in the bay at all times, and to back up onto CDs ad
nauseum. I consider that to be the safest way, albeit a bit tedious at times.

 

[Anna]

Rock: yes, I am aware...but I would hope the someone from MS monitors this
and other sites, even if to take the pulse of the "real world." Or a
programmer or two might be "listening in" and could jump into the
discussion.
I "belong" to many such fora, so am aware of how they work.

Getting back to my issue...I have spent since Jan. 01-07 trying to get a
handle on this issue... This must be a programmer's nightmare...for they
are
not coming forth to offer assistance.

You can go up and down the internet. This problem is well known by MS and
just about anyone still using XP...it will happen eventually, that the
system
will fail in this area...it is the foot in the door to get us over to
VISTA... i.e. ignoring our continuing problems...they have moved on...they
can afford it...while we are stuck with it...

It is so hard to determine the "best" prog to use anymore...it is a
constant
battle with the old issue of re-inventing the wheel. If you think about
it,
how many real probs with a computer are there...and yet, there are an
endless
number of progs that all do the same thing... Bread is bread, whether it
is
white or brown, whole wheat or rye, etc.

My hobby is beta testing software, so I have a fairly good feel for stuff
right off the get go. I have yet to find an imaging prog that is
uncomplicated, easy to use, and delivers in a crunch. So, my answer is to
keep a copy of XP in the bay at all times, and to back up onto CDs ad
nauseum. I consider that to be the safest way, albeit a bit tedious at
times.

b1caez01:
The latest generation of disk cloning/disk imaging programs - at least some
of them such as Acronis True Image, Casper 4.0 and I'm sure there are
others) are quite effective in backing up one's system as well as
facilitating the recovery/restoration process when that capability becomes
necessary. By & large they're relatively simple to use, reasonably quick in
operation and provide a truly comprehensive backup solution for most users I
would think.

These programs are, of course, primarily designed to provide backups of
one's system in a comprehensive manner - including the operating system,
programs & applications, and of course, user-created data. It's hard to
imagine a more comprehensive backup system. While one can use DVDs for the
backup media (it's hard to imagine using CDs in this kind of environment
given the volume of data ordinarily involved) it's generally more desirable
to utilize hard drives (internal or external) as the "destination" drive. Of
course, DVDs (or in some cases CDs) can serve to store archived material.
But by & large HDDs are employed as the "recipient" of the disk clone or
disk image.

We've been working with these disk imaging/disk cloning programs for many
years now - primarily using the Norton Ghost 2003 program in an XP
environment and more recently the Acronis program and lately the Casper 4.0
program with which we're very taken. They've proven very effective and
certainly worth considering by users who are interested in a comprehensive
backup system that's relatively easy-to-use and effective in its results.

I would encourage you (as well as others) to give them a try. I'm sure
you're aware that many of these programs have trial versions available.
Anna

 

[Guest]

Anna: kind of you to reply... I agree, an imaging prog would do the
trick...but it helps MS not us, necessarily...when "we" cannot get at the
root cause of the matter. As a software tester, I cannot "test" a prog,
unless I understand its limits, and how those limits are affected by the
environment.

"We" know where in the registry the problem appears to be, but no one is
offering up a solution that does NOT involve a "cover up...," that is,
covering it up with more software... that let's MS off the hook, and provides
less control over our respective system OS's.

Apparently, we go to...

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\BagMRU]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\Bags]

....and then boosting the file number... been there, done that... not
working...

Why should one invest further in faulty software? ...especially, when the
designers and the marketers are relying on us, to patch up their shoddy work,
and beg for newer versions of the same old problems. This prob was to have
been "solved" with XP-SP2...it was not...

 

[Rock]

"b1caez01" wrote

Rock: yes, I am aware...but I would hope the someone from MS monitors this
and other sites, even if to take the pulse of the "real world." Or a
programmer or two might be "listening in" and could jump into the
discussion.
I "belong" to many such fora, so am aware of how they work.

Getting back to my issue...I have spent since Jan. 01-07 trying to get a
handle on this issue... This must be a programmer's nightmare...for they
are
not coming forth to offer assistance.

You can go up and down the internet. This problem is well known by MS and
just about anyone still using XP...it will happen eventually, that the
system
will fail in this area...it is the foot in the door to get us over to
VISTA... i.e. ignoring our continuing problems...they have moved on...they
can afford it...while we are stuck with it...

It is so hard to determine the "best" prog to use anymore...it is a
constant
battle with the old issue of re-inventing the wheel. If you think about
it,
how many real probs with a computer are there...and yet, there are an
endless
number of progs that all do the same thing... Bread is bread, whether it
is
white or brown, whole wheat or rye, etc.

My hobby is beta testing software, so I have a fairly good feel for stuff
right off the get go. I have yet to find an imaging prog that is
uncomplicated, easy to use, and delivers in a crunch. So, my answer is to
keep a copy of XP in the bay at all times, and to back up onto CDs ad
nauseum. I consider that to be the safest way, albeit a bit tedious at
times.

I don't understand or agree with your position on drive imaging programs.
Under XP I have used first Drive Image from PowerQuest, and when they were
bought out by Symantec, and Vista came out and I was dual booting Vista and
XP, and because DI won't run under Vista, I moved to Acronis True Image
Home, version 10.

I found them both easy to use and reliable. I restored systems using both.
ATI is being updated, obviously, and has more features than DI had. But
both work well for their intended use. That is not to say that it works for
everyone. I have never come across a software that everyone is happy with.

In some versions of Vista there is Complete PC backup which is drive
imaging. It has limitations but it works fine under those limitations. I
use both that and Acronis True Image. Both have been reliable for restores.

Ntbackup is an old, legacy app, ported from NT. You can continue to beat
your head against a wall, and rail about the lack of a solution or move to a
modern program that does the job well. The choice is yours. I made that
move years ago.

 

[Guest]

I'll close my portion of this thread with these last words, since no one
seems to be on line yet, who is able to help me solve the registry issue,
within XP, without buying further software...

If you are wearing a new pair of shoes and after you have worn them for a
bit, you feel something under your heel. You take off the shoe, and take out
the manufacturer's heel insert, to find a wee nail point poking up from the
heel ...annoying and painful...

What do you do? ...take it back to the maker and just complain, or demand a
new shoe, or demand that the problem is addressed and fixed... You certainly
don't buy a new pair of shoes.

....or do you absorb the pain, until you can afford a thicker heel insert...

Whose problem becomes whose after the fact?

We won't tolerate shoddy workmanship in our products, but we do in the
software we buy.

My final word... I appreciate the value of imaging software... I just don't
believe that we should let any manufacturer of a poor product get off that
lightly...i.e. us buying another new product to cure the old product's
deficiencies. If imaging is the solution, why has MS not included such in all
of its OS's....?

My mind is now closed for the season

 

[Rock]

I'll close my portion of this thread with these last words, since no one
seems to be on line yet, who is able to help me solve the registry issue,
within XP, without buying further software...

If you are wearing a new pair of shoes and after you have worn them for a
bit, you feel something under your heel. You take off the shoe, and take
out
the manufacturer's heel insert, to find a wee nail point poking up from
the
heel ...annoying and painful...

What do you do? ...take it back to the maker and just complain, or demand
a
new shoe, or demand that the problem is addressed and fixed... You
certainly
don't buy a new pair of shoes.

...or do you absorb the pain, until you can afford a thicker heel
insert...

Whose problem becomes whose after the fact?

We won't tolerate shoddy workmanship in our products, but we do in the
software we buy.

My final word... I appreciate the value of imaging software... I just
don't
believe that we should let any manufacturer of a poor product get off that
lightly...i.e. us buying another new product to cure the old product's
deficiencies. If imaging is the solution, why has MS not included such in
all
of its OS's....?

My mind is now closed for the season

Suite yourself. Sounds like so far you can't find a solution, and have have
opted to walk around with the pain. It is your choice, of course. The door
was closed well before this.

 

[n0zo]

Poprivet scribbled the following on 5/6/2007 19:06:

I don't know where it is, but I DO know I've seen posts about whre you can
download it from at Microsoft's site. Perhaps a search there.

Pop`

NTbackup can be found on your WinXP installation disk

Regards