A+: NTBackup

XP and 2000 include a backup program that can be run from the Windows GUI or from the command line, NTBackup. It runs in interactive mode or in wizard mode

    Note:  The Microsoft Backup utility for Windows XP Home Edition must be installed manually from the \ValueAdd\MSFT\NTBACKUP folder on the Windows XP Home Edition CD.

 Launch it from:

    • From the System Tools submenu of the Start menu’s Accessories submenu
    • From the command line (ntbackup.exe; for command-line options, open Help and Support Center and type ntbackup into the Search box)
    • From the Tools menu of the drive properties sheet; choose Backup

NTBackup supports backups to a wide variety of drive types, including tape drives, floppy disk drives, removable-media drives such as Zip, Jaz, and Rev drives, and external hard disks. A backup can be saved to a rewritable CD or DVD drive as long as the backup fits on a single disc, however, the backup file must be created first, it cannot be burned directly to the disc during the backup process.

During the backup process, you can specify the following:

    • Which drive(s) to back up
    • Which files to back up—whether to select all data files or new and changed files only
    • Whether to back up the Windows Registry (part of system state data)
    • Where to create the backup—to tape drive, floppy disk, another hard disk, or a removable-media drive
    • Whether to replace an existing backup on the backup medium or to append the backup to existing backup files
    • How to run the backup—whether to use data compression, protect the backup with a password, verify the backup, and use volume shadow copy (which enables open files to be backed up)

XP added ASR, the Automated System Recovery backup/restore to Windows. It allows rebuilding a Windows install of a system failure, but does not support the ERD (Emergency Repair Disk) of WIndows 2000.

If you need to restore backup files created with NTBackup to a system running Windows Vista, download and install Windows NT Backup - Restore Utility from the Microsoft website. This utility also requires that you enable Removable Storage Management.