Win xp Backup/restore

[Steve]

Can't restore backup. I am trying to help a friend with his computer. I
had him do a full backup of C: to E: which is a partition. It backed up
fine. I even had him restore a couple of files to make sure it worked. All
was well, then I reformated C: and reinstalled Win XP. Now it will not
restore the files. The file is still on E: but the filename has changed to
just backup.bkf. It is 16 gig a file. Is there anything I can do to make
it restore?
Thanks
Steve

 

[ANONYMOUS]

Steve wrote:

> Can't restore backup. I am trying to help a friend with his computer. I
> had him do a full backup of C: to E: which is a partition. It backed up
> fine. I even had him restore a couple of files to make sure it worked. All
> was well, then I reformated C: and reinstalled Win XP. Now it will not
> restore the files. The file is still on E: but the filename has changed to
> just backup.bkf. It is 16 gig a file. Is there anything I can do to make
> it restore?
> Thanks
> Steve
>
>
>


First thing is to verify whether or not you have installed NTBackup.exe
on your system. Sometimes on some OEM installation CDs, the default is
not to install this unless a custom installation is selected.

Second, when you double click on your backup.bkf file, do you get any
error messages? If so can you post them here.

If you want to know how to install NTBackup.exe then I suggest look in
your Windows Cd under: \ValueAdd\msft\Ntbackup folder.

hth

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

"Steve" <sehutcheson@comcast.net> wrote in message
newsj4tMSL7KHA.604@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> Can't restore backup. I am trying to help a friend with his computer. I
> had him do a full backup of C: to E: which is a partition. It backed up
> fine. I even had him restore a couple of files to make sure it worked.
> All
> was well, then I reformated C: and reinstalled Win XP. Now it will not
> restore the files. The file is still on E: but the filename has changed
> to
> just backup.bkf. It is 16 gig a file. Is there anything I can do to
> make
> it restore?
> Thanks
> Steve

AFAIR you need to do this:
1. Install a temporary copy of Windows on a partition other than C:.
2. Run ntbacklup.
3. Restore the original version.

 

[mister_friendly@the-newzgroups.com]

On Thu, 6 May 2010 08:16:58 +0200, "Pegasus [MVP]"
<news@microsoft.com> wrote:

>
>
>"Steve" <sehutcheson@comcast.net> wrote in message
>newsj4tMSL7KHA.604@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>> Can't restore backup. I am trying to help a friend with his computer. I
>> had him do a full backup of C: to E: which is a partition. It backed up
>> fine. I even had him restore a couple of files to make sure it worked.
>> All
>> was well, then I reformated C: and reinstalled Win XP. Now it will not
>> restore the files. The file is still on E: but the filename has changed
>> to
>> just backup.bkf. It is 16 gig a file. Is there anything I can do to
>> make
>> it restore?
>> Thanks
>> Steve
>
>AFAIR you need to do this:
>1. Install a temporary copy of Windows on a partition other than C:.
>2. Run ntbacklup.
>3. Restore the original version.
>

I might be wrong, but I think you CAN put the installation on C: Just
use a different name for the install folder. Instead of "Windows"
call it "XP" or WINXP or anything else. I never did this for XP, but
I did it many times for Win98.
After that, your backup should restore to the original folder name
which is likely "Windows".

On the other hand, I NEVER trust the backup software that comes with
Windows. I once had to do a restore in Windows2000, and my backup
failed. I only backed up the OS folder, so I just reinstalled.
Rather than use BACKUP, I always COPY everything to a backup drive.
You can copy and entire partition or hard drive, except PAGEFILE.SYS
(swap file) can not be copied, and parts of Documents and Settings
folder. Since I always dual boot another OS, you can backup (copy)
that Documents and Settings folder when booted to the other OS. (No
need to backup pagefile.sys, it will be re-created).

If you dont mind reinstalling the OS, just copy all your personal
stuff to your backup drive, such as photos, music, video files, email,
and the originals of any programs you need to install (such as
Firefox, Winzip, etc).

When you backup using the COPY method, you can save some space by
using Winzip to zip up a folder full of text files, pdf files, some
graphics BMPs in particular, and maybe all your email. (Of course you
have to install Winzip after you install the OS, to unzip the stuff.

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

<mister_friendly@the-newzgroups.com> wrote in message
news:9eq4u5pn92hvl0ss3c32labfnkpu2bammf@4ax.com...
> On Thu, 6 May 2010 08:16:58 +0200, "Pegasus [MVP]"
> <news@microsoft.com> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>>"Steve" <sehutcheson@comcast.net> wrote in message
>>newsj4tMSL7KHA.604@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>>> Can't restore backup. I am trying to help a friend with his computer.
>>> I
>>> had him do a full backup of C: to E: which is a partition. It backed up
>>> fine. I even had him restore a couple of files to make sure it worked.
>>> All
>>> was well, then I reformated C: and reinstalled Win XP. Now it will not
>>> restore the files. The file is still on E: but the filename has changed
>>> to
>>> just backup.bkf. It is 16 gig a file. Is there anything I can do to
>>> make
>>> it restore?
>>> Thanks
>>> Steve
>>
>>AFAIR you need to do this:
>>1. Install a temporary copy of Windows on a partition other than C:.
>>2. Run ntbacklup.
>>3. Restore the original version.
>>
>
> I might be wrong, but I think you CAN put the installation on C: Just
> use a different name for the install folder. Instead of "Windows"
> call it "XP" or WINXP or anything else. I never did this for XP, but
> I did it many times for Win98.
> After that, your backup should restore to the original folder name
> which is likely "Windows".

I think you're right but there is a trick. The WinXP installation process
does not give you a choice for the folder name where Windows should be
installed - it goes automatically into \Windows on the chosen drive. To
avoid this, you *must* create a "dummy" Windows folder beforehand, with some
suitable tools.

 

[Steve]

Re: Win xp Backup/restore ANONYMOUS

Thanks for the reply. There are no error messages. It does have NtBackup
installed and when I click on the backed up file it opens a window with the
file in there, albeit the wrong filename, and it says there are no backup
files to restore. Unfortunately I did a format and reinstall of WinXP so I
don't think there is much chance of restoring the original install. If you
think there is a chance I will give it a try.
Steve


----- Original Message -----
From: "ANONYMOUS" <ANONYMOUS@EXAMPLE.NET>
Subject: Re: Win xp Backup/restore


> Steve wrote:
>
>> Can't restore backup. I am trying to help a friend with his computer. I
>> had him do a full backup of C: to E: which is a partition. It backed up
>> fine. I even had him restore a couple of files to make sure it worked.
>> All
>> was well, then I reformated C: and reinstalled Win XP. Now it will not
>> restore the files. The file is still on E: but the filename has changed
>> to
>> just backup.bkf. It is 16 gig a file. Is there anything I can do to
>> make
>> it restore?
>> Thanks
>> Steve
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> First thing is to verify whether or not you have installed NTBackup.exe on
> your system. Sometimes on some OEM installation CDs, the default is not
> to install this unless a custom installation is selected.
>
> Second, when you double click on your backup.bkf file, do you get any
> error messages? If so can you post them here.
>
> If you want to know how to install NTBackup.exe then I suggest look in
> your Windows Cd under: \ValueAdd\msft\Ntbackup folder.
>
> hth

 

[jjjdavidson]

Re: Win xp Backup/restore ANONYMOUS

NTBackup doesn't actually look for backup files when it opens; it looks for
separate "catalog" files that it built when running backups. Reinstalling XP
wipes out those catalog files, which are stored in the All Users profile.
Opening a .bkf file from Explorer doesn't cause NTBackup to catalog it.

To use an existing backup file: Open NTBackup, go to the "Restore and
Manage Media" tab, then on the menu bar go to "Tools / Catalog a backup
file..." Browse to the existing backup file on E: and open it up. It should
get added to the File tree in the left pane, and from there you should be
able to select files to restore.

Hope this helps.

"Steve" wrote:

> Thanks for the reply. There are no error messages. It does have NtBackup
> installed and when I click on the backed up file it opens a window with the
> file in there, albeit the wrong filename, and it says there are no backup
> files to restore. Unfortunately I did a format and reinstall of WinXP so I
> don't think there is much chance of restoring the original install. If you
> think there is a chance I will give it a try.
> Steve
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "ANONYMOUS" <ANONYMOUS@EXAMPLE.NET>
> Subject: Re: Win xp Backup/restore
>
>
> > Steve wrote:
> >
> >> Can't restore backup. I am trying to help a friend with his computer. I
> >> had him do a full backup of C: to E: which is a partition. It backed up
> >> fine. I even had him restore a couple of files to make sure it worked.
> >> All
> >> was well, then I reformated C: and reinstalled Win XP. Now it will not
> >> restore the files. The file is still on E: but the filename has changed
> >> to
> >> just backup.bkf. It is 16 gig a file. Is there anything I can do to
> >> make
> >> it restore?
> >> Thanks
> >> Steve
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> > First thing is to verify whether or not you have installed NTBackup.exe on
> > your system. Sometimes on some OEM installation CDs, the default is not
> > to install this unless a custom installation is selected.
> >
> > Second, when you double click on your backup.bkf file, do you get any
> > error messages? If so can you post them here.
> >
> > If you want to know how to install NTBackup.exe then I suggest look in
> > your Windows Cd under: \ValueAdd\msft\Ntbackup folder.
> >
> > hth
>
>
> .
>

 

[Twayne]

In newsj4tMSL7KHA.604@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl,
Steve <sehutcheson@comcast.net> typed:
> Can't restore backup. I am trying to help a friend with
> his computer. I had him do a full backup of C: to E: which
> is a partition. It backed up fine. I even had him restore
> a couple of files to make sure it worked. All was well,
> then I reformated C: and reinstalled Win XP. Now it will
> not restore the files. The file is still on E: but the
> filename has changed to just backup.bkf. It is 16 gig a
> file. Is there anything I can do to make it restore? Thanks
> Steve


If you had him test-restore a couple files and it succeeded, that was the
method you should have used. I assume it's too late now.

If you've reformatted your boot drive, you've lost some of the files that
support that restore from backup.
Did you make the bootable ASR disk during the backup? If so, boot from
that disk and simply follow instructions.
The trick is that, since you booted to drive C, you cannot "restore" to
drive C because it would be yanking things away from you and replacing them,
something that confuses the OS and fails.
So, if you followed all the instructions during the backup of the whole
drive, and have the ASR disk etc., you should be all set. I suspect you
didn't bother, did you?

I haven't done so, but Pegasus' responses sound like they'll work. There are
a lot of ways it might be done but there are even more caveats for most of
them, so I'd try Pegasus' responses if you don't have an ASR disk.

For myself (clients, actually) I have a bootable DVD on which I've built
a minimal installation of XP so I can boot from a drive that's not my boot
drive (C, usually). Then I use ntbackup's Restore and Restore to drive C
(the Restore to 'another location' choice in ntbackup). Don't sweat SP's
until later; you dont need to waste time on them yet.
Never connect to the 'net until you have XP's or better firewall running,
an AV application, and all the SP's up to date. Then connect and update the
rest.

Next time, there is always the possibility of "cloning" the drive to another
drive of like or larger size, too, for problems like this.

Next time, make the ASR disk. You need one for each backup you make, so
always create new ones when you get the opportunity.
Be very, very careful of the drive designations: In some drive C is drive
0, and in others it's drive 1. REad carefully.

HTH,

Twayne`

 

[Steve]

The file is there on drive E: but the filename is changed to just backup.bkf
and NtBackup says there is nothing in the file. (It is 16 gb).
Unfortunately he couldn't make an ASR disk as he does not have a floppy
drive. I think it is a lost cause. Just a hard lesson to learn.
Thanks to all for the knowledgeable help.
Steve


----- Original Message -----
From: "jjjdavidson" <jjjdavidson@discussions.microsoft.com>
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2010 86 PM
Subject: Re: Win xp Backup/restore ANONYMOUS


> NTBackup doesn't actually look for backup files when it opens; it looks
> for separate "catalog" files that it built when running backups.
> Reinstalling XP wipes out those catalog files, which are stored in the All
> Users profile. Opening a .bkf file from Explorer doesn't cause NTBackup
> to catalog it.
>
> To use an existing backup file: Open NTBackup, go to the "Restore and
> Manage Media" tab, then on the menu bar go to "Tools / Catalog a backup
> file..." Browse to the existing backup file on E: and open it up. It
> should get added to the File tree in the left pane, and from there you
> should be able to select files to restore.
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> "Steve" wrote:
>
<snip>>> don't think there is much chance of restoring the original install.
If you
>> think there is a chance I will give it a try.
>> Steve