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How can I backup my OS and applications?

Overview

Our backup product excels at backing up and restoring files. However you need to take a few additional steps to backup your operating system settings and programs. This article describes how to backup Windows XP (Home and Professional) as well as Windows Server 2003. This is accomplished via the backup program distributed with every copy of windows (ntbackup).

Instructions

1. Start menu. Programs. Accessories. System Tools. Backup.
2. If Backup was not there, it needs to be installed from the windows CD. To do this, put in your windows CD and navigate to the ValueAdd\msft\ntbackup folder. Double click ntbackup.msi and follow the directions to install ntbackup. Start ntbackup once installation completes.
3. You should see the dialog that says Welcome to the Backup or Restore Wizard. Click advanced mode.
4. Click the Welcome tab. Click Backup Wizard (Advanced). Click next.
5. Select Only back up the System State data
6. Backup will generate one file (with extension .bkf) containing all of your system state information. Choose a folder that should contain the generated backup file. Ideally you should use one folder for your system state backups.
7. Type a name (such as My System State), and click Next.
8. Click the Advanced... button.
9. Select Normal and click Next.
10. Check Verify data after backup and click Next.
11. Select Replace the existing backups and click Next.
12. Select Later and type in a job name (e.g. Scheduled System State Backup).
13. Click Set Schedule. We recommend setting a monthly schedule, as after each backup it will need to upload the entire file to our servers. Configure the schedule to your preference and click OK. If it asks for your windows password enter your password and click OK. Click Next.
14. Click Finish to schedule the backup.
15. Open the backup manager and navigate to the Folders page. Click Visualize. Find the folder that will contain the system state backups and check it. Click Save to close the dialog.
16. Right click on the new folder in the list (the one that contains the system state backup files) and choose Properties. Change Maximum Number of Versions to Keep to 1. This ensures that you do not use a large amount of disk space to store historical information for your OS (you may make this number higher if you wish). Click Save.
17. Click Save to save the settings on the Folders page.

Additionally, you need to make sure that you are backing up your program files and other system files. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open the backup manager.
2. Navigate to the Folders page. Click Visualize.
3. Find your Program Files folder and make sure that it's checked.
4. Make sure that any programs in other places (often in directories right off of the root of the drive) are checked also.
5. Find your windows directory (usually C:\Windows) and make sure that it is checked.
6. Click Save to close the Visualize dialog.
7. Click Save to save your new folder settings.