The Native backup utility found in Windows XP operating systems helps you protect data from accidental loss if your system experiences hardware or storage media failure. The backup storage medium can be any local drive but I recommend using a separate storage device such as, a removable disk or a large capacity USB drive. If the original data on your hard disk is accidentally erased or overwritten, or becomes inaccessible because of a hard disk malfunction, you can easily restore the data from the archived copy. Additionally, the backup utility helps you take a copy of your computer’s System State, which includes the system files and the registry while you can schedule regular backups. The backup program creates a volume shadow copy of your data, that is, creates a temporary copy of the data, including open files that are being used by the system.
- To start the backup utility, go to the Start menu, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and Backup
- The backup main window opens, by default the wizard loads first if this is the first time you are running the utility. I suggest that you uncheck the Always start in wizard mode option.
- From the backup main window, click the Backup tab
- From the left-hand side pane, expand your data drive by clicking the + sign and searching through the folders structure find the data you want to back up
- Select the data by checking the respective check box – I suggest you include the System State check box from time to time as to have a backup of your system important files
- From the Backup media or file name: Browse button, select the destination backup location- I suggest using removable media such as, a USB drive or a network share if available
- Click the Start Backup to load the next window
- From the Backup Job Information window, select the Replace the data on the media with this backup radio button and click the Advanced… button
- From the Advanced Backup Options window, it is important to select the Verify data after backup check box and click OK - for info about backup types see – Data Backup Types
- Click the Schedule… button if you want to perform the job later – you are ask to save the options selected and to enter the admin password
- Click the Start Backup button to initiate the backup job – the Backup Progress window loads and you can click the Report… button to view the status of the backup job
Note: It is important to check the log files for errors – for example, the number of backed up folders and files should match that of the Verify section and the value of the Different: element is 0. By default, all log files are saved in C:\Documents and Settings\’your username’\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows NT\NTBackup\data
