Backing Up PC

[Lee-a-Roady Moor]

Hi

I tried to recently back up my PC - long overdue I might add. I discovered that the back up option was not automatically installed with Windows XP. However I have the XP disk and was able to sort that part out.

Now when I go to back up to my E drive (a CDR) I'm told that it is an invalid path. The only other option offered is to drive a and I think I would need alot lot of patience never mind the amount of floppys necessary. It obviously recognises the drives as no other drive is offered eg. D which is a DVD.

Any suggestion or advice would be welcome.

Thanks,

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

Lee-a-Roady Moor,

According to Microsoft, what you are seeing is:

This behavior is by design.

Here is the full explanation:

Windows Backup Does Not Back Up to CD-R, CD-RW, or DVD-R Devices

View products that this article applies to.

This article was previously published under Q315255

For a Microsoft Windows 2000 version of this article, see 262006.

SYMPTOMS

When you select a backup media device in Backup (Ntbackup.exe), you cannot select a CD-R (compact disc recordable), CD-RW (compact disc rewritable), or DVD-R (digital video disc recordable) device.

CAUSE

This issue occurs because Removable Storage Management does not recognize CD-R, CD-RW, or DVD-R devices as backup pool media, even though you can add these media types in Removable Storage Management. Ntbackup.exe therefore does not support backup to these devices.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, perform the backup to some other media type, for example, to a tape or to a hard disk.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION

Removable Storage Management regards CD-R, CD-RW, or DVD-R as just a file system-capable media type. However, the Windows file system does not support formatting CD-R, CD-RW, or DVD-R media. Removable Storage Management cannot write an RSM free label because the disc appears to be write-protected. This means that Removable Storage Management treats CD-R, CD-RW, and DVD-R media as read-only media types even if you add them to the Ntbackup media pool.

Take Care,

Richard

[ORAC]

a. Select c:\backup.bkf as the backup destination, then when it's done just write that file to a CD.

b. If you select C:\documents and settings\username\local settings\application data\microsoft\cd burning\backup.bkf as the backup destination, XP should automatically prompt you to write the file to a CD.

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

Lee-a-Roady Moor,

If you are looking to do a backup of your system, Ghost is an excellent program. It is one I have used since the DOS days.

It is a good alternative and the entire program fits on a floppy and you can burn to Optical Media.

Another program that is every bit as good as Ghost and with the ease of backing up from Windows without needing to reboot is a real plus. The program is Acronis True Image.

The beauty of the program is that it lets you backup straight to USB 2.0 and Firewire drives. All from Windows and without rebooting!

Take Care,

Richard

[Mac the Knife]

"b. If you select Cdocuments and settings\username\local settings\application data\microsoft\cd burning\backup.bkf as the backup destination, XP should automatically prompt you to write the file to a CD."

That's curious ORAC - any idea why this behaviour ???

If youv've got PacketCD or InCD or anything that let's you use a CD as a standard drive letter you should be OK - backed up System State to a CR-RW last night.

I prefer making direct copies to a removable HDD myself - that way they're directly usable without having to go through a backup program.

[ORAC]

Mac,

It's the, "hidden," folder XP uses as a staging area before burning a CD. See here. You can even set it up to do it automatically if you use a batch file, see here.

If the pop-up message/wizard doesn't appear, you can manually back up the data file to the CD-ROM as follows:

From the Desktop, double-click My Computer, and then double-click the CD-ROM drive.
Under "Files ready to be written to the CD" you'll see your backup file. Click the "Write these files to CD" link (located in the upper left corner of the folder), and then follow the onscreen instructions.
Click Next to start the process of burning the CD-ROM from the CD Writing Wizard window.

ps, put a tick "Disable Smilies in This Post" at the bottom of the page when posting and you can use colons without getting smilies.

[Mac the Knife]

Thanks ORAC. Yes, that makes a sort of bizarre Micro$oft sense, though obviously it wasn't what was intended!

Ooops - forgot to disable those smilies

[Lee-a-Roady Moor]

Thanks all for replies and suggestions. Have been away from PC for a few days, but the next few days will hopefully allow me to have a go at the suggestions.


Cheers,

LRM