Lesson 2	Use the Backup utility
Objective	Define the function of the Backup utility

Define the function of the Backup utility

Windows 2000 includes an enhanced Backup utility that is designed to help you protect data from accidental loss as a result of hardware or storage media failure. Using the Backup utility, you can:

Backup files and folders
Backup system state data
Schedule a backup
Restore files and folders
Restore Active Directory

This lesson discusses how to backup files and folders. Subsequent lessons will cover the other functionalities of the Backup utility.
The Backup utility supports a variety of storage devices and media, including tape drives, logical drives, removable disks, and recordable CD-ROM drives. In addition, the Backup utility includes wizards that are designed to make using the utility easier and more efficient. Using the Backup utility effectively helps ensure a quick system recovery in the event of a failure.

Opening the Backup Utility

Open the Backup utility from the Start menu by navigating to the Accessories menu and then to the System Tools menu. Another, quicker way to open the Backup utility is to type ntbackup at the Run command. The following table describes the functions of the various tabs of the Backup utility

The Welcome tab

Open Backup 1 — Click the Backup wizard button to have the wizard walk you through the process of choosing a source and destination location for your data.

Restore wizard: Click the Restore wizard button to have the wizard walk you through the process of selecting the backup media and destination for restoring data.

Drive, folder, or file pane: In the left pane of the Restore tab, you can click a media file that represents a previous backup session. You can restore the entire backup, or parts of a backup file. In the right pane of the Restore tab, you can click component files of a previous backup and restore them selectively. The Restore files to drop-down list box allows you to choose whether you want files to be restored to their original location, an alternate location, or to a single folder.

Emergency Repair Disk

Click the Emergency Repair Disk button to create a disk you can use to repair your Windows 2000 installation if it becomes damaged. The Emergency Repair disk will not back up the Active Directory, however.

The Backup tab

RIS Setup — Calendar: The Schedule Jobs tab shows you any scheduled backup jobs that have been created on that machine. You can add a new job by double-clicking on a date, or by clicking on the Add job button.

Drive, folder, or file pane

In the left pane of the Backup tab, you can select drives or folders for back up by placing a checkmark in the appropriate checkbox. If you do not wish toback up an entire drive or folder, you can click a folder or drive and select individual components in the right pane.

Backup destination window

In the right pane of the Backup tab, you can select individual components of a drive or folder.

The Restore and Schedule Jobs tabs

Backing up files and folders

You can use the Backup utility to archive files and folders on volumes that are formatted as either FAT (file allocation table) or NTFS. The Backup utility includes a Backup wizard, which steps you through the entire backup process. You can also use the Backup utility to create a backup job manually, without using the wizard.

1) There are several ways you can backup files or folders. The easiest way is to use the backup wizard. you can start the backup wizard by clicking the backup wizard button on the welcome page of the backup utility

2) After clicking the backup wizard button, the welcome screen appears.

3) On the What to Back Up page, you make a general choice as to what you wish to back up.

4) On the Items to Back Up page, select the drives, folders, or files you wish to back up.

5) On the Where to Store the Backup page, you type the destination path for the backup file. It can be a local or remote path.

6) The Completing the Backup wizard page displays the choices you have made.

AT command

Note: You can still use the AT command to schedule backups if you like. Just use the command line ntbackup and the appropriate parameters and you will be able to schedule backups in the background. This is useful if you wish to call the Backup program from batch files or other scripts. The next lesson describes how to backup system data.