Methods and means of ensuring data integrity. Data archiving in Windows. Creating a system image what is the difference Data archiving systems

Each Windows user must have come across such a concept as archiving at least once. Now we will try to find out what it is. We will especially consider the process that concerns the role of this process in information recovery.

What is archiving?

First of all, starting to consider this issue, it should be noted that many users confuse the concept of archiving with the concept of archiving. This process is actually somewhat similar to archiving. However, it has a more complex algorithm that deals with reserving space for storing information on disk space. Thus, if you look at it, the archiving process is the creation of a copy of any objects, a system image, the state of the settings and everything that is on the hard drive.

Similarities and differences between archiving and archiving

For users who do not see the difference between these two processes, the following comparison can be made. There are many similarities between these processes. However, there are enough differences. So, for example, an archive in which information is placed is created only to reduce the size. Many modern archivers allow you to compress information twice or more. However, the archiving system works on a slightly different principle, but still it involves data compression on physical level. Archiving programs, such as WinRAR, create an archive from which you can then extract information. Windows Backup creates what is commonly referred to as a backup. As you can see for yourself, there is a difference. These are not packed data, but images that contain information about all installed apps, settings and user files. Many users have probably faced the issue of restoring settings and data, for example, in devices based on the Android operating system. We'll talk about this a little later. In essence, this is a system for creating backup copies of the contents of a computer or mobile device, which makes it possible to restore the system in case of damage or a critical failure. In this case, we are talking about a virtual copy rather than a physical one.

Windows systems

In Windows operating systems, this process is somewhat reminiscent of the work of programs that allow you to recover data after deletion. The thing is that files on the hard drive are not destroyed after being deleted from the Recycle Bin. They are simply given a different index, which consists of the "$" character, which replaces the first letter of the file name. So here: archiving documents is carried out not only with volume compression, but also with renaming files. It is not possible to open copies that were created using such a process.

Mobile systems

In the settings of mobile devices, you can often find sections on data recovery and archiving. In fact, archiving in such systems is the same as archiving on a computer. However, when creating a copy, slightly different methods are used. First of all, it is worth noting that compared to Windows systems, which make it possible to save the image only on the hard disk, mobile systems operate in a more advanced version. So, for example, the same operating systems such as Android or iOS allow the user to choose where to save information. You can select the device itself or a removable card, but this is only true for Android devices, since Apple gadgets do not support removable storage media.

How does the archiving process work?

The operation of the archiving system is a separate issue. The thing is that the created virtual copy of a particular file comes down to not copying all the data in full, but reducing it by several tens of times. If any of the users have already noticed, the image hard drive or system occupies almost the same disk space as the original files. So, for example, when archiving a disk with a memory of 200 GB, clogged with heavy programs and user files, the system will offer to reserve somewhere 140-150 GB. It is clear that the use of DVD discs in this case is impractical. When creating a system image without copying user information, the space required is three times less. Such a copy will take approximately 60-70 GB. For operating systems Windows 7, 8 or 10 at least 40-45 GB.

In terms of hard disk space usage, you will have to fork out to create a copy. It should be noted that the size of the copy does not depend on the size of the hard disk at all. The system itself will reserve the space it needs. As far as mobile devices are concerned, given function they are also provided. Archiving in this sense is the same as in stationary systems, however, it will take much less space to save data compared to the same Windows operating system. At the same time, saving an image of the system and all files that are on a removable memory card is very simple. You can save an image of the system on the card, which will not significantly affect the disk space of removable media.

How to create and restore copies of system and disk images?

AT operating system Windows and mobile systems were originally built with data recovery functionality. True, the archiving process in Windows 10 makes you think again. The system reserves an unimaginable amount of memory. But on the other hand, let the users do not resent. Appearance blue screen death speaks volumes. Perhaps this is correct. When the problems associated with restoring the system's health begin, the user will not care about all the information that was stored on the disk and its logical partitions. Apparently in the operating room Windows system 10 makes two copies. The first is directly responsible for the parameters of the operating system, and the second for the user's files and programs. So, before you rush to delete directories with recovery data, it's better to think again.

Conclusion

It is already clear that archiving means backing up data. Do not confuse the concepts of archiving and archiving. In some ways, these two concepts are similar to each other. However, one should learn the following fact: in any system backups are almost a key component. They may be required by the user in case of unexpected failures to restore the system. This review did not consider specialized information recovery utilities. It may not be necessary for this review. Today, there are many specialized programs with which you can perform processes such as backup and restore. You can, for example, take the Acronis Disc Image program. It is very easy to work with this program. It is worth noting that this is not the only software product that allows you to perform actions of this kind.

In Windows Server (2008, r2, 2012, r2), when setting up archiving through the graphical interface, there is one big minus, the choice is given to archive every day or more than once a day. Thus, you cannot configure the start of data archiving on different days. With a large amount of data, copying every day is impossible (the system simply does not have time to complete the copy). Approximately starting from 3 TB.

The system has one 4TB partition with data and two 3TB disks for backup.

Section with data under the letter d:

Backup partition f: and e:

Let's start creating a bat file that will start archiving data.

Open Notepad (press the keyboard shortcut windows+r recruiting a team notepad and press enter)

Insert the following command with parameters

wbadmin start backup -backupTarget:f: -include:d:\folder1,d:\folder2 -systemstate -vssFull -quiet

wbadmin- regular application for archiving

-backupTarget:f:- the place where the archive will be located (in the first bat file, specify the disk f:)

-include:d:\folder1,d:\folder2- folders in section d: which we will archive

-systemstate - Creates a backup that includes the system state, in addition to all other items specified with the -include option. (Full section related to the system and its status, including the section "reserved by the system")

-vssFull- Performs a full backup using the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS). The fact that each file is archived is reflected in the corresponding log. If this option is not used, the "WBADMIN START BACKUP"+B192 command performs a copy backup, but the history of the files being backed up is not updated. Attention! Do not use this option if you are using a product other than Windows Server Backup to back up applications on the volumes included in the current backup. Doing so may corrupt an incremental, differential, or other backup created by another product.

-quiet- suppresses all prompts for the user

We save the file with the extension .bat

Let's create a task once a week on Saturday in the scheduler and specify this file.

Now we will create a second bat file, only now we will insert the command with other parameters

wbadmin start backup -backupTarget:e: -include:d:\folder4,d:\folder5 -exclude:d:\folder4\temp -systemstate -vssFull -quiet

This bat file will start archiving two other directories and to another disk, we will also create a copy of the system (in case the first disk for archiving stops working).

This command uses the -exclude option: d:\folder4\temp(excludes folder from copying).

We save the file with the extension .bat

We create another task for Sunday in the scheduler and specify this file.

In this article, we examined the method of archiving from command line at a time that is convenient for us and used two disks for Reserve copy.

It is not possible to do this through the graphical interface.

Additional options that may be useful

-exclude- Specifies a list of items excluded from archiving, separated by commas. You can include multiple files, folders, or volumes. Volumes can be specified using a drive letter, a volume mount point, or a GUID-based volume name. If a GUID-based volume name is used, it must end with a backslash (\). When specifying a file path, you can use a wildcard character (*) in the file name. It should only be used in conjunction with the -backupTarget option.

-nonRecurseInclude- Specifies a non-recursive list of items to be included in archiving, separated by commas. You can include multiple files, folders, or volumes. Volumes can be specified using a drive letter, volume mount points, or GUID-based volume names. The GUID-based volume name must end with a backslash (\). When specifying a file path, you can use a wildcard character (*) in the file name. It should only be used in conjunction with the -backupTarget option.

-nonRecurseExclude- Specifies a non-recursive list of items excluded from archiving, separated by commas. You can include multiple files, folders, or volumes. Volumes can be specified using a drive letter, a volume mount point, or a GUID-based volume name. The GUID-based volume name must end with a backslash (\). When specifying a file path, you can use a wildcard character (*) in the file name. It should only be used in conjunction with the -backupTarget option.

-hyperv- Specifies the list of components included in the backup, separated by commas. The identifier can be the name or GUID of the component (with or without curly braces).

-allCritical- Creates a backup that includes all important volumes (important volumes contain operating system files and components) in addition to all other items specified with the -include option. This option is useful when creating a backup to restore the system to its original state. It should only be used in conjunction with the -backupTarget option.

-noVerify- Cancels the checking of backups written to removable media (such as DVDs) for errors. If this option is not used, backups stored on removable media are checked for errors.

-user- If the backup is stored in a remote shared folder, specifies a username with permission to write to that folder.

-password- Specifies the password for the username specified for the -user parameter.

-noInheritAcl- Applies access control list (ACL) permissions corresponding to the credentials specified by the -user and -password options to the \\ folder<имя_сервера>\<имя_общей_папки>\WindowsImageBackup\<архивируемый_компьютер>\ (backup folder). To access the backup later, you must use these credentials or be a member of the Administrators or Backup Operators group on the computer with the shared folder. If the -noInheritAcl option is not used, the ACL permissions from the remote shared folder are applied to the folder<архивируемый_компьютер>by default, which makes the backup available to every user who has access to the remote shared folder.

-vssCopy- Performs a copy backup using VSS. History of archived files is not updated. This value is used by default.

-allowDeleteOldBackups- Overwrites found backups before updating.

It is not necessary to create bat files, it is enough to correctly add the command and parameters to the task scheduler.

The archiving system replaced NTBackup with the release of Windows Server 2008 and today is a fully mature and proven product, but many administrators still do not use this OS component, preferring alternative products. This can be both objective reasons and a misunderstanding of the principles of operation of the Windows Server backup system. Therefore, we decided to eliminate possible gaps in knowledge with the help of this article.

We quite often asked system administrators we know the question: what tools do they use to back up the state of their servers? And they were very surprised that many of them did not even mention the Windows Server Backup system. When asked why they don't use this tool, we often got the answer that they don't understand how this system works, how to manage backups, etc., etc. In part, the reason can be called valid, when there is no understanding of how this or that remedy works, then it is better to refuse to use it.

Better yet, figure out how it works and start putting it into practice. In the new archiving system, many expect to see the successor to the familiar NTBackup, but Microsoft has completely redesigned the backup mechanism and we have a completely different tool. The main backup storage is a disk that is independently marked by the archiving system and hidden from the user. You can also use an already partitioned volume or network resource, but these methods have their limitations and negate all the advantages of the new technology.

The new archiving system independently manages the backup process, creating primary and secondary copies of data, as well as their retention period. This is one of the main difficulties that arises when using a new tool. Many administrators are accustomed to explicitly specifying the type of archive to be created, their number and storage period, therefore, not finding the necessary options here, they draw hasty and incorrect conclusions.

With Windows Server Backup, you give the service an entire drive and it handles the storage process as it sees fit. Is this good or bad? In our opinion, it's good. Because quite often there are situations when the administrator incorrectly estimates the size of the disk space required for storing copies or there is a sharp jump in the volume of archived data. In this case, it is very likely that the backup service will fail due to lack of free space at the most inopportune moment.

Windows Server takes a fundamentally different approach. The easiest way to draw an analogy is with video surveillance systems, when a stream is continuously written to disk and at any given time we have a certain recording duration determined by the disk size. Let's say we installed a 500 GB disk - we have a week of video, we replaced it with 1 TB - two weeks, etc.

The backup service works in a similar way, writing copies to disk until space is exhausted, then the oldest copies are overwritten. Thus, you will always have a constant backup depth, limited only by the disk space, even a sharp increase in the data being copied will not lead to negative consequences, only the number of available copies will decrease.

Here another difficulty arises. For many administrators, the word disk is associated only with a physical hard disk, after which a lot of questions immediately arise: where to get so many disks, how to connect them to servers, how to store archives separately from the system, etc. etc. Yes, and to allocate even a 500 GB disk for backup of a member server looks somewhat wasteful. Therefore, it's time to think about technology, which allows you to immediately solve the entire layer of "problems".

Indeed, this technology is now supported by all systems, including even NAS with a price category slightly higher than the initial one, which allows you to properly manage the available disk space and organize the storage of archives separately from the systems. Microsoft recommends that you have 1.5 times more disk space for storing two copies of data, in our opinion this figure is somewhat overestimated, especially if you are copying data that rarely changes, for example, server state.

We'll jump ahead a bit and show the result of archiving a test server with 29 GB of archived data:

As you can see, eight copies of the system state took up about 9 GB, which is quite good, and the total amount of 60 GB iSCSI disk we allocated is enough for about three weeks of storing daily copies, which in our opinion is more than enough.

To create backups, the volume shadow copy mechanism (VSS) is used, which allows you to work with open and system files without interrupting the work of the system and users. Starting with Windows Server 2012, the archiving system also allows archiving running on a host virtual machines Hyper-V and restore their state individually. When using other software on the server that uses shadow copying capabilities, the backup system has the ability to save the VSS log, which will ensure the correct operation of these services during recovery.

Separately, you should touch on database backup, if with products that support shadow copying, such as MS SQL Server or Exchange, there are no problems, third-party products, such as PostgreSQL, may have problems. The shadow copy mechanism does not check the logical integrity of files, just taking a snapshot of their state at a certain point in time, systems that support VSS can handle this moment, bringing the database to a consistent state before the moment the shadow copy was created. For unsupported systems, we simply get a slice of the database for a certain state of time, when such a database is restored, it will be brought to a consistent state by means of the DBMS, in other words, all incomplete transactions will be canceled and data loss may occur.

Based on the foregoing, we can conclude that the Windows backup system is well suited for creating backups of the system and user data, as well as "native" services and applications. To archive complex third-party software, it is better to use the tools provided by the manufacturer of this software.

In order to start using the Windows Server Backup system, you first need to install the component of the same name, this is done through Add Roles and Features Wizard.

The service management snap-in can then be launched either via Facilities in Server Manager, or through a shortcut in Control Panel - Administration.

The snap-in is absolutely typical for Windows Server services and does not cause any difficulties when working with it.

A quick glance at the screen immediately allows you to evaluate the current settings and the status of the service, the available actions are concentrated on the right. There are few of them: One-time backup, scheduled backup and restore. We are primarily interested in the schedule, although a one-time backup is also a rather convenient tool that allows you to quickly make a copy of the server state before any potentially dangerous actions, so that you can roll back to their very beginning.

Pressing Backup Schedule we will launch the wizard of the same name, which offers us to archive the entire server, or specify objects for selective archiving.

We will always have time to archive everything at once, so we will choose a custom archiving type. In the next step, we will be asked to select objects for archiving.

To add them, just click Add items.

If choose Restoring the original state of the system, will automatically be added State of the system, the system partition (drive C:) and the service partition with the bootloader. To this data, for educational purposes, we added a folder with MS SQL databases, which should represent some user data.

And also set the parameters of the shadow copy service, if you have applications using this service, for example, MS SQL Server, then you should select the Copy VSS log setting, which will ensure their normal interaction with the shadow copy service, including during recovery.

Then you will need to create a schedule, the task is extremely simple, you can run archiving both once or several times a day, the minimum interval step is half an hour.

We figured out the schedule, now it's time to decide on the place to store the archives. There are three options to choose from, each of them is quite well commented, which makes it easier to make the right choice:

As we have already said, it is optimal to allocate an entire disk for archiving, we recommend using iSCSI disks for this purpose, which allows you to solve two main tasks at once: make the best use of disk space and store archives separately from the system.

Separately, it is worth dwelling on the possibility of placing an archive in a network folder, despite the severe limitations, this method is convenient to use for one-time archiving, when you need to quickly create an archive and place it outside the server.

If you select a drive, it will be formatted and hidden, which provides additional protection against possible destructive influences, such as ransomware trojans.

At the last step, you should once again make sure that the settings are correct and confirm them by pressing the button. Ready.

Now it remains to wait for the specified time and make sure that the archiving process was completed without failures. When creating a schedule, you should take into account the load on the network and disk storage subsystem, which can lead to a decrease in their performance.

After the backup has been created, it will not be superfluous to check the possibility of restoring from it. To do this, select the action of the same name in the snap-in, and this will launch Recovery Wizard, which will first ask you to specify the location of the archive:

Then we specify the date and time the backup was created to which we want to roll back, the available dates are highlighted in bold.

Then we indicate what exactly we want to restore:

As you can see, these can be files and folders, Hyper-V virtual machines, volumes, applications, and system state. Separately, mention should be made of applications. This feature is only available to applications registered with the backup system, which must be able to work with the archive API and support VSS. Simply put, this list includes a limited number of programs, mainly from Microsoft itself, and this function is useless for third-party software.

At the same time, it is difficult to overestimate the possibility of restoring the state of the system, which allows you to roll back the state of the OS without affecting user data. This helps a lot in situations where some time has passed between making changes to the system and revealing their negative effect.

Restoring the system state is performed in two stages, each of which ends with a reboot.

Moreover, the second stage looks like a normal OS boot and does not display any messages, just rebooting after a while. It may seem that an error or failure has occurred, but it is not.

Therefore, you just need to be patient and wait for a message about the successful completion of the operation. Depending on network speed, disk performance, and data volume, this operation may take a significant amount of time.

An alternative to a system state restore is a volume-level restore, which will destroy all data and return the volume to the state it was in on the specified date. This can be useful in the event of a virus incident, when you want to be sure that there are no malware bookmarks left on the system, and also in cases where the original volume has been corrupted.

In general, this operation is no different from restoring a volume from an image using any other software, such as Acronis.

When restoring folders and files, you can flexibly manage the recovery options, for example, by saving both versions of the file: the current and the recoverable one, this is useful in cases where the file was accidentally overwritten, but the result of the current work is also needed. When restoring, you can also restore all access rights to files and folders, which is important if you have a complex system for assigning rights.

As you can see, the Windows Server backup system is a very functional and convenient tool that allows you to successfully restore data at any level and at the same time removes a significant part of the administrator's worries about managing this process. So if you are not already using this system archiving, then after reading this material, it's time to take a closer look at it.

Hello, friends! Today we will look at what is Windows 7 backup and how it can make life easier for users not to resort to . Data recovery is a relevant topic rather for new users computers. Seasoned users and those who have already experienced data loss in connection with and those who have seen how their friends tried in vain to bring them back to life know that backup is the first thing to do to minimize moral and material losses. There are a lot of programs on the Internet, both paid and freely distributed, to perform automatic data archiving or backup. And there is a powerful tool - Archiving and restoring files, which we will consider in this article.

In order to open the File Backup and Restore utility, you can use the . Open and in the search field write archiving. Select Backup and Restore

If you do not have archiving configured, you will see the picture below. Click Set up backup

In the next window, select the location of the archive. The system tells us that it is better to store your backups on . I don't have a free hard drive yet, so let's choose another partition of the existing HDD. Select Local disk E, which is recommended and click next

Choose what to archive. You can leave the choice to the operating system, or you can make the choice yourself. it will copy files located in libraries, on the desktop and in standard folders - "AppData", "Contacts", "Downloads", "Favorites", "Links", "Saved Games" and "Searchs".

If you have changed part of the document, such as deleting part of a file. To restore, right-click on the file and select Restore Previous Version

In the File Versions section, select the one you need. If you select from, you will not be able to save the current copy of the document. Save it if necessary before restoring

When restoring from an archive, you will have the option to either replace the file or save the restored file under a different name

All about file recovery.

In order to be able to return or restore the entire system, you need to make an image of it. This can be done with , and can be done with built-in tools. Let's consider the latter in more detail.

Open the Backup and Restore window. On the left, select Create a system image

Choose a location to save the archive. You can choose to (not yet possible to try saving to ), DVDs, or a network location. In a network location, this is far away, but on a DVD it is not realistic, since you need a lot of discs and you don’t have a drive.

Open the Action menu and select Attach Virtual HDD

In the window that opens, use the Browse... button to select a file with the VHD extension. Click OK

The attached virtual disk looks like this

Information can be accessed using Windows Explorer or any file manager. You can copy any file or folder to your main .

Space management is also carried out from the Backup and restore window. To do this, click Manage space. In the window that opens, the Change settings button becomes active ... and press it

We have two options. Either delete all system images or keep the last one

And we continue to frantically press F8.

A window appears with a choice of download options. Here you can get to . We are interested in the topmost point Troubleshooting your computer

The recovery environment is loading. Select the desired language and click Next.

If you have many users, enter the administrator's name and password. I have one user and that one without a password, so I just clicked Next. (How to reset the Administrator password -)

A window opens asking you to select a recovery tool. You can try Startup Recovery, then (maybe there will still be a point at the time of stable operation of the computer). If all else fails, select System Image Recovery

The wizard will start following the instructions of which you will successfully restore the system from the image.

Conclusion

In this article, we figured out a little bit what Windows 7 data backup is and how to use it. I will give a few important points about the possibilities of archiving that I spied on the website of Vadim Sterkin

Important! It will not be possible to archive files located on the same disk where the archive will be located. That is, if you (like me) include folders in your libraries that are located on the same disk where the archive is stored, then they will not be copied.

There will be questions ask, we will understand the place.

Archiving andrecoverydata, recoverysystemsandautomaticrecoverysystems

Data archiving

If you are responsible for the security of your information, you should

1 back up your files so that you can restore them if they are accidentally deleted or if a crash occurs hard drives, as well as on

1 case if your computer is lost or stolen. To meet these needs, Windows XP Professional includes the Backup utility. (If this utility does not meet your needs, please use the third-party protection.) In this section, you will find information about the Data Backup utility, limitations in its use, and how to bypass these limitations.

Note. If you have a relatively small number of files stored on your computer, then when reinstalling system files and applications, you can simply copy the files you need to a writable CD instead of |archiving. In a domain environment, the administrator is required to centrally archive the files of most domain clients. To simplify the archiving process, your administrator may require you to store your files on a server instead of on a local drive on your computer. Chapter 8 said that an administrator can set up Windows XP Professional to store your configuration files on a server instead of on the local computer. Therefore, the administrator will also be able to archive the configuration files. With all necessary files centrally stored and archived, an administrator can replace the system volume with a standard Windows XP Professional configuration and applications remotely using Remote Installation Services (RIS) and IntelliMirror if your Windows XP configuration is having problems. In such a situation, you should not worry, because your data is stored in trusted places on the network.

Note. With Administrator and Backup Operator powers, you can back up and restore any files yourself - even if you do not have access to these files (users' personal files). If you have a Limited account, you can only back up and restore your own files.

Archiving media

With the Backup utility, you can back up your data to local hard drives, network drives, tape media, and removable media such as ZIP or JAZ. However, the Backup utility cannot archive directly to a writable CD. To do this, you need to install special software, such as Roxio's DirectCD. However, you can archive your data to a file located on your hard drive, and then burn this file to a CD. (Some archiving utilities can archive files directly to CD (This may be one of the reasons why you might prefer a different backup program.)

Archiving your system

Follow the steps below to back up your system.

us/Standard/Utilities/Data Archiving).

2. By default, when you first start the Backup program, it opens in Ma
stera; in this case you will see the Welcome to the Backup or Restore Wizard page
(Backup and Restore Wizard).

■ An alternative to the Wizard is Advanced mode, but
torus we will say later. (This section assumes that you are using
Backup or Restore Wizard
To access the Backup utility in advanced mode, click the Advanced link
Mode (Advanced mode).

■ To ensure that the Backup utility always opens in advanced mode, clear the
check box Always Start in Wizard Mode (Always run in wizard mode),

3. On the Backup or Restore page, select the option
Back Up Files and Settings.

4. On the What To Back Up page, highlight the appropriate option (see Table 1 for a list of options). If you select the Let Me Choose What to Back Up option, use the Items to Back Up page to select the drives, folders, and files you want to back up.

Table. 1. Elementsforarchiving

Option

Explanation

My Documents and Settings

Everyone "s Documents and Settings (Documents and settings for all users of this computer)

All Information on This Computer (All information on this computer)

Let Me Choose What to Back Up Backs up all folders and files in your user profile: your configuration information, the contents of the My Documents folder and its subfolders. Backs up the user profile for each user account on this computer. Full archiving including ASR disk. Using ASR, you can then fully restore your system. For this to work, the archive file must be on an external hard drive, as ASR will delete it. Allows you to independently select the files and folders that you want to archive.

On the Completing the Backup or Restore Wizard page, review your selections. If necessary, click the Back button to change the archiving settings. For performing a Normal type backup using the options specified in the wizard, click Finish. You can also select other backup types by clicking the Advanced button.

Selecting additional archiving options

To access the four recovery options pages on the Completing the Backup or Restore Wizard page, click the Advanced button. The following sections contain information about the options offered by these pages.

Selectoparchiving type

On the Type of Backup page of the Backup and Restore Wizard, select the type of backup you want to perform. Archiving types differ in the options that will be archived and the state of the archive bit, a tag on a file or folder indicating whether archiving is required (archive bit enabled or set) or not (archive bit disabled or cleared). Table 2 provides information explaining that Various types archiving is done with the archive bit and files marked for archiving.

There are differences between incremental and differential archiving. Incremental archives grow in size daily (and therefore require more disk space) because they include every file that has changed since the last full backup. As a result, you can restore your computer using the last full backup and the last incremental backup. A differential backup only includes files that have changed since the last full or differential backup - it is not cumulative. Therefore, to restore your computer, you will need the last full backup and every differential backup created since that full backup.

Examinationdata, hardwarecompressionandshadycopying

On the How to Back Up page of the Backup and Restore Wizard, you can select the following options: Verify the Data After Backup (recommended); Use Hardware Compression (only possible for some tape media and other custom archiving devices); Disable Volume Shadow Copy (Disable volume state shadow copying). Volume Shadow Copy creates a copy of the volume and then archives the copy instead of the volume itself. The advantage of this method is that you can continue to work with your applications and files while archiving. The disadvantage of this method is that it only works on NTFS volumes and does not work on FAT volumes. Volume shadow copy is enabled by default.

Replacementexistingarchiveoradditiondatatohim

On the Backup Options page of the Backup and Restore Wizard, you can select the following options: Append the Backup To An Existing Backup and Replace the Existing Backup. These options only apply if the backup location already contains an existing archive. If you have chosen to replace an existing archive, then you will have the option to select the option Allow Only the Owner and the Administrator Access to the Backup Data and to Any Backups Appended to This Medium (Allow access to the data of this archive and all archives added to this media only to the owner and administrator). This option allows you to restrict access to the archives to everyone except the owner of the archives and the administrator.

Create a backup start schedule

On the When to Back Up page of the Backup and Restore Wizard, you can choose when to back up: Backup Now or Create a Schedule for the Backup to Run Later. To create a schedule, you need to provide an account, which must have a password.

Restoring files from an archive

When you need to restore files from an archive, follow these steps.

1. Select Start/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Backup
us/Standard/Utilities/Data archiving) to launch the Backup utility. how
before, Backup will open in wizard mode by default, so
you will see the Welcome to the Backup or Restore Wizard page again.
vation and recovery).

2. On the Backup or Restore page, select the option
Restore Files and Options.

3. On the What to Restore page, open the archive file from which you are going to restore files. Specify files and folders to restore by highlighting the corresponding checkboxes

4. On the Completing the Backup or Restore Wizard page, you can click the Finish button to perform a standard restore (restores files to their original locations, but does not replace existing files. Having the same names as those being restored files) or click the Advanced button.

Change advanced recovery options

Clicking the Advanced button on the Completing the Buckup or Restore Wizard page will take you to the next three pages containing additional options.

Choosing a recovery location

On the Where to Restore page of the Backup and Vault Wizard, specify where to place the files and folders to restore. Use the Original Location option if you need to "stop one or more folders or drives and you're ready to replace your current files and folders with recoverable ones. Use the Alternate Location option to restore files or folders to a different folder without replacing the current files. Then you can replace the current files manually. Use the Altern Location text box to specify the folder in which to place the recovered files. Use the Single Location option to restore files to another single folder location without overwriting the current files. Placing all files in one folder can be useful if restoring multiple files from different folders and keeping them in one folder is more convenient than placing them in separate folders. Use the Folder Nan text box to specify the folder in which to place the recovered files.

Recovery Method

On the How to Restore page, you can choose how to restore files if files with the same name already exist in the specified location on your computer. You can select the following options: Leave Existing File; (Leave the existing file), Replace Existing Files if They Are Older than the Backup Files (Replace the existing file if it is older than the backup copy), Replace Existing Files (Replace the existing file).

Additional recovery options

The Advanced Restore Options page allows you to select the following options.

■ The Restore Security Settings option determines whether the Backup utility will reapply permissions and audit settings.
to recoverable files. This option is available only when restoring an archive made on a disk in NTFS format. If the option is available, it is selected
default.

■ Restore Junction Points, but Not the Folders and File Data They Reference option
(Restoring junction points, not the folders and files they refer to). When this option is selected, the Backup Data utility restores junction points without restoring the folders and files they point to) A restore point is a physical cluster on your hard drive that points to data stored elsewhere. Typically, you create a junction point when you map a drive to an NTFS folder. You probably won't need to use this option.

■ Preserve Existing Volume Mount Points option. This option determines whether the Data Backup utility allows you to retain any existing volume mount points or replace them with archive data. This option is selected by default.

UsageutilitiesBackupinextendedmode

Instead of using the Backup and Restore Wizard, you can open the Backup utility in Advanced mode. The following sections contain information about the options offered in advanced mode.

Using the Four Advanced Mode Tabs

Advanced mode contains four tabs that provide direct access to the Backup utility's archiving options.

Recoverysystems

System Restore is a semi-automated recovery tool designed to recover a system from issues such as configuration problems, system instability, or installing an application that doesn't work as it should. System Restore automatically creates configuration snapshots of your system files, allowing you to restore your computer's configuration before a crash. These snapshots are called restore points (restore points) or system checkpoints (system checkpoints). They are located on your hard drive and space is automatically reserved for them by the System Restore utility. By default, System Restore stores restore points for up to 90 days, after which they are automatically deleted. When System Restore runs out of space, it overwrites the oldest points, freeing up space for new restore points.

launchRecoverysystems

You must be an administrator to run System Restore. If you try to run Recovery without being an administrator, Windows XP Professional will display a dialog box stating that you do not have enough security privileges to restore the system. To open System Restore select Start/All Programs/Accessories/ System Tools/System Restore Because you have to specify the path, using the Start menu is usually faster and easier.The System Restore page is shown in Figure 23.6.Administrators have tight control over System Restore.The administrator can do the following.

1. Disable the System Restore program and prohibit you from using it. Disable System Restore and prevent you from configuring it. Disable System Restore but allow you to configure it (if you are an administrator).

WhatprotectsRecoverysystems

System Restore protects your system files, application files, shortcuts and links in your Start menu. System Restore does not protect your files. To protect your data files, use the Data Backup utility or another backup utility. System Restore does not protect backup files created using the Backup Data utility. To view information about files, folders, and file types excluded by System Restore, run %systemroot%\system32\Restore\filelist.xml.

Creationpointsrecoverysystems automaticallyandmanually

In the default configuration, Windows XP Professional automatically creates the following restore points:

■ the first time you boot Windows XP Professional after installation is complete;

■ every 24 hours of calendar time. If the computer does not work, WindowsXP
Professional will create a restore point as soon as it works. You can
change interval automatic creation restore points based
on calendar time, by editing the RPGloballnteral parameter
DWORD under HKLM\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\
SystemRestore. The value of this parameter is the interval in seconds. by default
This is 86400 seconds or 24 hours.

Advice. You can also force Windows XP to create restore points at intervals while your computer is running. This feature can be useful for computers that work most of the time. To create such session-interval restore points, change the value of the RPSessionInterval parameter located under HKLM\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\SystemRestore. By default, the value is set to zero (no restore points are created). Specify the number of seconds as the interval. For example, you can specify 7200 seconds to create a session-interval restore point every two hours. You can also create session-interval recovery points in addition to or instead of calendar time-based recovery points.

■ When you restore your system to an earlier or later restore point,
updates through System Restore. (You can restore to bo
later than the latest point, if recovery to the early point does not give the expected re
result.)

■ When you use the Data Backup utility to restore your system
stems.

■ When installing or uninstalling applications such as Installshield and Windows Installer.

■ When installing some device drivers - especially device drivers,
not digitally signed.

As an administrator, you can create restore points manually at any time that suits you. You can give each restore point a unique name for ease of identification. The most appropriate time to create restore points is before making configuration changes, before installing an application that may not use a System Restore compatible installer, or before installing a driver that you do not fully trust.

To create a restore point, follow these instructions.

1.Select Start / All Programs / Accessories / System Tools / System Restore (Start / All about
Programs/Accessories/Utilities/System Restore) to launch the utility
System Restore.

2.Select the Restore My Computer to an Earlier Time option.
computer status) and click the Next button to open the
Select a Restore Point (See Figure 23.7).

3.Select a restore point by clicking the date on the calendar, and then select
restore point in the list.

A warning. The calendar only displays available restore points for the currently displayed month. Any days that are in the previous or next month are not displayed. To see the restore points available for another month, display that month using the calendar control buttons.

5.Check the options you have chosen, close any other running
location and click the Next button to complete the restore.

6.After the reboot, make sure the system is working correctly. If it's not,
Use System Restore to restore a previous system
to restore Windows XP (that is, cancel the restore), or restore the system
mu in an earlier restore point.

\Configuring and disabling System Restore

You have the option to change the amount of hard disk space allocated by: System Restore. You can also disable System Restore for any drives where it is not required. You can even disable System Restore for all drives, however, this is not the smartest solution. (Unless you're running out of disk space too badly and can't let System Restore use the required 200MB or more.)

Note. Your administrator may not allow you to set up System Restore. If so, the System Restore Settings link will not appear on the System Restore page; you also won't see the System Restore tabs in the System Properties dialog box.

By default, System Restore allocates 12 percent of the disk space for each hard drive that is larger than 4GB and 400MB for each drive that is less than 4GB. For large disks, this space is more than enough, so you can reduce it. However, the less space you allocate to System Restore, the fewer restore points you will have, so you will have to experiment with this value to determine optimal settings for your computer. System Restore is only recommended for drives that contain system and application files; for other disks it is better to disable it. For most configurations, this means that System Restore will only be used for the system drive. However, if the application files are not stored on the system drive (for example, the system drive does not fit both), you should enable System Restore for the drive that contains these applications.

To change the amount of disk space allocated for System Restore, follow these instructions.

1. Press the WINDOWS-BREAK keys to bring up the System Properties dialog box, then click the System Restore tab to display it (see Figure 23.8). Alternatively, open System Restore and on home page System Restore, click the System Restore Settings link to display the System Restore tab of the System Properties dialog box.

Note. The controls on the System Restore tab of the System Properties dialog box vary depending on the number of volumes. The computer shown in Figure 23.8 has two volumes, and so Windows XP displays an Available Drives list and a Settings button. If your computer has only one volume, on the System Restore tab, instead of the Available drives list and the Options button, you will see a Disk Space Usage slider. Using this slider, you can change the amount of disk space reserved for system recovery.

2. To disable System Restore completely, select the Turn Off option
System Restore on All Drives or the Turn Off System Restore option. (The latter is used for computers that have only one volume.) As mentioned earlier, a complete shutdown is not recommended except in rare cases.

3. To set up System Restore for a drive, select the drive in the list
Available Drives and click the Settings button. Windows XP then displays the Settings dialog box for that drive.

■ The controls in the Options dialog box differ depending on whether the this disc systemic.

■ The right screen of Figure 23.8 shows an example of the Options dialog box.
for the system drive. Dialog box Options for a non-system drive
also contains the Turn Off System Restore on This Drive option.

4. Use the Disk Space to Use slider to specify
amount of disk space reserved for system recovery
we. Or, if necessary, select the Turn Off System Restore on This option
Drive (Disable System Restore on this drive). If your computer
has only one drive, use the appropriate controls on
System Restore tab of the System dialog box
Properties (Properties of the system).

5. If you have more than one disc on your computer, configure the playback settings for them.
the formation of the system.

Deleting restore points

System Restore automatically deletes restore points after 90 days. If System Restore finds that there is not enough disk space up to this point, then the oldest restore points will be deleted to make room for new ones. You cannot delete restore points directly through Windows Explorer, but you can do so using one of the following methods.

■ To delete all restore points except the last one, run
Disk Cleanup and select the System Restore option.
system) (see Chapter 39 for more information on disk cleanup).

■ To delete all restore points, turn off System Restore,
This is not recommended because after disabling System Restore)
you may have difficulty restoring your computer after
failures.

■ To reduce the amount of time that System Restore takes
themes store restore points, reduce the value of the RPLifeInterval parameter
in the registry key HKLM\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\
SystemRestore. By default, this value is 7776000 seconds or 90 days.

Automatic System Restore

automated System Recovery(Automatic System Recovery, ASR) is a tool for automatically recovering your system in the event of a failure. ASR is the last hope of restoring the system if that fails with the rest of the recovery methods. ASR is the last step before manually reinstalling Windows XP Professional. You can also use ASR for less serious problems, however this is not recommended and may lead to unintended consequences.

Note. The next chapter contains an overview of the tools Windows recovery XP Professional. In it, you'll find descriptions of other Windows XP Professional recovery tools, as well as when to use each one.

ASR is included with Windows XP Professional - Microsoft did not include this tool in Windows version XP Home Edition. This is speculated to prevent users from trying to use the tool when they don't need it, and also because the company wanted to separate Windows XP Professional from Windows XP Home Edition.

Note. In a domain environment, your data files and configuration files can be stored on the network, because in this case the administrator can easily archive them. In this situation, you do not need to use ASR. If the configuration of Windows XP Professional becomes corrupted, then the administrator can restore the system volume using the standard configuration using Remote Installation Services (Remote Installation Services, RIS) and IntelliMirror.

How does it workASR

ASR archives the contents of your system volume into a large archive file and saves a small amount of important configuration information to a floppy disk. After a problem occurs that cannot be solved by normal recovery tools, you should boot from your Windows disk XP Professional CD in special ASR mode. You will then provide your floppy disk and point Windows XP Professional to the location of the ASR archive. The archive file can be stored on a removable media or hard drive. Since this archive contains all the files on the system volume, it will take up a lot of space - from 1 to several tens of gigabytes. Therefore, the archive media must be of the appropriate size to accommodate the archive file. A recordable D disc, tape media, or an external hard drive is fine. If you are going to store your ASR archive file on your hard drive, pay attention to the following points. The archive file must be stored on a volume other than the system volume. If the archive file is saved to a non-system volume, it will be overwritten when ASR attempts to restore your system volume to its previous state. ASR will format the partition and then create the junction points and directory structure using the information from the ASR floppy disk.

■ Although you can store the ASR archive file on a different volume on the same internal drive that contains your system volume, storing the file on a different hard drive is still preferable. There are two reasons for this. First, any hardware problem that affects the system volume (for example, a bad sector or a broken partition table) can also affect other volumes on that disk. This may interfere with restoring from an ASR archive. Secondly, it is safer to store the archive file outside the computer. external hard drive or network drive provide the flexibility you need and plenty of disk space to fully back up your system's system volume.

A warning. ASR is not a panacea for system failures and data loss ASR does not perform a full backup of your entire system. ASR cannot help you if data is lost, corrupted, or accidentally deleted unless it is stored on the system volume. Use ASR to protect your system files, but don't forget to back up your data files regularly as well.

Create a disaster recovery setsystems with...