Lesson 2:Backing Up Data | 70-270: MCSE Guide to Microsoft Windows XP Professional (MCSE/MCSA Guides)

After you have planned your backup, including planning the type of backup to use and when to perform backup jobs, the next step is to prepare to back up your data. There are certain preliminary tasks that must be completed before you can back up your data. After completing these tasks, you can perform a backup or schedule an unattended backup.

After this lesson, you will be able to

Back up data at a computer and over the network
Schedule a backup job
Set backup options for the Backup Utility

Estimated lesson time: 50 minutes

Performing Preliminary Tasks

An important part of each backup job is performing the preliminary tasks, which includes ensuring that the files that you want to back up are closed. You should notify users to close files before you begin backing up data. You can use e-mail or the Send Console Message dialog box in the Computer Management snap-in to send administrative messages to users.

You can send a console message as follows:

On the Start menu, right-click My Computer, and then click Manage.
On the Action menu, click All Tasks, and then click Send Console Message.
The Send Console Message dialog box appears (see Figure 16.5).

Figure 16.5 The Send Console Message dialog box
Type the desired message in the Message text box. Note the recipients in the Recipients box. You can add or remove recipients.
Click Send to send the message to the listed recipients.

If you use a removable media device, make sure that the following preliminary tasks are taken care of:

The backup device is attached to a computer on the network and is turned on. If you are backing up to tape, you must attach the tape device to the computer on which you run the Backup Utility.
The media device is listed on the Windows XP Professional HCL.
The media is loaded in the media device. For example, if you are using a tape drive, ensure that a tape is loaded in the tape drive.

Selecting Files and Folders to Back Up

After you have completed the preliminary tasks, you are ready to perform the backup. You can use the Backup or Restore Wizard, shown in Figure 16.1. To start the Backup or Restore Wizard, click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Backup. Click Next to close the Welcome To The Backup Or Restore Wizard page. On the Backup Or Restore page, ensure that Back Up Files And Settings is selected, and click Next to display the What To Back Up page (see Figure 16.6).

Figure 16.6 The What To Back Up page of the Backup or Restore Wizard

Specify what to back up by choosing one of the following options:

My Documents And Settings. Backs up the My Documents folder, along with the Favorites folder, desktop, and cookies of the current user. This is the default selection.
Everyone's Documents And Settings. Backs up the My Documents folder, along with the Favorites folders, desktop, and cookies of all users.
All Information On This Computer. Backs up all files on the computer on which you are running the Backup Utility, except those files that the Backup Utility excludes by default, such as certain power management files.
Let Me Choose What To Back Up. Backs up selected files and folders. This includes files and folders on the computer where you run the Backup Utility and any shared file or folder on the network. When you click this option, the Backup or Restore Wizard provides a hierarchical view of the computer and the network (through My Network Places).

Specifying Backup Destination, Media Settings, and Advanced Settings

After you select what you want to back up, you need to provide information about backup media. Table 16.1 describes the information that you must provide on the Backup Type, Destination, And Name page.

Table 16.1 Backup Type, Destination, And Name Page Options


Option	Description
Select The Backup Type	The target medium to use, such as a tape or file. A file can be located on any disk-based media, including a hard disk, a shared network folder, or a removable disk, such as an Iomega Zip drive.
Choose A Place To Save Your Backup	The location where the Backup Utility will store the data. For a tape, enter the tape name. For a file, enter the path for the backup file.
Type A Name For This Backup	The name of the backup. If it is a filename, the extension .bkf is appended automatically.

After you provide the media information, the Backup or Restore Wizard displays the Completing The Backup Or Restore Wizard page and you have the opportunity to do either of the following:

Start the backup. If you click Finish, during the backup process, the Backup or Restore Wizard displays status information about the backup job in the Backup Progress dialog box.
Specify advanced backup options. If you click Advanced, the Backup or Restore Wizard allows you to select the advanced backup settings listed in Table 16.2.

Table 16.2 Advanced Backup Settings


Advanced option	Description
Select The Type Of Backup	Allows you to choose the backup type that is used for this backup job. Select one of the following types: normal, copy, incremental, differential, or daily.
Verify Data After Backup	Confirms that files are correctly backed up. The Backup Utility compares the backup data and the source data to verify that they are the same. This option is recommended.
Use Hardware Compression, If Available	Enables hardware compression for tape devices that support it. If your tape device does not support hardware compression, this option is unavailable.
Disable Volume Shadow Copy	Allows files to be backed up even though they are in the process of being written to. By default, the Backup Utility will use volume shadow copies because this checkbox is cleared.
If The Archive Media Already Contains Backups:
Append This Backup To The Existing Backups	Choose this option to store multiple backup jobs on a storage device.
Or
Replace The Existing Backups	Choose this option if you do not need to save previous backup jobs and you only want to save the most recent backup data.
Allow Only The Owner And The Administrator Access To The Backup Data And Any Backups Appended To This Medium	Allows you to restrict who can gain access to the completed backup file or tape. This option is only available if you choose to replace an existing backup on a backup medium, rather than appending to the backup medium. If you back up the registry or Active Directory services, click this option to prevent others from getting copies of the backup job.
When To Backup	Allows you to specify Now or Later. If you select Later, you specify the job name and the start date. You can also set the schedule.

When you specify advanced backup settings that cover the backup media and characteristics of the backup job, you are changing the default backup settings for only the current backup job.

Depending on whether you chose to back up now or later, the Backup or Restore Wizard provides you with the opportunity to do either of the following:

If you chose to finish the backup process, the Backup or Restore Wizard displays the Completing The Backup Or Restore Wizard settings and then presents the option to finish and immediately start the backup. During the backup, the wizard displays status information about the backup job.
If you chose to back up later, you are shown additional dialog boxes to schedule the backup process to occur later, as described in the next section.

When the backup process is complete, you can choose to review the backup log, a text file that records backup operations. The backup log is stored on the hard disk of the computer on which you are running the Backup Utility.

Scheduling Backup Jobs

Scheduling a backup job means that you can have an unattended backup job occur when users are not at work and files are closed. You can also schedule backup jobs to occur at regular intervals. To enable this, Windows XP Professional integrates the Backup Utility with the Task Scheduler service.

You can schedule a backup as follows:

Click Later on the When To Back Up page of the Backup or Restore Wizard.
Task Scheduler presents the Set Account Information dialog box, prompting you for your password. The user account must have the appropriate user rights and permissions to perform backup jobs.
Enter your password in the Password text box and Confirm Password text box, and then click OK.
Task Scheduler displays the When To Back Up page. You must provide a name for the backup job, and by default, the wizard displays the present date and time for the start date.
Type the appropriate name in the Job Name text box.
Click Set Schedule to set a different start date and time. This selection causes Task Scheduler to display the Schedule Job dialog box.
In the Schedule Job dialog box, you can set the date, time, and number of occurrences for the backup job to repeat, such as every Friday at 10:00 P.M. You can also display all of the scheduled tasks for the computer by selecting the Show Multiple Schedules check box. This helps prevent you from scheduling multiple tasks on the same computer at the same time.

You can also click Advanced to schedule how long the backup can last and for how many days, weeks, months, or years you want this schedule to continue.

After you schedule the backup job and complete the Backup or Restore Wizard, the Backup Utility places the backup job on the calendar in the Schedule Jobs tab in Windows Backup. The backup job automatically starts at the time that you specified.

Practice: Backing Up Files

In this practice, you use the Backup or Restore Wizard to back up some files to your hard disk. You then create a backup job to perform a backup operation at a later time by using Task Scheduler.

Exercise 1: Starting a Backup Job

In this exercise, you use the Backup or Restore Wizard to back up files to your hard disk.

To back up files using the Backup or Restore Wizard

Log on as Fred or with an account that is a member of the Administrators group.
Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Backup.
In the Welcome To The Backup Or Restore Wizard page, click Next.
The Backup or Restore Wizard displays the Backup Or Restore page.
Ensure that Back Up Files And Settings is selected and click Next.
The Backup or Restore Wizard displays the What To Back Up page, prompting you to choose the scope of the backup job.
Click Let Me Choose What To Back Up, and then click Next to continue.
The Backup or Restore Wizard displays the Items To Back Up page, prompting you to select the local and network drives, folders, and files to be backed up.
Click the plus sign in front of My Computer to expand it, expand drive C, and then click C.
Do not select drive C. There should not be a check mark in the check box in front of drive C.
In the details pane, select AUTOEXEC.BAT.
There should be a check mark in the check box in front of the filename AUTOEXEC.BAT.
Click Next to continue.
The Backup or Restore Wizard displays the Backup Type, Destination, And Name page.

If there is no tape drive connected to your computer, Select The Backup Type is set to File and is unavailable for you to change.
Ensure Select The Backup Type is set to File.
The Choose A Place To Save Your Backup box is set to 3The Type A Name For This Backup box is set to Backup by default.
For the Choose A Place To Save Your Backup box, click Browse.
In the Save As dialog box, click the down-pointing arrow at the end of the Save In text box and click Local Disk (C:).
In the File Name text box, type backup1 and click Save.
You would not normally back up files from a drive to a file on that same drive, as is done in this exercise. You would normally back up data to a tape or to a file stored on another hard disk, removable disks (such as Iomega Zip and Jaz drives), or recordable compact discs or optical drives.
Click Next to continue.
The Backup or Restore Wizard displays the Completing The Backup Or Restore Wizard page, prompting you to finish the wizard and begin the backup job or to specify advanced options.
Click Advanced to specify additional backup options.
The Backup or Restore Wizard displays the Type Of Backup page, prompting you to select a backup type for this backup job.
Ensure that Normal is selected in the Select The Type Of Backup list box and click Next.
The Backup or Restore Wizard displays the How To Back Up page.
Select the Verify Data After Backup check box to confirm that the files are correctly backed up.
If the Use Hardware Compression, If Available check box is unavailable, either you do not have a tape drive or your tape device does not support hardware compression.
Click Next.
The Backup or Restore Wizard displays the Backup Options page.
Click Replace The Existing Backups.
Ensure that the Allow Only The Owner And The Administrator Access To The Backup Data And To Any Backups Appended To This Media check box is cleared, and then click Next.
The Backup or Restore Wizard displays the When To Backup page.
Make sure that Now is selected, and then click Next.
The Backup or Restore Wizard displays the Completing The Backup Or Restore Wizard page.
Review the options and settings that you selected for this backup job and then click Finish to start the backup job.
The Backup Utility briefly displays the Selection Information dialog box, indicating the estimated amount of data for, and the time to complete, the backup job. Because of the speed of your computer and the small number of files to back up, you might not see this dialog box.

In the Backup Progress dialog box, the Backup Utility displays the status of the backup operation, statistics on estimated and actual amount of data being processed, the time that has elapsed, and the estimated time that remains for the backup operation.

To view the backup report

When the Backup Progress dialog box indicates that the backup is complete, click Report.
Notepad starts, displaying the backup report. The backup report contains key details about the backup operation, such as the time that it started and how many files were backed up.
Examine the report, and when you are finished, quit Notepad.
In the Backup Progress dialog box, click Close.

Exercise 2: Creating and Running an Unattended Backup Job

In this exercise, you create a backup job to perform a backup operation at a later time by using Task Scheduler.

To create a scheduled backup job

Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Backup.
In the Welcome To The Backup Or Restore Wizard page, click Next.
In the Select An Operation page, ensure that Back Up Files And Settings is selected and click Next.
In the What To Back Up page, click Let Me Choose What To Back Up, and then click Next to continue.
In the Items To Back Up page, expand My Computer, expand drive C, and then select the System Volume Information check box.
Click Next to continue.
In the Backup Type, Destination, And Name page, in the Choose A Place To Save Your Backup list box, select C:\.
In the Type A Name For This Backup text box, type backup2, and then click Next.
In the Completing The Backup Or Restore Wizard page, click Advanced to specify additional backup options.
In the Type Of Backup page, ensure that Normal is selected in the Select The Type Of Backup list box, and then click Next.
In the How To Back Up page, select the Verify Data After Backup check box, and then click Next.
In the Backup Options page, click Replace The Existing Backups.
Ensure that the Allow Only The Owner And The Administrator Access To The Backup Data And To Any Backups Appended To This Media check box is not selected, and then click Next.
In the When To Backup page, click Later.
The Backup or Restore Wizard makes the Schedule Entry box available.
In the Job Name text box, type Pro1 SysVolInfo Backup and then click Set Schedule.
The Backup or Restore Wizard displays the Schedule Job dialog box, prompting you to select the start time and schedule options for the backup job.
In the Schedule Task box, ensure that Once is selected, and in the Start Time text box, enter a time three minutes from the present time, and then click OK.
In the When To Back Up dialog box, click Next to continue.
The Backup or Restore Wizard displays the Set Account Information dialog box.

For purposes of this exercise, use the Administrator account to run the scheduled backup job.
Make sure that Pro1\Administrator appears in the Run As box (or the name of your computer, if it is not Pro1), and then type password in the Password text box and the Confirm Password text box.
Click OK.
The Backup or Restore Wizard displays the Account Information Warning dialog box.
Click OK to continue.
Review the information on the Completing The Backup Or Restore Wizard page and then click Finish to schedule the backup job.
When the time for the backup job is reached, the Backup Utility starts and performs the requested backup operation.

To verify that the backup job was performed

Start Microsoft Windows Explorer and click drive C.
Verify that BACKUP2.BKF was created and you have confirmed that the backup occurred.
Log off Windows XP Professional.

Lesson Review

The following questions will help you determine whether you have learned enough to move on to the next lesson. If you have difficulty answering these questions, review the material in this lesson before beginning the next lesson. The answers for these questions are in Appendix A, "Questions and Answers."

What are the four choices in the What To Back Up page of the Backup or Restore Wizard and what does each choice allow you to do?
When should you select the Allow Only The Owner And The Administrator Access To The Backup Data And Any Backups Appended To This Media check box?
If your boss wants daily backups to occur at 1:00 A.M., what could you do to save yourself the trouble of having to go to the office each morning at 1:00 A.M. to do the backups?
If you don't have a tape drive, can you still perform backups? How?
Why should you e-mail or send a console message to users before you begin a backup?

Lesson Summary

The Backup Utility allows you to back up everything on the computer; to specify selected files, drives, or network data; or to back up only the system state data.
The Backup Utility allows you to provide the target destination and the backup media or filename.
The Backup or Restore Wizard Advanced backup settings include the following options: selecting the type of backup operation to perform, verifying data after backup, using hardware compression, and scheduling the backup to run at a later time or to run at regularly scheduled times.