Help with confusing backup options

twentw · 21 Jun 2011

I've had automatic backups setup for years, but because of a recent redo of my computer, I need some help with Windows' confusing options. I have 2 drives on my computer, the C: drive has the OS and program files, the D: drive has the libraries and other data. I want Windows to backup the C: and D: drives into separate vhd files. I prefer vhd because it can be mounted as a drive in Windows and I can easily pull off individual files from the backup.

Right now, in the "What do you want to back up?" box, no Data Files are selected, but under "Computer" I have both the C: and D: drive selected. I also have "Include a system image of drives: System Reserved, (C:)" selected.

The result is I get a vhd in the "WindowsImageBackup" folder that appears to include only the C: drive. In addition, I get a special folder (named after my computer) containing multiple "Backup Set" folders that contain numerous zip files. This backup appears to include the D: drive and some portion (not all) of the C: drive.

One of the problems is that the "Backup Set" folders proliferate, filling up the backup drive, thereby causing the "System Image" backup to fail. As I said, I want to get everything in the form of a vhd file that gets overwritten each backup so that my backup drive never gets overfull. Is there a way to do this?

Phone Man · 21 Jun 2011

I use Macrium Reflex Free version and it is very easy to make separate images of each drive or partition and with one click you can mount the image as a drive and use windows explorer to access the files. I keep multiple images and just erase the older ones when no longer needed.

Macrium Reflect FREE Edition - Information and download

Jim

mjf · 22 Jun 2011

This brief explanation may be useful:
Backup & Restore Options

With Windows imaging you can image C

OS partition) and D: and choose to only replace C: or both. You cannot choose only to replace D:.
Macrium is much more flexible for multi partition backup and replacement. Mounting is just a double click on the image file. You can explore and extract with Windows Explorer.
If you want a vhd for VMs etc then Macrium has an Img2Vhd utility you can download.

whs · 22 Jun 2011

You could image your data partition with the wbadmin command. That give you a seperate VHD. The command is:

WBADMIN START BACKUP -backupTarget:x: -include:y:

Where "x" is the volume where you want to keep the image and "y" is the volume you want to image.

mjf · 22 Jun 2011

whs said:

You could image your data partition with the wbadmin command. That give you a seperate VHD. The command is:

WBADMIN START BACKUP -backupTarget:x: -include:y:

Where "x" is the volume where you want to keep the image and "y" is the volume you want to image.

Windows imaging has been criticized as too involved

It may start to become a little involved if you start using command line scripts. You ultimately will need to restore an image.

whs · 22 Jun 2011

mjf said:

whs said:

You could image your data partition with the wbadmin command. That give you a seperate VHD. The command is:

WBADMIN START BACKUP -backupTarget:x: -include:y:

Where "x" is the volume where you want to keep the image and "y" is the volume you want to image.

Windows imaging has been criticized as too involved

It may start to become a little involved if you start using command line scripts. You ultimately will need to restore an image.

I recommend that scipt only for data partition backup because you cannot restore it in Win7 (only in server) - you can only mount the VHD and recover your data that way. It is one way to get a VHD.

The advantage of the script is that I know what I am doing - which is not obvious if I use Win7 imaging.

twentw · 22 Jun 2011

Thanks for this. So, am I correct that the Windows 7 backup app is incapable of creating a non-system drive vhd? Also, am I correct that the wbadmin command that would backup both C: and D: is "wbadmin start backup -backuptarget:x: -include:c:d:"

whs · 22 Jun 2011

There is a comma missing. It should be: wbadmin start backup -backuptarget:x: -include:c:,d:

See command description:

-include Specifies the comma-delimited list of items to include in the
backup. You can include multiple volumes.

mjf · 22 Jun 2011

whs said:

There is a comma missing. It should be: wbadmin start backup -backuptarget:x: -include:c:,d:

See command description:

-include Specifies the comma-delimited list of items to include in the
backup. You can include multiple volumes.

And for the system reserved partition with no letter assigned?
You need to identify and include the full (long) volume identifier.

I suggest you stick to the Windows GUI which uses the appropriate command line utilities. I've used wdadmin and see no advantage for the average user.

WHS you do confuse me. wbadmin is a part of windows imaging which you admit to strongly disliking. Yet, here is an OP wanting to do something ideally suited to Macrium - a program you greatly admire.

PS: I do consider this stuff interesting and much applies to Windows 7 and not just servers.
Have a look here for anyone interested:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/w...es-for-IT-pros

twentw · 22 Jun 2011

whs said:

I suggest you stick to the Windows GUI which uses the appropriate command line utilities. I've used wdadmin and see no advantage for the average user.

My problem is that the Windows GUI cannot create a vhd from a non-system drive. If it can, please tell me how. Otherwise I have no problem using wbadmin, which I've used before successfully. I see no reason to use 3rd party software, even free, if Windows can do what I need.