Backup Problem

If this is not a problem for this group, could someone steer me to the right
one. -- I have just bought an external hard drive for backup purposes. Two
problems. (A) I can't find the Back-up procedure that I thought was on
Windows XP Home Edition. (b) When I try just copying the files to the new
hard drive I occasionally run into a notice to the effect that this file
can't be backed up because someone else, or some program, is already using
it. For instance, one such file is called "NTUser.dat." There are others.
Can anyone tell me if there is any way of getting around such files. -
Thanks, Brian.

"Brian Stewart" wrote in message
...
If this is not a problem for this group, could someone steer me to the
right one. -- I have just bought an external hard drive for backup
purposes. Two problems. (A) I can't find the Back-up procedure that I
thought was on Windows XP Home Edition. (b) When I try just copying the
files to the new hard drive I occasionally run into a notice to the effect
that this file can't be backed up because someone else, or some program,
is already using it. For instance, one such file is called "NTUser.dat."
There are others. Can anyone tell me if there is any way of getting around
such files. - Thanks, Brian.


To do the job properly you really need to use a third party program. There
are several about, my own choice after trying some is Acronis true image.
Using one of these you don't have to select individual file and folders. You
can back up your total system. This can be run in the background with no
file locking problems. Have a look at the Acronis site and download a trial
version.

Richard.

Backup.exe is not installed on XP Home by default. To install Backup.exe
from your XP CD:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/302894

--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)
"Brian Stewart" wrote in message
...
If this is not a problem for this group, could someone steer me to the
right one. -- I have just bought an external hard drive for backup
purposes. Two problems. (A) I can't find the Back-up procedure that I
thought was on Windows XP Home Edition. (b) When I try just copying the
files to the new hard drive I occasionally run into a notice to the effect
that this file can't be backed up because someone else, or some program,
is already using it. For instance, one such file is called "NTUser.dat."
There are others. Can anyone tell me if there is any way of getting around
such files. - Thanks, Brian.

The System Tools Backup will do a back up to your external drive
but when you try to use the ASR floppy it will not be able to reognize the
external drive. Unfortunately ASR already formatted the drive. Lucky for
me I was just testing this feature and had a backup on my external drive
that I had made with Drive Image 7. So Google around for back up
software that will suit your needs. There are many backup apps on the
market but a lot of them are not worth a hoot. I also don't really think
that
backups that are not external are worth much.
good luck

Colin Barnhorst wrote:
Backup.exe is not installed on XP Home by default. To install
Backup.exe from your XP CD:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/302894

--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)
"Brian Stewart" wrote in message
...
If this is not a problem for this group, could someone steer me to the
right one. -- I have just bought an external hard drive for backup
purposes. Two problems. (A) I can't find the Back-up procedure that I
thought was on Windows XP Home Edition. (b) When I try just copying
the files to the new hard drive I occasionally run into a notice to
the effect that this file can't be backed up because someone else, or
some program, is already using it. For instance, one such file is
called "NTUser.dat." There are others. Can anyone tell me if there is
any way of getting around such files. - Thanks, Brian.

BBUNY, you are trying too hard today. Slow down. First of all, the OP is
using XP Home and he will NOT find the program in System Tools until he
installs it. It is only installed by default in Pro. Second, are you sure
the OP can use ASR on XP Home?

--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)
"BBUNNY" wrote in message
...

The System Tools Backup will do a back up to your external drive
but when you try to use the ASR floppy it will not be able to reognize the
external drive. Unfortunately ASR already formatted the drive. Lucky for
me I was just testing this feature and had a backup on my external drive
that I had made with Drive Image 7. So Google around for back up
software that will suit your needs. There are many backup apps on the
market but a lot of them are not worth a hoot. I also don't really think
that
backups that are not external are worth much.
good luck

Colin Barnhorst wrote:
Backup.exe is not installed on XP Home by default. To install
Backup.exe from your XP CD:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/302894

--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)
"Brian Stewart" wrote in message
...
If this is not a problem for this group, could someone steer me to the
right one. -- I have just bought an external hard drive for backup
purposes. Two problems. (A) I can't find the Back-up procedure that I
thought was on Windows XP Home Edition. (b) When I try just copying
the files to the new hard drive I occasionally run into a notice to
the effect that this file can't be backed up because someone else, or
some program, is already using it. For instance, one such file is
called "NTUser.dat." There are others. Can anyone tell me if there is
any way of getting around such files. - Thanks, Brian.

This was my whole poorly worded point. This is from the
readme.txt for NTBACKUP XPH. The real kicker here is
the __will appear to work fine__.

1. ASR is not supported on home edition.

IF you install NtBackup from the CD to the Home Edition, ASR functionality
will appear to work fine during
the backup session. Since the setup does not support ASR in the home
edition, there is no way to initiate
the ASR restore in case of a disaster. If you need to restore from this
session, install Windows XP manually
and then restore from the ASR media.

Colin Barnhorst wrote:
BBUNY, you are trying too hard today. Slow down. First of all, the
OP is using XP Home and he will NOT find the program in System Tools
until he installs it. It is only installed by default in Pro.
Second, are you sure the OP can use ASR on XP Home?

Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)
"BBUNNY" wrote in message
...

The System Tools Backup will do a back up to your external drive
but when you try to use the ASR floppy it will not be able to
reognize the external drive. Unfortunately ASR already formatted the
drive. Lucky for me I was just testing this feature and had a backup
on my external drive that I had made with Drive Image 7. So Google
around for back up software that will suit your needs. There are
many backup apps on the market but a lot of them are not worth a
hoot. I also don't really think that
backups that are not external are worth much.
good luck

Colin Barnhorst wrote:
Backup.exe is not installed on XP Home by default. To install
Backup.exe from your XP CD:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/302894

Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)
"Brian Stewart" wrote in message
...
If this is not a problem for this group, could someone steer me to
the right one. -- I have just bought an external hard drive for
backup purposes. Two problems. (A) I can't find the Back-up
procedure that I thought was on Windows XP Home Edition. (b) When
I try just copying the files to the new hard drive I occasionally
run into a notice to the effect that this file can't be backed up
because someone else, or some program, is already using it. For
instance, one such file is called "NTUser.dat." There are others.
Can anyone tell me if there is any way of getting around such
files. - Thanks, Brian.