The less you know ... Vista backup

[FeuerFrei]

I have a computer running Windows Vista Home Premium and I schedule monthly backups to DVD using the built-in Backup and Restore Center utility. Supposedly it adds only new/updated files to the archive and every 3-4 months it asks for a new DVD.

The utility never asks for the older disks so obviously it isn't updating files on those. ARE THEY STILL PART OF THE BACKUP? 😕 It only prompts for the latest disk when initiating a backup.

Naturally the archive is going to grow over time, but this is ridiculous. I know for a fact I don't have 7 dvds worth of data to archive - should fit on one disk - I'd like to discard the other 6.

And why can't I exclude specific directories from being backed up? Bad Microsoft.

(obviously I've never had to restore from disk)

 

[oynaz]

I know this isn't answering your question, but I would get an external HDD and a good freeware backup app (I use Crashplan) instead.

I wouldn't trust neither DVDs or anything build into Vista for my backups.

 

[FishAk]

I wouldn't trust neither DVDs or anything build into Vista for my backups.

+1

 

[Emulex]

norton ghost is the consumer version of BESR2010 which is the best baremetal backup app there is. beats acronis - use it on 60+ machines doing full bare metal hot backups every day of the week. never had a malfunction .

 

[FeuerFrei]

OK, I hear you people. Use a third party app.

Judging by the deafening silence, apparently no one knows how Vista's Backup and Restore Center works. Guess that is why no one uses it. Now if I were an Apple user I would be agog over its simplicity and lack of options ... but I'm not. :|

 

[Dulanic]

You need to keep the discs.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Back-up-and-restore-frequently-asked-questions

You cannot get copies of files that are on a missing disc. However, you can restore files on the backup discs previous to and after the missing one. If you don't know exactly what's on the missing disc, you can see a list of the files that you have backed up. If you are running Windows Vista Business, Windows Vista Enterprise, or Windows Vista Ultimate, you can use shadow copies to recover previous versions of files directly from your hard disk, rather than from a backup.

To view a list of files you've backed up
Open Backup and Restore Center by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Maintenance, and then clicking Backup and Restore Center.

Click Restore files.

You can browse or search the contents of the backup

I use WHS myself but it wasn't hard to find the answer.

 

[mpo]

I use Vista Home Premium's backup and restore center for one of my computers. The backup contains a catalog folder then the dated contents for each backup. Throw away one of the discs and you'll lose continuity. The backup will fail.

Win 7's backup does have a built-in shadow copy like Time Machine. One thing that is annoying for W7 Home Premium is you can't make backups to network drives.

 

[FeuerFrei]

Thanks for the info. I've been wanting to know this for years! BTW this is a work computer but perhaps I can prevail on them to switch backup solutions once I do some research. If I stick with DVDs I'll just have Vista build an archive from scratch each time on a blank DVD, rather than this cumbersome incremental stuff.

You need to keep the discs.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Back-up-and-restore-frequently-asked-questions



I use WHS myself but it wasn't hard to find the answer.

Believe me, that FAQ you linked to was the first thing I looked at, but it was unhelpful, so I turned to AT. The answer you quoted could very well be referring to a one-session multi-disc archive -- not necessarily a series of incremental appendages, ad infinitum, to a original base level. Hence it was of no use.

 

[FishAk]

Judging by the deafening silence, apparently no one knows how Vista's Backup and Restore Center works.

I didn't use the Vista one, but in one word, I can tell you how Windows 7 backup works .

Unreliably