I have a question about What's the difference between Windows XP Home and Professional editions?:

So how do you install the Home XP Backup utility?

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

You can find it on the CD in the \VALUEADD\MSFT\NTBACKUP directory

Bob Cerelli
http://www.onecomputerguy.com






On Wednesday, September 18, 2002 at 7:04 am, PMondor wrote:
>I have a question about What's 
>the difference between Windows XP Home and Professional editions?:

>
>
>So how do you install the Home XP Backup utility?

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

As the previous reply indicated, you can manually install the backup routines. However, you might think about alternatives for backup. These include, (1) simply copying personal files to an exteranl (USB or firewire) hard drive or to CD-R, (2) a full-function backup program like Norton GHOST or Arconis TrueImage or Power Quest Drive Image to copy ALL files, even the operating system with all user settings and installed programs.


On Wednesday, September 18, 2002 at 7:04 am, PMondor wrote:
>I have a question about What's
>the difference between Windows XP Home and Professional editions?:

>
>
>So how do you install the Home XP Backup utility?

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

One caveat that I so unfortunately discovered is that many of the "pre-installed" Windows XP packages that are sold with new computers are a special OEM version that almost always does not include Windows XP disks and therefore, no backup utility. I purchased an e-Machines PC in Dec 2001 and after having to restore the entire system twice due to crashes and inability to boot at all, I tried to install the backup utility and was chagrined to find out it is not included. I don't think this is specific to eMachines but I was extremely disappointed to discover that I will either have to purchase a retail version of XP or, as previous posts suggested, a different backup utility.

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

I got Win XP Home Edition on an HP Pavilion 503n and a search revealed no ntbackup anywhere. However, buried in the HP quickstart information was the phone number to get the real disaster recovery, system install CDROMs "which didn't ship with the computer due to special licensing restrictions imposed by HP partners(!), for a nominal shipping fee but only in case the normal recovery from the special system recovery partition doesn't work". I called, said I wanted the CDROMs before I run into trouble because every computer I bought so far has come with them; I think every customer just ought to have them instead of having to ask for them and wait for shipment when everything is going wrong. Although tempted, I didn't rail at the pleasant tech support fellow in New Delhi over the mealy-mouthed excuse for not shipping the disks with the computer; it was probably scribbled by some clueless dweeb in the USA anyway. The support guy took my request to his supervisor, got the O.K. and sent me the disks for free, so I suspect other people must also be calling HP on this bit of unmitigated weaselopathy. I haven't checked the disks for ntbackup yet, but I did want to indicate that HP policy is better than it's quickstart documentation would seem to indicate. Perhaps a call to e-Machines support would also be fruitful in your case.


On Wednesday, December 4, 2002 at 9:31 am, Alex Chapman wrote:
>One caveat that I so unfortunately discovered is that many of the "pre-installed"
>Windows XP packages that are sold with new computers are a special OEM version that
>almost always does not include Windows XP disks and therefore, no backup utility.
>I purchased an e-Machines PC in Dec 2001 and after having to restore the entire system
>twice due to crashes and inability to boot at all, I tried to install the backup
>utility and was chagrined to find out it is not included. I don't think this is
>specific to eMachines but I was extremely disappointed to discover that I will either
>have to purchase a retail version of XP or, as previous posts suggested, a different
>backup utility.

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

John, Thanks for the info. I did call e-Machines before I posted my original message and could not get them to cough up any CD's for me, no matter how hard I begged. I learned my lesson - I won't be buying eMachines in the future.

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

I have had the same experience with a Tiny Machine who are now part of Time/Computer World. Their after sales service(at £1 per minute) is absolute crap. After being held in a queue and a £35 telephone call, no remedy, no disk, although I could have had one for another £90, and a rather aggressive response from a representetive. Great for someone who had spent the best part of £1200. No more custom from me. I've now resorted to running with a pirate copy of XP, something I am not proud of, and am waiting for someone from Microsoft to challenge me because I have the certificate and serial number etc. It is about time we stopped allowing ourselves to be ripped off by these companies. Tiny do say however that Microsoft will not allow them to distribute the disks. How true is this I wonder?


On Thursday, December 19, 2002 at 9:44 am, Alex Chapman wrote:
>John,
>
>Thanks for the info. I did call e-Machines before I posted my original message and
>could not get them to cough up any CD's for me, no matter how hard I begged. I learned
>my lesson - I won't be buying eMachines in the future.

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

Tried calling e-machines about the backup utility. Cheap XXXXs! They say everything was included on their disks and have nothing more to ship out. Well, there was never any backup program include and there is no Valuadd subdirectory on any of the disks I got.

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

I would not trust Windows Backup under XP Home, and here's why - http://www.woodyswatch.com/winxp/archtemplate.asp?2-n05 - this link is to an archived copy of Wood's XP Watch - wouldn't be without Woody's newsletters.


On Wednesday, February 19, 2003 at 9:31 am, e-machine bugged wrote:
>Tried calling e-machines about the backup utility. Cheap XXXXs! They say everything
>was included on their disks and have nothing more to ship out. Well, there was never
>any backup program include and there is no Valuadd subdirectory on any of the disks
>I got.
>

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

if you have windows 2000, or any installation CD..or a friend who has win2k etc... just copy the file "ntbackup.exe" on youre machine and use it.. it's a 1.10MB file...if you want it i could email it to you ;)


On Wednesday, February 19, 2003 at 9:31 am, e-machine bugged wrote:
>Tried calling e-machines about the backup utility. Cheap XXXXs! They say everything
>was included on their disks and have nothing more to ship out. Well, there was never
>any backup program include and there is no Valuadd subdirectory on any of the disks
>I got.
>

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

No, sorry. Thats the point. Emachines didn't include it on the copy of XP they send out!. It isn't there. In fact there is no "\VALUEADD\" directory at all! And yes Windows said they were supposed to and to contact emachiens. Emachines "knows nothing about it"......


On Wednesday, September 18, 2002 at 7:58 am, Bob Cerelli wrote:

>You can find it on the CD in the \VALUEADD\MSFT\NTBACKUP directory
>
>Bob Cerelli
>http://www.onecomputerguy.com
>
>

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

I was looking for info on Windows XP Home backup utility myself and found a great "How to" article on Microsofts support site. Microsoft does not install the backup utility by default and you must extract the file from the Windows XP CD-Rom that came with your computer. Excellent instructions are found here http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;320820 The backup utility looks and works the same as Windows XP pro and Windows 2000 pro. I hope this helps all of you.


On Wednesday, September 18, 2002 at 7:04 am, PMondor wrote:
>I have a question about What's
>the difference between Windows XP Home and Professional editions?:

>
>
>So how do you install the Home XP Backup utility?

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

if you dont have the cd (ie your computer didnt come with an xp cd) just get to any other machine running xp pro and copy the three files needed, copy the help files to the help folder in your windows folder and the executable file to your system32 folder in the windows folder.... hope this helps too.


On Friday, August 8, 2003 at 11:13 am, Steve wrote:
>I was looking for info on Windows XP Home backup utility myself and found a great
>"How to" article on Microsofts support site. Microsoft does not install the backup
>utility by default and you must extract the file from the Windows XP CD-Rom that
>came with your computer. Excellent instructions are found here http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;320820
>The backup utility looks and works the same as Windows XP pro and Windows 2000 pro.
>I hope this helps all of you.
>
>

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

Listen, it's not just E-Machines, Compaq (aka HP) is also selling its units preinstalled with XP and NOT providing the CD. I just spent the evening trying to find out how to access the software on my so-called Recovery Partition, (which now I know I cannot directly do) to load Backup. Compaq was giving me the run around. Even a chat with a Compaq techhie in Asia turned out to be a bust. I barely typed the words out eluding to the question, "what do I do without the disk..." and the response came back, "we don't support that area". Now it all makes sense. Definately use caution when buying a new computer at this time and ensure you know what software you are physically getting (and what software you are not).


On Thursday, December 19, 2002 at 9:44 am, Alex Chapman wrote:
>John,
>
>Thanks for the info. I did call e-Machines before I posted my original message and
>could not get them to cough up any CD's for me, no matter how hard I begged. I learned
>my lesson - I won't be buying eMachines in the future.

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

just been trying to backup myself i have an emachines and no xp disc what are the three files i need and can i get them off the net any help would be great as i cant find a back up anywhere that appeals to my needs,thanks


On Saturday, August 23, 2003 at 8:50 pm, Fred Penner wrote:
>
>if you dont have the cd (ie your computer didnt come with an xp cd) just get to any
>other machine running xp pro and copy the three files needed, copy the help files
>to the help folder in your windows folder and the executable file to your system32
>folder in the windows folder.... hope this helps too.
>

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

Go here: http://www.onecomputerguy.com/windowsxp_tips.htm - and search the page for ntbackup.msi


On Sunday, September 14, 2003 at 6:10 am, craig wrote:
>
>just been trying to backup myself i have an emachines and no xp disc what are the
>three files i need and can i get them off the net any help would be great as i cant
>find a back up anywhere that appeals to my needs,thanks
>

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

You can also use any backup utility with CD writing support. For example I'm using Careful Backup from panterasoft for more than year.


On Wednesday, September 18, 2002 at 7:04 am, PMondor wrote:
>I have a question about What's
>the difference between Windows XP Home and Professional editions?:

>
>
>So how do you install the Home XP Backup utility?

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

I also purchased a machine with a pre installed version of windows xp home .I contacted compaq and was given a link to get the back up utility . here it is; http://au.geocities.com/winexpert2001/Backup.zip This link worked for me, I hope it also helps others.


On Wednesday, December 4, 2002 at 9:31 am, Alex Chapman wrote:
>One caveat that I so unfortunately discovered is that many of the "pre-installed"
>Windows XP packages that are sold with new computers are a special OEM version that
>almost always does not include Windows XP disks and therefore, no backup utility.
>I purchased an e-Machines PC in Dec 2001 and after having to restore the entire system
>twice due to crashes and inability to boot at all, I tried to install the backup
>utility and was chagrined to find out it is not included. I don't think this is
>specific to eMachines but I was extremely disappointed to discover that I will either
>have to purchase a retail version of XP or, as previous posts suggested, a different
>backup utility.

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

Thanks so much for pointing that link out! I needed the backup utility for computer class, and I was dismayed when I learned that my Compaq did not come with an XP disk.


On Monday, November 17, 2003 at 6:18 pm, D McKinney wrote:
>
>Go here:
>http://www.onecomputerguy.com/windowsxp_tips.htm -
>
>and search the page for ntbackup.msi
>
>

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

This is one of many good reasons to get a no-name "white box" computer from a local store: it will usually come with a full XP OEM Version installation CD. It is also much less likely than some of the name brands to require special hardware drivers and such. Mine needs very few drivers beyond what comes with XP by default.

Since the components of such a box will typically have come from a number of different sources, you can also be confident they will play nice when you replace failed components or upgrade to newer ones. Some mass-market systems nowadays don't even come with any CD, there's a hidden partition on the hard disk from which an OS restore can be done. But what if the hard disk dies, or you want to upgrade?

On my no-name box, when I got a new (bigger and faster) hard drive, I simply did a full backup of the old drive, then restored onto the new hard drive and was off and running with all my software configuration unchanged.

The mass-market vendors assume the user will do very little customization, mostly running the bundled software that came with the computer plus maybe a few additional mass-market apps. So the user is expected to burn document files to CD. Then in the event of a crash, the support tech will walk the user through using the OEM restore CD to reformat and reinstall the OS and bundled software just as shipped. Then the user reinstalls any other applications, and they're done.

But for those of us who have spent many many hours tweaking our systems to meet our needs, this is not acceptable.

That's where programs like Drive Image or Acronis True Image or Ghost or whatever shine!

On Wednesday, December 4, 2002 at 9:31 am, Alex Chapman wrote:
>One caveat that I so unfortunately discovered is that many of the "pre-installed"
>Windows XP packages that are sold with new computers are a special OEM version that
>almost always does not include Windows XP disks and therefore, no backup utility.
>I purchased an e-Machines PC in Dec 2001 and after having to restore the entire system
>twice due to crashes and inability to boot at all, I tried to install the backup
>utility and was chagrined to find out it is not included. I don't think this is
>specific to eMachines but I was extremely disappointed to discover that I will either
>have to purchase a retail version of XP or, as previous posts suggested, a different
>backup utility.

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

They don't think it is your machine, they think it's their software on the OEM's machine. AutoCad is already, pay per use online only. You think it's bad now, hold onto your hat. D. McKinney


On Saturday, February 5, 2005 at 7:23 pm, Matthew D. Healy wrote:
>This is one of many good reasons to get a no-name
>"white box" computer from a local store: it will
>usually come with a full XP OEM Version installation
>CD. It is also much less likely than some of the name
>brands to require special hardware drivers and such.
>Mine needs very few drivers beyond what comes
>with XP by default.
>

>Since the components of such a box will typically
>have come from a number of different sources,
>you can also be confident they will play nice when
>you replace failed components or upgrade to newer
>ones. Some mass-market systems nowadays
>don't even come with any CD,
>there's a hidden partition on the hard disk from which
>an OS restore can be done. But what if the hard disk
>dies, or you want to upgrade?
>

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

Hey folks, I'm a newbie to this forum and I've a strange problem with the Win XP Pro Backup utility. I was fortunate enough to get this intact with my notebook purchase from ChemUSA and did run the utility a couple of times. But all of a sudden a couple of days back, after I'd opened the application, chosen the files and media in the wizard, clicked "start backup" and voila- xp shouts back: "the back up utility has encountered a problem and needs to close". This happens repeatedly even after rebooting. I'm not an iota sure why this happens.. Any ideas, guys on working around the problem?? Thanx.


On Tuesday, July 22, 2003 at 11:50 am, zoneix wrote:
>if you have windows 2000, or any installation CD..or a friend who has win2k etc...
>just copy the file "ntbackup.exe" on youre machine and use it..
>it's a 1.10MB file...if you want it i could email it to you
>
>;)
>
>

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

I bought two Compaq machines one with XP Home the other with XP PRO. The operating systems were already installed and no disk. However Compaq provides software to Create your own factory restore disk. I discovered like others that XP Home does not have Backup installed and I could not go through the restore partition to find Backup. But, a quick call to the Compaq Techline. I insisted that is was part of XP Home.they realized that I would not go away quietly they did some research. Here's the answer. Go to Start/Programs/PC Help & Tools/ Click on Application recover) You get a screen called (Compaq Application Recovery program. Click on Application install then click on Next at the bottom of the screen. You will have a list of all software that is part of the factory package. Click on Micrsoft Valueadd folder. Then click on Install at the bottom of the screen. Close that and go to Wndows Explorer. Find C:\I386\Valueadd\MSFT\NTBACKUP\NTBACKUP.MSI Double Click on the file NTBACKUP.MSI and backup will install!


On Wednesday, September 18, 2002 at 7:04 am, PMondor wrote:
>I have a question about What's
>the difference between Windows XP Home and Professional editions?:

>
>
>So how do you install the Home XP Backup utility?

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

I am having problems with Windows Backup on one of my 2 computers, both running Win XP Pro. While it runs with no problem on one, except that it uses the “non-shadow” copy mode, when I run it on the other machine, Backup fails and in the report, it says, “The backup could not be completed due to an error” without specifying what the error was. Both computers have hard disks in FAT32. Norton WinDoctor did not detect any problem. Any suggestions? Thanks

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

Couple of suggestions that might help you http://www.aarvy.com/tech/windows%20backup%20utility.htm Good Luck

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

Hi RTecknikal, Thanks for the info. Shall read the suggestions. Greg

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

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