Earlier this year I read your terrific article about using the in-built Windows XP Backup utility. The article detailed how to backup all data on the computer. I wanted to know whether there is any way to just backup the Windows system files? Using a restore point achieves this same result, but stores the backup on the same drive as the system (so this is no use if there is a hardware failure).

You will be glad to know that there is a way to backup the system files using the Backup utility. Open Backup by going to the “Start” menu > “All Programs” > “Accessories” > “System Tools” > “Backup”. If the “Backup and Restore Wizard” starts, untick the option “Always start in wizard mode” and then click “Cancel”. Re-open the Backup utility and it should now open without the wizard. You have two choices in how to backup the system files. The first option is to backup the system state data. This backs-up the Windows system registry and other items which comprise the state of your system. This does not backup any of your personal data or program files. As such, the system state data is only really useful if you need to restore an earlier system state on your computer, due to a corruption in the Windows registry or like, rather than doing a from scratch recovery of your system. If your aim is to protect your computer against a hardware failure (such as a hard drive fault) then purely backing up the system state would not be the most useful option.

In the event that you do wish to just backup the system state for a particular reason, in the Backup Utility select the “Welcome” tab then click the “Backup Wizard (Advanced)” button. The Backup Wizard window will appear. Click the “Next” button. Select “Only back up the System State data”. Click “Next”. Continue following the prompts to create a backup of the system state data. To recover this data, back in the main window on the “Welcome” tab, click the “Restore Wizard (Advanced)” button. In the Restore Wizard window that appears, click the “Next” button. Insert the media containing the system state backup and then click the “Browse” button and select the system state backup to recover. Follow the rest of the wizard to recover the backup.

Assuming that you do not wish to purely backup the system state data, given the relative limited use of this type of backup for your situation, then a more useful kind of backup that you could complete is an Automated System Recovery (ASR) backup. This will create a floppy disk that contains all the system settings, together with a backup of the system partition (on a different piece of media that can store all the required data). This means that if you need to restore the system from scratch you start the system using the Windows XP installation CD and then insert the ASR backup floppy disk and the setup will commence restoring the system automatically. ASR should only be used as a last resort since it is destructive and will format your system and boot partition as part of the recovery process.

Unlike the system state backup, which only backs-up the actual system configuration, an ASR will backup the entire local system partition. For example, if your Windows system has been installed on the C: drive then ASR will backup the entire C: drive. This means that any data located on the C: drive should be backed up as part of the local system partition backup. As such, if your personal data and programs are stored on the local system partition then this should be backed up as part of the ASR backup creation process. Most home computers are setup with the system and data on the same partition (i.e. hard drive letter, such as the C drive) so most likely this will be the case on your computer. However, any data or programs not stored on the system partition (for example, if your system partition is the C drive but you also have data on an E drive) then any data on non-system partitions will not be backed-up and you will need to implement an alternative backup regime to backup that data.

To create an ASR backup, on the “Welcome” tab of the Backup Utility click the “Automated System Recovery Wizard” button. A wizard will appear to guide you through the process of creating the ASR backup set. Obviously, make sure you don’t backup the data onto the same physical drive as the data being backed-up, as that completely eliminates the entire point of creating the backup in case the drive itself fails!

While creating an ASR periodically is good system maintenance, in case you need to recover from a system failure, this is not a substitute for doing regular backups of your personal data. Each time you create an ASR set it will do a full backup of all data on your computer and also require you to insert a floppy disk to create the ASR boot floppy. This is obviously not time efficient or very convenient. As such, you are much better scheduling your computer to complete regular differential or incremental backups of your personal data and information (as outlined in my article earlier this year) since these can complete silently in the background. Then, periodically, you should manually create an ASR set just in case you need to recover the system from a full failure. In most cases, on a home computer personal data is much more important to regularly backup than the system state, simply because if you lose personal data, that cannot be recovered but you can reconfigure the system state manually and reinstall programs.

As a final note, you would have noticed that in order to create an ASR set you need to have a floppy drive to create an ASR boot floppy. Many new computers do not come with a floppy drive which creates a slight dilemma. If you do not have a floppy drive then there are a few options. First, you can purchase a USB floppy drive from most computer stores for around $60. Second, you could manually copy the ASR floppy files to another computer (with a floppy drive) and then copy the files onto the floppy at that computer. To achieve this second option, when prompted to insert a floppy disk during the ASR creation process click “Cancel”. Various warning messages will appear which you should be able to ignore. At this point the required files have also been copied onto your hard drive, so we need to locate these files. Read the following article which details the files that you need to copy onto the floppy and their location: support.microsoft.com/kb/299526 . Copy the files onto a USB drive or like to transfer to the other computer. Then, using the other computer simply copy the files onto the floppy drive. Be aware though, if you ever need to recover using the ASR then you will need a floppy drive on your computer, so it may be more efficient to just buy a floppy drive now if required and save yourself the hassle later.