In a recent column you provided instructions on using the Windows Backup utility. I followed your instructions diligently, but could not find this Backup program on my computer. When I go to the “Start” menu > “All Programs” > “Accessories” > “System Tools” the only program that bears any relation to backup is the “Files and Settings Transfer Wizard”. This seems to only handle backing-up files and settings, not full drive backups including applications. Have I done something wrong? Should I not be able to use the Windows Backup utility can you recommend a free backup program? I have looked at Cnet Downloads and found some which seem to fit the requirements, but I am unsure whether they are legitimate and as good as commercial products such as Acronis.

The Files and Settings Transfer Wizard is unlikely to assist with backing-up files on your computer since this program is simply designed to ease the process of transferring files and settings between two computers. For example, if you just purchased a new computer and wish to transfer your files and various settings from your old computer then you may use this utility. So, don’t even bother looking at this utility to help backup your computer. The Backup utility will be much more useful for this purpose. The most likely reason why the Backup utility cannot be found on your computer is because you are running Windows XP Home Edition. The Backup utility is not installed by default in Windows XP Home Edition, and thus does not appear in the Start menu, or even the Add or Remove Programs control panel. This is unlike Windows XP Professional Edition, which does install and display the Backup utility. Why this utility was not included as standard with Windows XP Home Edition is unknown, but you will be glad to hear that this utility is included on the Windows XP Home Edition CD and just needs to be manually installed.

To install the Backup utility, insert your original Windows XP Home Edition CD into the CD drive on the computer. An auto-run welcome window may appear once you have inserted the CD. Should this appear, close the window. Go to My Computer then right-click on your CD drive and select “Open” (do not double-click the CD drive to open, as that will simply launch the auto-run welcome window again). Navigate to the following folder on the CD: ValueaddMsftNtbackup. Within this folder you should see a file named “Ntbackup.msi” with an icon that resembles a program installer or setup icon. Double-click to run this file and the Backup utility will proceed to install on the computer. Once the installation has completed you should be able to access the Backup utility through a shortcut within the Start menu. Alternatively, you can also go to the “Start” menu > “Run” and type “ntbackup” (without the quotes) then click OK.

However, as you have not mentioned which version of Windows you are running, it is entirely possible that you are running Windows XP Professional Edition and the Backup utility is not present. In this case, Windows XP Professional does include Backup in the default installation so this program should be present. Now, there are two possible explanations for its absence. First, the shortcut to the program may have been deleted. Second, the program may have been deleted. We will deal with both of these cases so that the program can be recovered.

The first scenario deals with the shortcut to the Backup utility being deleted. In order to verify whether the backup utility is installed on your computer we need to try running the utility. As detailed previously in this response, we will try running the program directly from the Start menu Run command. Go to the “Start” menu > “Run” and type “ntbackup” (without the quotes) then click OK. If the Backup program starts, then it is installed on your computer. In this case we need to create an easy to access shortcut for the program. I suggest that we create this where it would normally be located, being the System Tools program group. Click the “Start” menu and navigate through to the “Accessories” program group. Right-click on the “System Tools” program group and select “Open All Users”. This will open the System Tools program group for all users. In other words, the shortcuts placed within this instance of the System Tools program group will appear for any users who login to the computer, rather than just yourself. In the System Tools window, go to the “File” menu > “New” > “Shortcut”. The Create Shortcut window will appear. For the location of the shortcut, type “ntbackup” and click “Next”. On the next screen, type “Backup” as the name of the shortcut then click “Finish”. You should now be able to launch the Backup utility by opening the Backup shortcut found in the System Tools program group.

We will now deal with the second scenario where the Backup utility does not appear to be installed on the computer. You will be able to determine whether this is the case because the Backup utility will not launch from the “Start” menu > “Run” command but will instead return an error message. This is the more unlikely situation since you cannot uninstall the Backup utility from Windows, so the only way to remove this from the system would be to delete the program file itself. Obviously this is not recommended, but it may have occurred inadvertently. Should this be the case, the best way to recover the file is to run the Windows System File Checker utility. This will scan the computer for any missing or corrupt Windows system files and replace these with known good copies. Go to the “Start” menu > “Run” and type “sfc /scannow” (without the quotes) and click OK. The SFC utility will immediately commence operation. Once it has finished the utility will close without any user feedback. At which time the Backup utility should be back on your computer.

Now dealing with the second part of your question about good free backup utilities, it is difficult for me to comment on this aspect since I have never used any free backup utilities. As you have discovered, there is a plethora of free utilities which claim to do the right thing, but quite a few of these utilities either don’t perform or are otherwise unsuitable. In my research I have often found that with backup utilities you really get what you pay for. Furthermore, you only really value the integrity of your backups when you need to recover from the backups. As such, I have always used commercial backup products such as Acronis to backup my data. This is because the price tag of the product (AU$69.99 for Acronis True Image Home 2010) versus the price of having to recover data from a failed hard drive (which can cost many thousands) is a very acceptable cost.