How to Backup Windows XP Files using NTBackup Utility

If you are a user of Windows XP and regularly backup your data to an external hard disk using Windows XP’s Backup Utility, and you want to move your data to Windows 8 computer, you have to do simply restore your backup into the new operating system or maybe you have found yourself with a completely dead Windows XP computer and all you have left is your trusty external hard disk containing backup created with Windows XP’s Backup Utility.

Now in the next part, we will know the best backup methods, which are (backup Windows XP data using NTBackup utility and automatically backup your data by scheduling it with NTBackup).

Take Backup of Windows XP Files Using NTBackup

Microsoft released the Windows NTBackup Utility to take back up the data for Windows XP users. Let’s follow the steps below for the backup procedure:

1. To access the Windows XP NTBackup tool, go to ‘Start’ >> ‘All Programs’ >> ‘Accessories’ >> ‘System Tools’ >> ‘Backup’
   
2. Click ‘Next‘ to skip past the opening screen, then select ‘Back up files and settings‘ on the next screen.
   
3. Now you have a choice of what and where you want to back up on your computer, you may be able to get away with selecting the ‘All information on this computer’ option. Most of the time, you will want to select only specific files and folders to be backed up. You can do this by selecting the ‘Let me choose what to backup‘ option on the What to Back Up screen, or the ‘My Documents and Settings‘ option which will only back up files stored under your profile.
   
4. When you choose the ‘Let me choose what to backup‘ option and click ‘Next‘, you will see a display similar to Windows Explorer where you can place checkmarks next to individual files and folders you want to back up.
   
5. Once you have selected all the files and folders you want to back up, click ‘Next‘ to specify a location to save the backup file to. This location can be a network drive, an external drive, or a separate drive on your computer (if you have more than one hard drive installed).
   
6. The final screen will show some summary information. Once you click ‘Finish‘, the backup utility will start the backup process.
   

Note: Unfortunately, the Windows XP back up tool cannot backup files using a CD burner, but you can create the backup file and then transfer it using another CD burning application or even the CD burning utility built into Windows.

You may also like to read: Restore Backup Data From External Hard Drive

Schedule Automatic Backup with NTBackup

With the help of NTbackup Wizard, you can also schedule the backup process for your computer files on a regular basis. By automating the process, you no longer have to worry about loosing your important data which could be your doc files, some important presentation or your memorable pictures in the event of any hard drive failure. Let’s follow the procedure to schedule the backup of Windows XP data:

After you have finished the steps to take a backup of files in Windows XP, from finish window(Step 5 While Backup data).

1. Click on the Advanced Button and select Next.
2. Now Select Later and click on Set Schedule option.
3. Enter a time and day for back up your data. For example, you can run a backup every Sunday at 2 a.m.
4. Click Next and then Finish.

After this Windows XP will automatically back up your data at the specified time.

Conclusion

We have explained the step by step procedure or automating the process to backup Windows XP files using NTBackup utility. Being a user of Windows XP and windows restore all your Windows XP files onto a higher version of Windows like Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 and 10, then you cannot use NTBackup for the restoring process. In such situations, I want to recommend you to use BKF recovery software to restore Windows XP data on a higher version of Windows.

About The Author:

Deep Shikha

Deep Shikha Pandey is a Tech Writing Expert having deep knowledge about Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo, SQL, and other databases and email clients. She will guide you the best about email migration and SQL Database recovery using her expertise and making all the processes a cakewalk for the readers. Make your technical journey easy with simple layman’s blogs and accurate technical information.