XPs backup via LAN

  • Thread starter Thread starter jtsnow
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jtsnow

Im backing up using the XP provided "Backu"p located in the Accessories
directory.

I have a 2nd computer on a home LAN and have mapped its harddrive to my
primary computer and also set the 2nd comptuer mapped drive to "share" at
the root or "C:" level.

When I back up using the XP utility, it selects all the folders in the
mapped drive, but, for example, it does not include any of the files in the
"programs directory". The Program directory is empty.

What do I need to do for to be able to back up all files with the XP
utility. (I understand I cant get an image over LAN but just want the most
comprehensive backup I can get short of that).

Should I use some other software then is provided with XP? I have Ghost but
it doest to LAN backup.

thanks for any tips
 
jtsnow said:
Im backing up using the XP provided "Backu"p located in the Accessories
directory.

I have a 2nd computer on a home LAN and have mapped its harddrive to my
primary computer and also set the 2nd comptuer mapped drive to "share" at
the root or "C:" level.

When I back up using the XP utility, it selects all the folders in the
mapped drive, but, for example, it does not include any of the files in
the
"programs directory". The Program directory is empty.

What do I need to do for to be able to back up all files with the XP
utility. (I understand I cant get an image over LAN but just want the most
comprehensive backup I can get short of that).

Should I use some other software then is provided with XP? I have Ghost
but it doest to LAN backup.
Click to expand...

When you say the "Programs directory", do you mean "Program Files" or
something else? Can you see the contents when you browse the directory
across the network from "My Computer"?

And are you backing up the share or backing up the "network neighborhood"
entry?
 
good questions. I wasnt to precise.

Its the "Program Files" folder.
When viewing the folder in the mapped drive with Explorer I get a message
that access is denied.
When viewing the folder through My Network Neighborhood I get the same
access is denied.
Im backing up the Mapped Cdrive using the XP Backup utility.

Shouldnt setting the C drive to "Share" at the root or C: make the entire
drive shareable?

thanks!
 
jtsnow said:
good questions. I wasnt to precise.

Its the "Program Files" folder.
When viewing the folder in the mapped drive with Explorer I get a message
that access is denied.
When viewing the folder through My Network Neighborhood I get the same
access is denied.
Im backing up the Mapped Cdrive using the XP Backup utility.

Shouldnt setting the C drive to "Share" at the root or C: make the entire
drive shareable?
Click to expand...

No. Windows NT/2K/XP allows security to be set on drives, folders, and
individual files, with the security settings for a folder able to override
those for the drive and for a file to override those for the folder.
Further, those settings can be different for different users, and can also
be different for network access vs local access even for the same user
account.

Sounds like your problem isn't the backup program, it's that the system
administrator has set the security so that you don't have access to the
Program Files folder on the other machine. If you're the administrator
then you need to read up on disk, folder, file, and share permissions--it's
a complicated topic, much more than I can cover here, and I don't really
know off a good reference off the top of my head, although going into
Windows Help and looking for "sharing", "permissions", and "security"
should give you a start.
 
Should I use some other software then is provided with XP? I have Ghost but
it doest to LAN backup.
Click to expand...

Ghost does indeed back up to lan. There may be a driver issue or
something else prohibiting this. Contact Symantec for support to fix
the configuration or just save the image file to a local
drive/partition and then transfer it later to the backup server on
reboot.

backing up the files in the "Program Files" directory is virtually
worthless. All you will really be able to restore is a small amount
of user data in a small number of installed programs. You will still
have to reinstall all these anyway after a disaster and won't be able
to "rollback" to easily solve less severe issues.

Windows backup is very poor indeed esp for backup for purposes of bare
metal restore/restoration of system state. You want to use Ghost to
backup the installed OS & applications and if you find ghost clunky
for your data use windows backup or something else for your user data
files.
 
your right about it backing up to network. I have to figure it out though.
I tried it and it gives me a window for domain, user and password before it
goes on. So I guess that has something to do with the .net that was
installed when I installed Ghost. I'll have to figure out how to set up the
network and where to enter those passwords and such.

thanks again
 
your right about it backing up to network. I have to figure it out though.
I tried it and it gives me a window for domain, user and password before it
goes on. So I guess that has something to do with the .net that was
installed when I installed Ghost. I'll have to figure out how to set up the
network and where to enter those passwords and such.
Click to expand...

I think it means domain as in windows domain not the .NET platform.

That is to say it wants to know the domain, user, & passwd info so it
can log into your windows domain to connect to the other computers &
resources. (you know like windows server OS & domain controller,
roaming profiles, policies, & all that good stuff?). On a PTP network
you could try logging on with your user & pass (try an Administrator
first) & workgroup name (in the domain field). What? no password set?
fix that immediately!

I haven't used any modern versions of Ghost as I now work with other
tools but I don't see why you would need to be running a windows
server OS & a windows domain for basic backing up. (IIRC I think
domains are helpful for Imagecasting, Deploycenter, & other advanced
features.) Ghost has always been somewhat complicated and had
advanced network features. There are pricey courses you can take to
really dig your teeth in to all Ghost can do but what you are asking
is supposed to be quite basic & frankly I'm not a fan of wholesale
management via images anyway.

I don't know what version you are running but check out:

"How to use a mapped network drive to create and restore images"
http://www.symantec.com/techsupp/ghost/ghost_2003_info_tutorial.html


this should steer you in the right direction. Now if you want to get
really fancy on your network with automation & management it'll take a
bit more time on your part.
 
You might also want to try disabling the "simple file sharing" setting
in XP and making sure there are the right sharing permission settings
and file security settings. The same problem that is blocking reading
the shared "Program Files" directory might also be blocking Ghost from
accessing the network share & preceding to backup.
 
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