[Box Backup] Windows backups

Joe Krahn boxbackup@fluffy.co.uk
Tue, 30 Nov 2004 13:54:45 -0500


Summary, so far:

The "backup Windows from a mini-Linux" idea is good, but not practical 
as a daily backup for most cases.

Also, NTFS backups from Linux should work - NTFS read support is quite 
good now, and there's even support for Logical Volumes.

A good backup plan is probably:
1) Do a Full backup of Windows from a mini-Linux.
2) Do incremental backups from within Windows.
3) Do subsequent full backups whenever you do a significant upgrade or 
software install - which likely will need a reboot anyhow.

The good part of this plan is that most files which can't be easily 
backed up from within Windows are the same files that change only when 
you reboot.

The Registry is an exception, and should probably be treated as a 
separate file system.

Another point to consider: a mini-Linux CD could be used not only as a 
Windows backup tool, but also as a system restore tool for any OS when 
starting from a blank hard disk.

Joe