Information Resource for Windows Backup Software NTBackup

Microsoft originally planned to include Windows Backup in the Home Edition as well as the Professional Edition. Unfortunately they removed it, for reasons known to themselves, from the final version. However you may install the utility from your original XP Home Edition CD or from the SP2 installation files or you can download it here.

Simply insert the XP CD and run NTBACKUP.MSI (it might look like just "Ntbackup") program from the folder D:\Valueadd\msft\ntbackup where D: is the letter of your CD drive. This will launch the Windows Backup Utility Installation Wizard, which will install the utility automatically. When it is finished, click "Finish."

Now you can click Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Backup, and the Backup Utility will start.

Microsoft approves this in KB Article Q302700.

Alternatively, you can install Windows Backup from Service Pack 2 (SP2). To do this, make sure that you have the full network install version of XP SP2 - "WindowsXP-KB835935-SP2-ENU.exe", size 272 MBytes. You can download this from :-

Or it is available on CD and from a multitude of sources. The file that you need is NTBACKUP.EX_ which is the compressed version of NTBACKUP.EXE

The SP2 file is a self extracting ZIP file. So the easiest way to extract the NTBACKUP file is using a tool like WINZIP which can extract this file on its own. However if you do not have winzip or another zip tool, you can run the SP2 file which will self extract to a folder on your hard disk - usually under the C:\ folder. Before you cancel the SP2 Installation Wizard, extract the NTBACKUP.EXE file which is located in the "i386" sub-folder. To extract it, use the EXPAND command from a command prompt. The Expand command is included as a part of every windows operating system. Type:-

EXPAND NTBACKUP.EX_ NTBACKUP.EXE

Then copy the NTBACKUP.EXE program into the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 folder. You can create a shortcut to NTBACKUP.EXE on the desktop or under the START button as usual. But if you are using SoftSwift Enhanced Windows Backup, you will not need to run it directly anyway.

You should check your EULA to ensure that you are permitted to extract and use this or any other file from SP2 or to download from this website.

Download NTBackup.