Manual use of NTBACKUP

Normally UMove will automatically extract the Active Directory files from the .BKF backup file and copy them into an empty staging folder.

UMove understands the .BKF file format and can automatically extract the needed files from the .BKF file. In rare cases UMove may be unable to read the .BKF file. The following instructions show how to create the staging folder manually using NTBACKUP.

Creating the staging folder with NTBACKUP

Windows Server 2000 or 2003: To create the staging folder manually, you can run NTBACKUP.EXE. You must run NTBACKUP two times, once to extract the Windows disk (typically “C:”) and once to extract the System State.

1. Run NTBACKUP.EXE the first time. If NTBACKUP is running in wizard mode, click on the link Advanced mode to switch to advanced mode.
2. Click on the tab Restore and Manage Media.
3. In the left-hand panel right-click on File. Select Catalog file. Type the path to the .BKF file and click OK.
4. Click on + to the left of File to expand the tree. Check on + to the left of the file name that you added in the previous step. This will show the disk letters (“C”, “D”, etc.)
5. Check the box next to the Windows disk (typically “C”).
6. At the bottom change Restore files to to Alternate location. Type in the alternate location “C:\Staging\C” where C:\Staging is the path to an empty folder. Substitute the second “C” with the disk letter containing the Windows files in step 5.
7. Click the button Start Restore. In the popup dialog click the button Advanced and use the restore options indicated below (see figure).
8. Click OK to restore the files.
9. Quit and restart NTBACKUP.EXE.
10. Restore the System State to the alternate location “C:\Staging\SysState”. For C:\Staging use the same path that you used earlier. For the subfolder type in “SysState”.
11. Click the button Start Restore. Click the button Advanced and use the same restore options that you used in step 7 (see figure).
12. Click OK to restore the files.

After you are done, run Windows Explorer to inspect the layout of the staging folder to verify that it is correct.