Installing NTBackup on Windows 7 / 2008 R2

NTBackup is no longer available on Windows 7 (Or Vista), and the new "Backup and Restore" system cannot restore old BFK file created by NTBackup.

Microsoft have now released Windows NT Backup Restore Utility for Windows 7 / 2008 R2, that allows one to restore BFK backup files created with Windows XP NTBackup. More Info MS KB974674.

There is also an official Windows NT Backup - Restore Utility for Windows Vista / 2008.

Installing NTBackup on Windows 7 / 2008 R2

If wanting the original NTBackup on Win7 / Win2k8 R2 then it can be done by creating a new folder on Windows 7 ex. C:\Program Files\NTBackup and copy the following files from Windows XP to the folder (or extract them from the install file nt5backup.cab):

C:Windows\System32\Ntbackup.exe
C:Windows\System32\Ntmsapi.dll
C:Windows\System32\Vssapi.dll
C:Windows\Help\Ntbackup.chm
C:Windows\Help\Ntbackup.hlp

Note when starting NTBackup then it will complain about "Removable Storage" not running, and this warning can be safely be ignored:

The Backup Utility cannot connect to the Removable Storage service. This service is required for use of tape drives and other backup devices.

Please exit and start the Removable Storage service using the System Services function of the management console.

Credits WinHelpOnline.com

Jack says:

26 June 2010 at 14:49

BTW, have you tried using NTBackup with "Disable volume shadow copy" unchecked. If not try it.

Brian says:

19 August 2010 at 3:56

Brilliant thanks! I found that there is also a 64 bit version with XP-64.

Clayton Matos says:

7 November 2010 at 6:57

Valeu pela dica. Não custava nada a Microsoft manter a versão anterior do NTBackup no W7/W2008. Abraços.

7 November 2010 at 6:59

Thanks for the tip. Microsoft did not cost anything to keep the earlier version of NTBackup in W7/W2008.

Dennys says:

7 April 2011 at 18:40

I get an error when trying to make a catastrophic error back to their past?

Jayr Magave says:

5 July 2011 at 5:32

Thanks for this post it saved me some headache.

Ganesan says:

3 August 2011 at 10:18

Thanks buddy, very usefull info

Ganesan K

Kevin T says:

5 July 2012 at 21:18

Hi,
Genius! Thank you for your post. However, one step further using these files in Windows 7, how do we set Task Scheduler?
1. I ran ntbackup.exe, scheduled a task for daily backup but the task will not show in Windows7 Task Scheduler. In Windows XP, the ask shows in the Task list.
2. After I created the Task and hit Finish (ntbackup), where is the task file/script located? This is to import script in Create a New Task in Windows 7 Task Scheduler.
Again,
Thank you so much for your post.

vikram says:

27 February 2014 at 9:05

Thanks u r realy very Genius.
Realy thanks

ya says:

7 April 2014 at 8:33

Archiving to tape maybe?

Iqbal Shaikh says:

24 April 2014 at 10:16

I am able to run ntbackup on windows 2008 server but i am getting the message "The backup utility cannot connect to the Removable Storage service" though i have started the service from services.msc. i am not able to take the backup on my tape drives.

Pl help and advice.

Shaikh

Avinash Sutar says:

19 August 2014 at 8:53

Thank you so much its really work .... Thank u once again genius

Ronneby says:

27 August 2015 at 14:32

Works with Windows 10 too!
Just tried it. I've always liked NTBackup. It's one of the few that will let be backup from a network location to an external drive. Although I may switch to SyncBackFree. That looks promising.