Back+up+to+CDs?

Back up to CDs?

It has to be accepted that the NTBACKUP.EXE utility that comes with Windows XP is limited in functionality.

Although you can back up to a CD that has been previously formatted with a packet writing application,

The backup utility will not recognize an unformatted disc as removable media.

One workaround is to get a program such as DirectCD and format the disc with that.

Then the backup program with use it as a backup volume.

Another option is to save the backup file in the CD Burning folder on your hard disk, and then burning the disc to CD from there.

However, even with that problem solved, the XP backup tool wonʹt span multiple CDs.

That means the total size of your backup has to be under 533 MB.

So the best thing to do is buy a third party backup utility that can span CDs.

Some that will do so include Handy Backup or WinBackup.

However that raises the question of How many discs will I need ?

The answer is always a lot