Re: [BackupPC-users] Backup/Restore Windows Registry

[Craig B. <cr...@ar...>]

> My boss just asked me if Backup PC can backup and restore the registry files
> on Windows PC's (98, NT, Win2K, etc).
> Anyone know the answer?

I think the answer is no.  BackupPC backs up all the files that can
be accessed via an SMB share.  If the registry files are locked or
not readable then they won't be backed up.

I've looked around at some of the log files (output from smbclient)
for win2k clients at our site and I see errors like:

    ERRDOS - ERRbadshare (The sharing mode specified for an Open conflicts with existing  FIDs  on the file.) opening remote file \WINNT\system32\config\SYSTEM (\WINNT\system32\config\)
    ERRDOS - ERRbadshare (The sharing mode specified for an Open conflicts with existing  FIDs  on the file.) opening remote file \WINNT\system32\config\SYSTEM.ALT (\WINNT\system32\config\)

so I suspect that the registry files are locked and therefore not
accessible on an SMB share.

In general a safe method for backing up databases (like the registry
or any RDBMS) is at (or close to) the application level, rather than
the disk files, since the disk files might not represent a consistent
snapshot of the data.  That requires client-side software, which is
not currently part of the BackupPC setup.

A workaround for backing up the registry would be to create a Windows
script of some kind that copies the registry files to a backup directory
periodically (perhaps at startup or login?).  BackupPC should then
successfully backup these copies.

Craig