Files and folders that are not backed up when the Ntbackup.exe tool is used in Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000

SUMMARY:

This article lists the files and folders that Ntbackup.exe rejects during backup and restores operations. The file exclusions listed in this article also apply to backups that use the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS).

MORE INFORMATION:

Windows operating systems keep a list of files and folders that are rejected when you backup and restore files by using the Ntbackup.exe tool and extra Windows-compatible backup programs.

Windows stores this information in the following registry keys:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\BackupRestore\FilesNotToBackup
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\BackupRestore\KeysNotToRestore
The default values and value data for the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\BackupRestore\FilesNotToBackup registry key is listed in the following table.
Value Value Data
Client Side Cache %SystemRoot%\csc\* /s
ComPlus %SystemRoot%\Registration\*.crmlog /s
Internet Explorer %UserProfile%\index.dat /s
Memory Page File \Pagefile.sys
MS Distributed Transaction %SYSTEMROOT%\System32\DTCLog\MSDTC.LOG
NtFrs %systemroot%\ntfrs\jet\* /s
%SystemRoot%\debug\NtFrs*
%systemroot%\sysvol\domain\DO_NOT_REMOVE_NtFrs_Pre Install_Directory\* /s
%systemroot%\sysvol\domain\NtFrs_PreExisting___See _EventLog\* /s
%systemroot%\sysvol\staging\domain\NTFRS_*
Power Management \hiberfil.sys
Temporary Files %TEMP%\* /s


The default values and value data for the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\BackupRestore\KeysNotToRestore registry key are listed in the following table.
Value Value Data
Active Directory Restore CurrentControlSet\Services\NTDS\Restore In Progress\
CurrentControlSet\Services\NTDS\Parameters\New Database GUID
Fault Tolerance Disk\
Installed Services CurrentControlSet\Services\*
LDM Boot Information CurrentControlSet\Services\dmio\boot info\
Mount Manager MountedDevices\
Pending Rename Operations CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\PendingFileRenameOperations
Plug and Play CurrentControlSet\Enum\
CurrentControlSet\Control\CriticalDeviceDatabase\
Session Manager CurrentControlSet\Control\Session
Windows Setup Setup\SystemPartition

The file exclusions listed in this article also apply when you use Volume Shadow Copy Service. In this scenario, the applicant, as NTBackup.exe, is a list of files and folders, the backup or restore, subject to possible exclusion from the registry keys in this article.