Windows SystemState backups

In previous versions of BackupAssist, Windows SystemState was called System State and it was available during the creation of a backup job. The Windows SystemState option is now selected by editing a backup job after it has been created. There are exceptions, as shown in the table below.

A Windows SystemState backup contains some of the important files, registry values and settings that are used by the Windows operating system. It does NOT back up the operating system itself. This means a Windows SystemState backup can be used to restore the settings your computer had at an earlier point in time, but it will not allow you to recover your computer. A Windows SystemState backup can be helpful if your computer is encountering errors and you want to restore your settings to an earlier point in time, before the errors occurred, or system data such as the Active Directory.

Because Windows SystemState requires a functioning computer, and can only restore Windows settings, we recommend that a bare-metal backup is used. A bare-metal backup can restore Windows SystemState data, and it can ALSO be used to perform a recovery of your computer, when used with a Windows recovery environment, like RecoverAssist.

Selecting Windows SystemState

Windows SystemState can be selected after a backup job has been created, if you have enabled the Windows settings. The exceptions, considerations and steps required are explained below:

This table shows what backup jobs can include Windows SystemState.

	File Archiving, File Protection and System Protection backup jobs	File Archiving zip-to–tape backup jobs	File Protection Rsync backup jobs
During the creation of a new backup job	NO	NO	NO
By editing an existing backup job	YES, if enabled	YES	NO

To enable Windows SystemState:

• Select the BackupAssist Settings tab.
• Select Windows settings.
• Tick Enable v6 compatible Windows SystemState selection.
• Backup jobs created in earlier versions of BackupAssist (that included System State) will have the setting enabled by default in BackupAssist v7.
• Zip-to-tape backup jobs will not need to enable this setting, to select Windows SystemState.

To select Windows SystemState:

• Select the BackupAssist Backup tab, and then select the Manage menu.
• Select the backup job that you want to modify, and then select Edit from the menu.
• Select Files and applications from the left pane.

Select Windows SystemState at the top of the data selection pane.