I've yet to see a way of restoring BKF files backed up from Windows XP, into Windows 7.Pretty annoying when MS say to use NTBackup to backup your files on Windows XP prior to installing Windows 7.I delayed going from Windows XP to Windows Vista as I wanted to see what Windows 7 was like. Unfortunately without being able to restore my files, I'm going to have to ditch the RC and go back to WinXP. And hope that MS come up with an approach for properly migrating from WinXP to Win7. Otherwise, good ol' WinXP may have a few years left in it yet.And sad thing is apart from that, everything else was going well.Fingers crossed!!

Mitch - Exactly who suggested using Windows XP's NT backup to back your system up? Most every recommended solution I've seen involves using Windows 7's Easy Transfer Utility. One of the best posts on how tomigrate from XP (or Vista) to Win 7 would be from Ed Bott at ZDNet.com. It's a worthwhile read.

I've yet to see a way of restoring BKF files backed up from Windows XP, into Windows 7.Pretty annoying when MS say to use NTBackup to backup your files on Windows XP prior to installing Windows 7.I delayed going from Windows XP to Windows Vista as I wanted to see what Windows 7 was like. Unfortunately without being able to restore my files, I'm going to have to ditch the RC and go back to WinXP. And hope that MS come up with an approach for properly migrating from WinXP to Win7. Otherwise, good ol' WinXP may have a few years left in it yet.And sad thing is apart from that, everything else was going well.Fingers crossed!! Hi MitchRestoring files from the older NTBackup is not supported in Windows 7. There was a program released for Windows Vista that allowed restoring files backed up with NTBackup in Windows XP, but this restoration utility depended on the Windows Removable Storage Manager whichis not included or compatible withWindows 7.The only suggestion I can make is that if you have or know someone who has either a Windows XP or Windows Vista system, use that system to restore the files and then simply copy them toexternal media and then move them to your Windows 7 system. Hereis a linkfor your convenience.Download details: Windows NT Backup - Restore Utility for Windows VistaHope this helps.Thank You for testing Windows 7 Ronnie Vernon MVP

Typical Microsoft!I just finished installing Win 7 on my laptop only to find that I can't restore any of the files I had backed up (used to have Win XP). I should have read the fine print...I was planning on upgrading my desktop, but will have to leave it with XP in order to restore files...

Having gone through various versions of backup programs and, in an attempt to avoid disappointment, I have decided to maintain my own. Disk is cheap - very cheap. So, I maintain my own backup, and update it when necessary. Works for me, and it is portable between XP - Vista - and W7. When I loaded W7, my "backup" came over flawlessly.Of course, you could do your own like I do, or you could use some version of zip. Not necessarily a good answer, but it is a way of handling your own backups.Also, what if you ran XP virtualization? Would you be able to use your BKF files there?For asystem restore, I use whatever the OS provides, since the restore is only good on that OS anyway.Doc

Carbonite internet backup is the best way for me to handle backup -- it takes care of getting my data OFFSITE, in case my house burns down. Making a duplicate of your data at home/office is fine, but like I said if there is a local catastrophe you're screwed. Carbonite only costs $55/year.I manage my own encryption key, so even staff at Carbonite couldn't open my data if they tried.../jad

hi,Most of the worldstay with XP because Vista had a TERRIBLE Start. We... the people.... are giveing try to W7.....and surprise!!!! your xp backups doesnt work!!!!is a Show Stopper, and im sure MS recognize is a Mistake (at least internally).Quality focus...Nah......at least an utility to convert them... I mean.... 4 hours into my w7 experience and i have to figure it out how to restore my files or go back to XP!. My family will want all their files ASAP.here is the link to the Microsoft instructions to use the XP backup!!! now what?http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/pc-backup.aspx----- in case it dissapear ..it says..... Backing up a PC running Windows 7 Beta using Windows Easy Transfer ................. Backing up a PC running Windows XP We recommend that you use software we've provided, Windows XP Backup. If you have Windows XP Professional or Windows XP Media Center edition, the software is already installed. If you have Windows XP Home Edition, you'll need to install it. Here's how: Install Backup from the CD-ROM in Windows XP Home Edition. -------------------------------------what will i say when the people ask me what i think about w7?solve this ASAP , give us an utility to read ntbackups... and I'll forget this moments.thx

Question I have is will File and Settings Backup wizard and/or Easy Transfer work between xp and 7?. I am particulary interested in recreating my settings from xp to 7.

I have used Easy Transfer from XP to Vista, and from Vista to W7. It worked correctly in both situations, and the user had all personal settings, favorites, etc that they wanted.Doc

Did it work correctly going directly from xp to win7 without vista? Thanks

I have not tried that transfer, so I cannot say for certain.Doc

I have used Easy Transfer to transfer files & settings between XP and Windows 7 without any problem.Ray

I've yet to see a way of restoring BKF files backed up from Windows XP, into Windows 7. Pretty annoying when MS say to use NTBackup to backup your files on Windows XP prior to installing Windows 7. I delayed going from Windows XP to Windows Vista as I wanted to see what Windows 7 was like. Unfortunately without being able to restore my files, I'm going to have to ditch the RC and go back to WinXP. And hope that MS come up with an approach for properly migrating from WinXP to Win7. Otherwise, good ol' WinXP may have a few years left in it yet. And sad thing is apart from that, everything else was going well. Fingers crossed!! Hi, Its very easy to retore from .bkf files in windows7. You aren't trying to restore c:\windows\system32\.... XP files into windows7 c:\windows\ are you? If you only want to browse through that nice big .BKF backup and pull out a couple of files, all you need to do is download and configure Windows7's Virtual Windows for PC and XP Mode - then you boot your XP machine and browse its backup / restore wizard to your legacy .BKF file.. That will give you an entire XP machine to play with. I am using this method right now to restore data off an XP .bkf file Well, actually, not quite this method. Since my current machine does not support virtualization, I'm running the XP machine using VMWare. But apart from that its pretty straight forward to do. Virtualisation is a great tool... .,;:|| - Win - ||:;.

I'm playing it safe. Will watch for my Win 7 disk in the mail. Backup up everything onto two external drives and then do a clean install of win7. Belt and suspenders. :)

Easy Transfer requires an external hard drive. I don't have that. How do I restore from a secondary internal drive?

File and Settings Backup Wizard doesn't work from XP to 7. Go figure, MS screwed their loyal customers again. I am still looking for a fix for my .bkf file to restored my Xp files to 7.

I installed 7 over xp thinking i could restore my .bkf file also. It wasn't possible. However, I was looking through my hardrive and discovered a folder named windows.old this had all my old files in it. idk if this helps you but I got my files back through this.

NTBackup utility for Windows 7 is available at http://hotfix/search.aspx?search=974150

NTBackup utility for Windows 7 is available at http://hotfix/search.aspx?search=974150 Perhaps you posted an internal (intranet) link, Soudamini?Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Desktop Experience]

You can pull the internal drive, connect it externally using a sata/ide to usb cable (inexpensive - google it). Do your Easy Transfer backup, install Win7 and then restore files and settings using Easy Transfer. Then reinstall yoursecond hard drive as a secondary. (follow the steps for Easy Transfer from the MS site)

I agree with Mitch980. This is a horrible oversight by MS. How many times have we been beaten over the head with "backup your stuff". Only to find out that you can not restore on Windows 7. I am in the same boat in that I need to restore my XP files to my Windows 7 machine. Yes there are thrid party programs out there, differnent ways to "hack" it and hoops to jump through to make it work, but the point is that this should be designed for the average user to restore from XP native backup tools to Windows 7. .bkf backup files have been around forever. I understand that technology gets deprecated but you would think MS would make critical features backward compatible, especially backups!!!!!

I agree with Mitch980. This is a horrible oversight by MS. How many times have we been beaten over the head with "backup your stuff". Only to find out that you can not restore on Windows 7. I am in the same boat in that I need to restore my XP files to my Windows 7 machine. Yes there are thrid party programs out there, differnent ways to "hack" it and hoops to jump through to make it work, but the point is that this should be designed for the average user to restore from XP native backup tools to Windows 7. .bkf backup files have been around forever. I understand that technology gets deprecated but you would think MS would make critical features backward compatible, especially backups!!!!! Last I heard, Microsoft will be releasing a NTBackup-Restore Utility for Windows 7. If you don't have the time to wait, you can still acquire NTBACKUP.EXE and other support DLLs and restore the backup in your Windows 7 PC. More @ How to Restore .BKF files Using NTBackup in Windows 7 and Windows VistaRamesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Desktop Experience]

Here's a quick link to the Windows Easy Transfer tool used for transferring files from XP 32-bit to Windows 7: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=734917D8-0663-4C26-89D0-2D00B632EBDB&displaylang=en

Windows NT Backup Restore Utility for Windows 7 and for Windows Server 2008 R2 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/974674

I have the Restore backup software installed my on my new Win7 machine. My XP backup is located on a second internal drive. The utility opens and catalogs the backup files correctly. But it will not transfer ANY files. It produces a log which says... Access Denied for each transfer. I am an administrator on my Win7 machine. I'm miffed. HELP!

http://www.winhelponline.com/blog/restore-bkf-file-ntbackup-windows-7-vista/

I ran into this, too. You need to run the NT Backup Restore utility with admin privileges. It's not enough to be run under an admin account. Right-click on the link to it, and "Run as administrator". Or change the properties on the link.

Microsoft actually published a Windows NT Backup Restore Utility for Windows 7 in January 2010. You do not need to run it as Admin. I posted about this at one time also and all that was posted was "it can't be done." None of the experts bothered to follow-up and let people know there is a utility for Windows 7 that will extract files from old XP Backup files. http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=974674Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.