Performing a Complete PC Backup from the command line

After you've made significant modifications to the configuration of your Windows Vista computer, you should perform a Complete PC Backup of the system. Complete PC does a block-level backup of your entire system volume as a .vhd (Virtual Hard Drive) file. Note that you need a second local hard drive available to store this .vhd file.

While you can use the Backup and Restore Center in Vista to perform a Complete PC Backup of your computer, you can also do this from an elevated command prompt as follows:

wbadmin start backup –backupTarget:Z: -include:C: -quiet

where Z: is the drive letter of your backup volume.

You can also use Task Scheduler to configure this command to run on a scheduled basis (make sure you configure the task to run using admin privileges). The first time the task runs, it backs up your entire system drive as a .vhd file. On successive occurrences it updates this .vhd file.

If you have feedback concerning this tip, I'd love to hear from you.

About The Author

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Scroll to Top