I am trying to use the backup utility that COMES with WinXP Home, after installing it from the VALUEADD directory from the WinXP installation CD. I want to back up all files on my WinXP hard drive (an 80 GB WD hard drive that now contains about 4-5 GB of actual data).

I want the destination to be an 80 GB partition on a WD 200 GB hard drive which is connected via a USB port. diskmgmt.msc reports all partitions on the USB drive as healthy, including the P: drive I want to be my destination.

When I run the backup utility, and select the entire C: drive as my source, the only entries in the drop-down menu for the Destination are 3 1/2" diskette and A:. When I click on the browse buttion to the right of the drop-down menu all I get is a message telling me to mount a diskette in the A: drive.

What do I do to get Backup to write to the USB drive? (And as a followup question, what would I do to Backup to write to a Toshiba SD-R1203 CD/DVD Read/Write Drive?

Thanks for any help you can offer.

.....mandyMac..

Molte grazie, Merci beaucoup, Danke schon, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!

Adding  the physical drives to the "Send to" list for Admin seemed to do the trick. I can't believe how difficult this was, and I REALLY appreciate your help.  Microsoft's " help" is either [a] purposely user-hostile or stupid, or both. There's a June 2005 Article (# 320820) in the Microsoft Knowledge Base entitled "How to use the Backup Utility to Back Up Files and FOLDERS in the Windows XP Home Edition".  This does not even MENTION "Send To" or offer any ideas on what to do if the backup destination you want does not appear in the destination list.

Unfortunately, when I examined the contents of the P: drive, I was dismayed to discover that what's there is one humongous 5.5 GB .BKF file.  I'm very dubious that it will turn out to be useful for anything at all.  Also, when I tried to run Backup again, the only drives that SHOW up in the destination list are A: and P:  None of the other drives I carefully added were there.

Anyhow, for today I give up!  I'm exhausted from trying to bend my mind  to match the convoluted way the little boys from Redmond reason (assuming that there actually IS some rhyome or reason to constructs such as "send to").  

Like Scarlett, I'll think about all that tomorrow [g].

But thanks again for helping me make considerable progress.  

.....mandy
If you expect reason from Redmond just wait til you see the newest OS from there...

patio.  
Well for starters it comes in 7 count em 7 different flavors...
So we will need 7 new Forum CATEGORIES  

patio.