PSA: "Backup and Restore (Windows 7)" on Windows 11

Chewy509

Wotty wot wot.
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Hi all,
Just a quick PSA on the use of "Backup and Restore (Windows 7)" on Windows 11. **
For those that are using this combination, you may suddenly find that your scheduled backups are no longer working due to a recent Windows update.

From what I can gather, a recent windows update removed the "wake this computer to run this task" flag on the backup task, so that when the task is scheduled to run and the computer is asleep, the system won't wake and start the backup, and thus no backup.

To check/correct, Open "Task Scheduler" and check the task "AutomaticBackup". Check the state of the "wake this computer to run this task" and ensure it's enabled.

Changing/updating the backup schedule via the "Backup and Restore" UI, doesn't set this flag either on the task? I would assume that it would have, but it doesn't. Doesn't make a lot of sense to create a backup tasks that runs at 11pm at night, and not have it run simply because the computer is asleep at the time, and IIRC, the default sleep time on Windows 11 is 1hr when on AC/mains power.

Note: The above assumes that the backup works correctly when started, it's just not starting at the scheduled time if the computer is asleep.

I guess, just a PSA, check your backups are running/working (irrespective of the system you use).

** On Windows 11, go to into the Control Panel (the legacy one) and it's under "Backup and Restore (Windows 7)". It's not in system settings.
 

Mercutio

Fatwah on Western Digital
Joined
Jan 17, 2002
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I am omnipresent
Well that's definitely hilarious.

Acronis went subscription-only back in 2020 and I've long suspected that Microsoft would love to ditch the legacy backup application on desktop Windows anyway, so I've been putting Aomei Backupper on home systems when I configure them. It's a freebie that works pretty well.
 

Chewy509

Wotty wot wot.
Joined
Nov 8, 2006
Messages
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Location
Gold Coast Hinterland, Australia
Well that's definitely hilarious.
I'm not surprised, but it certainly doesn't help raise the reputation of the Windows 11...

Many years ago when working at various MSPs, the number of times I had to attend a site with a dead server and no viable backups was way too many... Between dead tape drives, blank tapes and later dead external HDDs, and the few onsite staff it was tasked to actually read the backup log email, or alert us if there was no email with the backup status was astounding.
 
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