Cannot Restore Backups That You Create in Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me with the Windows XP Ntbackup Tool (305381)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
  • Microsoft Windows XP Professional
This article was previously published under Q305381

SYMPTOMS

When you attempt to restore a backup in Windows XP that you create by using the Msbackup tool in Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Millennium Edition (Me), you may receive one of the following error messages:
Unrecognized Media
The backup file contains unrecognized data and cannot be used.

-or-

Backup Utility
An inconsistency was encountered on the requested media

CAUSE

This behavior occurs because the Ntbackup tool recognizes tapes that you create with Msbackup only if you did not use software compression during the creation of the backup. This occurs because Ntbackup does not recognize the software compression format that Msbackup uses.

Ntbackup does not recognize .qic files that you create with Msbackup even if the the files were created without software compression. This occurs because Ntbackup is designed to recognize only the .bkf file format and not the .qic format that is used by Msbackup.

Ntbackup's ability to recognize tapes that were created with Msbackup is a feature exclusive to the Windows XP version of Ntbackup. Backup tapes created by Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Millennium Edition (Me) use the QIC113 format and can be identified by looking at the Identification label Type in Removable Storage Manager (RSM). The Windows NT and Windows 2000 versions of Ntbackup do not recognize or support tapes using the QIC113 format.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this behavior, restore the data from the tape or file by using Msbackup on a computer that is running Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:12/2/2001
Keywords:kbBackUp kbenv kberrmsg kbprb KB305381
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