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Chidobrad's avatar
Chidobrad
Level 3
10 years ago

Importance of backing up Pagefile.sys on Windows Servers C:\ drive

Hello Forum,

I am a backup Administrator interested in knowing the importance of backing up pagefile.sys on a windows hard drive due to space constraints. my questions goes thus:

1. What significance does backing up pagefile.sys bring when backing up an entire C:\drive of a windows box

2. Can the pagefile.sys be excluded from the list of contents been backed up on a windows box? if yes, how can this be achieved.

3. if successfully  not backing up the pagefile.sys in the C:\ drive of a windows box , does this have any adverse effect on restoration

 

Any questions the symantec community can render is highly appreciated

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  • sdo's avatar
    sdo
    10 years ago
    I suspect that it is already excluded: http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=HOWTO86847#v42177707 http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/windows/desktop/bb891959(v=vs.85).aspx#filesnottobackup If MS want it excluded from backups, that tells you how (un-)important it is to have this file backed-up.... ...or how important it is that it is 'not' backed-up... ...because operating system page files could contain a lot of interesting information to the wrong sorts of people. Anyway - anything in MS' registry key of files not to backup is honoured by NetBackup - and won't be backed-up by NetBackup.

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  • RamNagalla's avatar
    RamNagalla
    Moderator
    10 years ago

    1. What significance does backing up pagefile.sys bring when backing up an entire C:\drive of a windows box

    nothing, you can definatly exclude this file

    2. Can the pagefile.sys be excluded from the list of contents been backed up on a windows box? if yes, how can this be achieved.

    yes, put that in Exclude list of the client

    from Client backup archive restore windows --> client properties--> exclude list

    or

    master server --> host properties--> clients --> exclude list

    keep the entiry 

    pagefile.sys

    3. if successfully  not backing up the pagefile.sys in the C:\ drive of a windows box , does this have any adverse effect on restoration

    No impact.

  • Chidobrad's avatar
    Chidobrad
    Level 3
    10 years ago

    Thanks so much Nagalla for your response. i have a quick question, since i have lots of windows servers in different policies, does it mean i have to go inside each client (through the BAR)  to exclude this backup list? cant it be done from the configured policies on the Master server ( just asking).

  • RonCaplinger's avatar
    RonCaplinger
    Level 6
    10 years ago

    The Exclude Lists are stored on the Windows clients in the Windows Registry, so you pretty much have to define them on each Windows host.  The policies are stored on the master server and just let you indicate the backup selections, not the exclude lists.

    However, you can save yourself a little time by selecting more than one Windows host (I would suggest no more than 25 at a time at first) by clicking on one, then holding SHIFT and clicking another one.  then right-click on any of the highlighted ones and select "Properties".  Add C:\pagefile.sys to the Exclude List like you normally would for a single host.  You will notice that it takes a little longer while NBU updates each host individually, but it is faster than opening each host one by one and making the change.

  • sdo's avatar
    sdo
    Moderator
    10 years ago
    I suspect that it is already excluded: http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=HOWTO86847#v42177707 http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/windows/desktop/bb891959(v=vs.85).aspx#filesnottobackup If MS want it excluded from backups, that tells you how (un-)important it is to have this file backed-up.... ...or how important it is that it is 'not' backed-up... ...because operating system page files could contain a lot of interesting information to the wrong sorts of people. Anyway - anything in MS' registry key of files not to backup is honoured by NetBackup - and won't be backed-up by NetBackup.