Windows 7 WBAdmin Command Line and Its GUI Version

WBAdmin in Windows 7

Wbadmin.exe is a command line tool that you could use to backup and restore files, folders, volumes, applications and operating system. It is available for Windows Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 ,10, and Windows Server 2008(R2), 2012. Starting from Windows Server 2008, WBAdmin replaces the previous backup software NTBackup which is available for Windows 2000, XP, 2003 (R2).

To view what functions Windows 7 WBAdmin support? You could click Start -> type cmd and hit enter -> input the wbadmin /? command into Command Prompt. Then you will see the window like below. By the way, WBAdmin commands vary in different Windows and it has less available features in Windows 7.

In Windows 7, Wbadmin only supports 5 commands:

• Start backup: run a one-time backup.

• Stop job: stop the running backup and restore.

• Get versions: list backup details that can be restored from the specified location.

• Get items: list the items backup includes.

• Get status: report the running operation status.

How to Use WBAdmin Start Backup in Windows 7?

In Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, you could create backups with WBAdmin start backup command, here is the syntax:

• Wbadmin start backup

• [-backupTarget:{ | }]

• [-include:]

• [-allCritical]

• [-noVerify]

• [-user:]

• [-password:]

• [-noInheritAcl]

• [-vssFull | -vssCopy]

• [-quiet]

Here are two examples, 

Backup all critical volumes (contains the operating system and components) to E: drive, input the command:

Wbadmin start backup –backuptarget:e: -all critical

Then you will get the backup file, a virtual hard disk (.VHD) file. And the backup file is located in the WindowsImageBackup folder in destination location.

Use shadow copy to create full backup of C drive to E drive, here is the command:

Wbadmin start backup –backuptarget:e: -all critical –vssfull

Besides, you could backup the data to remote shared location. However, you could neither create WBAdmin system state or bare metal backup in Windows 7, nor restore the backups.

In Windows 7, you are not allowed to execute the WBAdmin Start Restore, WBAdmin start systemstaterecovery, even WBAdmin start sysrecovery (bare metal recovery) to restore data. It’s quite limited of the WBAdmin in Windows 7.

Fortunately, you could find the WBAdmin GUI in different Windows. For Windows PCs, the wbadmin GUI is the Windows Backup and Restore while the WBAdmin GUI is Windows Server Backup in Windows Server 2008, 2012, 2016, 2019.

Windows 7 WBAdmin GUI - Windows Backup and Restore

With the limitation of WBAdmin, you could try Windows Backup and Restore to create backups flexible. To open Windows Backup and Restore, you could follow the steps to set up a backup:

Click Start -> Control Panel -> System and Security -> Backup and Restore.

If you have never created one, tap Set up backup.

The Windows Backup and Restore will backup your files in Library, Desktop and the Windows folder, including Windows 7 system image, or choose what data to backup. Besides, it allows you to create a schedule backup as you want.

WBAdmin GUI – Windows Server Backup

If you are running Windows Server 2008, 2012, 2016, or 2019, you could try Windows Server Backup (WSB) with the following steps:

Open Server Manager -> Tools -> choose Windows Server Backup.

Click Local Backup to create a backup or schedule backup now.

Please install Windows Server Backup first before backing up.

Windows 7 WBAdmin Alternative - AOMEI Backupper

To backup entire Windows 7 computer, the best free Windows backup software – AOMEI Backupper Standard will help you out. It’s for Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10 to backup your entire hard drive, operating system, partitions and other personal data. Here we will show you how to backup operating system to external hard drive in Windows 7.

First of all, please download AOMEI Backupper Standard first, the Windows 7 backup steps are listed below.

1. Click Backup -> System Backup on the main interface.

2. Select the external hard drive as the destination path to save the Windows 7 system image. the system partitions associated with system files will automatically selected.

3. Press Start Backup to create system image for Windows 7.

Tips:

• Options: you could comment, split, compress the Windows 7 system image file, enable email notification, etc.

• Schedule Backup: you could create a full, incremental or differential backup (premium feature) via daily, weekly, monthly. Even specify an event type for the event triggers or backup USB while USB plugged in.

• Backup Scheme: delete old backups to manage your hard disk space for Windows 7/8/10, only available in AOMEI Backupper Professional or other advanced versions.

After a while, you will find the backup image file (suffix with .adi) in your external hard drive. It allows you to restore the system image if required someday. Besides, you could restore backup to dissimilar hardware computer, clone Windows 7 entire hard drive to larger HDD/SSD, real-time sync, etc. For server users, just try AOMEI Backupper Server.

Summary

Although Windows 7 WBAdmin command could backup your data, it’s quite complicated for ordinary people. Besides, the WBAdmin command has limitations for system state backup and restore backups. You will find the two WBAdmin GUI: Windows Backup and Restore, and Windows Server Backup, and use one of them to backup and restore data. AOMEI Backupper is also the best choice for Windows data backup and restore.