Full Guide to Create Windows Server 2025 Backup: Top 3 Tools

Why Backup Is Crucial for Windows Server 2025?

Backup is crucial for Windows Server 2025, as it is for any server environment, for several key reasons:

1. Data Protection and Recovery: Accidental deletion, hardware failures and software corruption can corrupt data or system files. Backups allow you to revert to a stable state.

2. Business Continuity: In the event of a failure, having a backup ensures that services can be restored quickly, minimizing downtime and maintaining business operations. Moreover, offsite or cloud backups ensure data can be recovered even if the physical server is lost.

3. Compliance and Legal Requirements: Many industries have strict regulations requiring data retention and protection (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA). Regular backups help ensure compliance with these regulations.

4. Protection Against Cyber Threats: Cyberattacks like ransomware can encrypt or destroy data. Having secure, offline backups ensures that you can restore your systems without paying a ransom.

👉 Tool 1: Windows Server Backup
👉 Tool 2: Wbadmin
👉 Best Windows Server 2025 Backup Software to Backup OS and Files👍

How to Create Windows Server 2025 System State Backup

A system state backup captures crucial system files and configurations. This type of backup allows you to restore the core elements of the system without needing to recover the entire disk or server. There are two primary tools you can use to perform this task: Windows Server Backup (WSB) and the wbadmin command-line tool. I’ll show you how to use them in detail:

Tool 1: Windows Server Backup

Windows Server Backup is a built-in feature that offers a simple and easy-to-use interface to perform backups, including System State backups. If you can’t find WSB on Server 2025, open Server Manager and navigate to Manage > Add Roles and Features to install it. Then follow the instructions below:

1. Open the Server Manager and go to Tools > Windows Server Backup.

2. Click Local Backup in the left pane. In the Actions section on the right, select Backup Once to perform a one-time backup.

3. On the Backup Options page, choose Different options and click Next.

4. On the Select Backup Configuration page, select Custom and click Next.

5. On the Select Items for Backup page, click Add Items. In the pop-up window, select System state and click OK.

6. Confirm the items to be included in a backup and click Next to continue.

7. On the Specify Destination Type page, select where you want to store the backup (external hard drive, network share, etc.), then click Next.

8. On the Confirmation page, verify all options and click Backup to begin the System State backup process.

9. When the backup is completed, click Close to close the window.

Tool 2: Wbadmin

For more control and automation, you can use wbadmin, a powerful command-line tool to create and manage backups in Windows Server 2025. Here’s how to use it:

1. Press Windows + X and select Command Prompt (Admin) or Windows Terminal (Admin).

2. Use the following command to perform a System State backup:

wbadmin start systemstatebackup -backupTarget:[TargetDrive] -quiet

3. The command will start the backup process. You can monitor its progress through the command prompt window. The system will notify you when the backup completes.

Best Windows Server 2025 Backup Software to Backup OS and Files

When it comes to backing up your Windows Server 2025, AOMEI Backupper Server is one of the top choices for this task. It offers comprehensive backup solutions that are easy to implement.

AOMEI Backupper

Easiest Server Backup Software

• System and File Backup: The software allows for complete system backups, including the OS, boot files, and applications. You can also backup individual files and folders for more granular data protection.

• Full, Incremental, and Differential Backups: It lets you perform full backups to capture all system data, or incremental and differential backups to only back up the changes made since the last backup.

• Automated Backup: You can set up backup schedules to automatically back up your server, ensuring that your system is consistently protected.

• Backup Scheme: The software supports backup rotation, keeping older backups safely archived and automatically deleting older versions to save disk space.

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Download and install AOMEI Backupper Server on your Windows Server 2025 machine. Then follow these steps to create Windows Server 2025 system state backup:

1. Launch the program, click on Backup, and select System Backup. To let Windows Server 2025 backup files, choose File Backup instead.

2. The necessary system partitions are automatically selected. Simply choose a destination path to save the backup image.

3. (Optional) To automate your backups, set a schedule for regular backups by clicking Schedule Backup and defining how often the software should perform backups.

4. Once you’ve configured your backup settings, click Start Backup to begin backing up Windows Server 2025.

Note: To comment on the backup task, or encrypt, split, and compress the server backup file, click Options to configure it.

Troubleshooting Common Backup Issues in Windows Server 2025

Below are two common backup issues that you might encounter and how to troubleshoot them effectively.

1. Backup Fails to Complete

• Check Disk Space: Ensure that the backup destination has sufficient storage. If needed, free up space or use a larger drive.
• Test Backup Destination: Verify that the backup destination is accessible and working correctly by copying files manually to it. If the destination is a network share, ensure network connectivity is stable.
• Temporarily Disable Conflicting Software: Disable any third-party antivirus or firewall temporarily to see if they are causing the issue.

2. Backup Process Is Slow

• Optimize Backup Settings: Use incremental or differential backups to reduce the amount of data being backed up at once. These backups only capture changes since the last backup.
• Check Storage Performance: Ensure that both the source drive (where the data is being backed up) and the destination drive (where the backup is being stored) have good performance (e.g., SSDs instead of HDDs).
• Network Optimization: If backing up to a network destination, make sure that the network connection is stable and has sufficient bandwidth for large backups.

Verdict

Windows Server 2025 backup is essential for safeguarding your Windows Server 2025 environment against potential data loss and ensuring business continuity. You can use built-in tools like Windows Server Backup and wbadmin, or third-party software AOMEI Backupper Server to create backups in Windows Server 2025.

What’s more, AOMEI Backupper offers the clone feature to help you clone a hard drive in Windows Server 2016/2019/2022/2025. Go for it now!