Windows 7 / Getting Started

How to Manage Backup Using Group Policy Settings

You can use Group Policy to manage Windows Backup options in an enterprise environment. The policy settings for Windows Backup are both user and computer settings. The userspecific settings are client-only settings and are found in the following location:

User Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Backup\Client

The computer settings are for both the client and the server and are found in the following locations:

Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Backup\Client

Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Backup\Server

Table below lists the available policy settings for Windows Backup. Client settings are available for both User and Computer scopes, but Server settings are available only in the Computer scope. These settings are written to the registry on targeted computers under the following registry key:

Group Policy Settings for Windows Backup

HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Backup
PolicyClient or ServerDescription
Prevent The User From Running The Backup Status And Configuration ProgramClientEnabling this policy prevents the user from running the Backup Status And Configuration program. The user will be unable to configure, initiate, or restore a backup.
Prevent Backing Up To Local DisksClientEnabling this policy prevents the user from choosing a local disk (internal or external) as a backup target.
Prevent Backing Up To Network LocationClientEnabling this policy prevents the user from choosing a network share as a backup target.
Prevent Backing Up To Optical Media (CD/DVD)ClientEnabling this policy prevents the user from choosing a CD or DVD as a backup target.
Turn Off The Ability To Back Up Data FilesClientEnabling this policy prevents the user from running the file backup application. The restore functionality is still available, as is Windows System Image Backup.
Turn Off Restore FunctionalityClientEnabling this policy prevents the user from using restore. File backups and Windows System Image Backup are still available.
Turn Off The Ability To Create A System ImageClientEnabling this policy prevents the user from using Windows System Image Backup. File backups and restores are still available.
Allow Only System BackupServerEnabling this policy prevents the user from backing up non-system volumes.
Disallow Locally Attached Storage As Backup TargetServerEnabling this policy prevents the user from backing up to locally attached storage devices.
Disallow Network As Backup TargetServerEnabling this policy prevents the user from backing up to a network share.
Disallow Optical Media As Backup TargetServerEnabling this policy prevents the user from backing up to CD or DVD drives.
Disallow Run-Once BackupsServerEnabling this policy prevents the user from running on-demand backups.
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In this tutorial:

  1. Managing Disks and File Systems
  2. Overview of Partitioning Disks
  3. How to Choose Between MBR or GPT
  4. Converting from MBR to GPT Disks
  5. GPT Partitions
  6. Choosing Basic or Dynamic Disks
  7. Working with Volumes
  8. How to Create a Simple Volume
  9. How to Create a Spanned Volume
  10. How to Create a Striped Volume
  11. How to Resize a Volume
  12. How to Delete a Volume
  13. How to Create and Use a Virtual Hard Disk
  14. File System Fragmentation
  15. Backup And Restore
  16. How File Backups Work
  17. File and Folder Backup Structure
  18. How System Image Backups Work
  19. How to Start a System Image Backup from the Command Line
  20. How to Restore a System Image Backup
  21. System Image Backup Structure
  22. Best Practices for Computer Backups
  23. How to Manage Backup Using Group Policy Settings
  24. Previous Versions and Shadow Copies
  25. How to Manage Shadow Copies
  26. How to Restore a File with Previous Versions
  27. How to Configure Previous Versions with Group Policy Settings
  28. Windows ReadyBoost
  29. BitLocker Drive Encryption
  30. How BitLocker Encrypts Data
  31. How BitLocker Protects Data
  32. TPM with External Key (Require Startup USB Key At Every Startup)
  33. TPM with PIN (Require PIN At Every Startup)
  34. TPM with PIN and External Key
  35. BitLocker To Go
  36. BitLocker Phases
  37. Requirements for Protecting the System Volume with BitLocker
  38. How to Enable the Use of BitLocker on the System Volume on Computers Without TPM
  39. How to Enable BitLocker Encryption on System Volumes
  40. How to Enable BitLocker Encryption on Data Volumes
  41. How to Manage BitLocker Keys on a Local Computer
  42. How to Manage BitLocker from the Command Line
  43. How to Recover Data Protected by BitLocker
  44. How to Disable or Remove BitLocker Drive Encryption
  45. How to Decommission a BitLocker Drive Permanently
  46. How to Prepare AD DS for BitLocker
  47. How to Configure a Data Recovery Agent
  48. How to Manage BitLocker with Group Policy
  49. The Costs of BitLocker
  50. Windows 7 Encrypting File System
  51. How to Export Personal Certificates
  52. How to Import Personal Certificates
  53. How to Grant Users Access to an Encrypted File
  54. Symbolic Links
  55. How to Create Symbolic Links
  56. How to Create Relative or Absolute Symbolic Links
  57. How to Create Symbolic Links to Shared Folders
  58. How to Use Hard Links
  59. Disk Quotas
  60. How to Configure Disk Quotas on a Single Computer
  61. How to Configure Disk Quotas from a Command Prompt
  62. How to Configure Disk Quotas by Using Group Policy Settings
  63. Disk Tools
  64. EFSDump
  65. SDelete
  66. Streams
  67. Sync
  68. MoveFile and PendMoves