Network Problem

Hi. have a windows 7 machine which has a printer and a external HDD
connected by usb. Have two wireless laptops that are connected to this
computer and printer via a home network. What i am trying to do without any
success so far is to get each of the laptops to backup onto the external HDD
over the network. Anyone with some ideas, pointers on how to do this please.
Cheers in advance.

Sorry, it won't work with Windows Backup. The included Windows Backup
program requires that it back up to a "block device". IOW, a connected hard
disk (or a few other options that don't play here, such as iSCSI). A shared
drive doesn't qualify. You'll need to move the USB drive to the machines you
want to back up. Or look at a third party solution such as Acronis.

--
Charlie.
http://msmvps.com/blogs/russel




"T" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Hi. have a windows 7 machine which has a printer and a external HDD
> connected by usb. Have two wireless laptops that are connected to this
> computer and printer via a home network. What i am trying to do without
> any success so far is to get each of the laptops to backup onto the
> external HDD over the network. Anyone with some ideas, pointers on how to
> do this please. Cheers in advance.

Cheers Charlie.
That sucks but do you know of any workarounds to this?

"Charlie Russel - MVP" <> wrote in message
news:73EFAEBB-D636-48AF-8CDC-...
> Sorry, it won't work with Windows Backup. The included Windows Backup
> program requires that it back up to a "block device". IOW, a connected
> hard disk (or a few other options that don't play here, such as iSCSI). A
> shared drive doesn't qualify. You'll need to move the USB drive to the
> machines you want to back up. Or look at a third party solution such as
> Acronis.
>
> --
> Charlie.
> http://msmvps.com/blogs/russel
>
>
>
>
> "T" <> wrote in message
> news:...
>> Hi. have a windows 7 machine which has a printer and a external HDD
>> connected by usb. Have two wireless laptops that are connected to this
>> computer and printer via a home network. What i am trying to do without
>> any success so far is to get each of the laptops to backup onto the
>> external HDD over the network. Anyone with some ideas, pointers on how to
>> do this please. Cheers in advance.
>

No, except for moving the USB drive (or adding a new one). Or things like
iSCSI that can centralize your storage but are a good deal more advanced to
set up as compared to simply adding another hard disk. Now some backup
applications don't have the same requirements. I'm pretty sure Acronis works
with a network share, and it does image backups and is quite well thought
of.

Windows Home Server is another option. Sticking a WHS box on your network
will ensure that everything gets backed up regularly and that it can be
restored if necessary. IMO, the WHS backup and restore process is the best
in the business for client (PC) backups.
--
Charlie.
http://msmvps.com/blogs/russel




"T" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Cheers Charlie.
> That sucks but do you know of any workarounds to this?
>
> "Charlie Russel - MVP" <> wrote in message
> news:73EFAEBB-D636-48AF-8CDC-...
>> Sorry, it won't work with Windows Backup. The included Windows Backup
>> program requires that it back up to a "block device". IOW, a connected
>> hard disk (or a few other options that don't play here, such as iSCSI). A
>> shared drive doesn't qualify. You'll need to move the USB drive to the
>> machines you want to back up. Or look at a third party solution such as
>> Acronis.
>>
>> --
>> Charlie.
>> http://msmvps.com/blogs/russel
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> "T" <> wrote in message
>> news:...
>>> Hi. have a windows 7 machine which has a printer and a external HDD
>>> connected by usb. Have two wireless laptops that are connected to this
>>> computer and printer via a home network. What i am trying to do without
>>> any success so far is to get each of the laptops to backup onto the
>>> external HDD over the network. Anyone with some ideas, pointers on how
>>> to do this please. Cheers in advance.
>>