How can I stop ntbackup requiring my new password every time I'm forced to change my Windows password?

Question

I have a scheduled job that runs each night using ntbackup which copies a folder on my HDD to a network share.

The problem is that every time I'm required to change my Windows password I have to remember to change it in ntbackup aswell, otherwise the backup fails silently i.e. I get no warning that the backup isn't being done.

Is there a way to schedule this job so it will automatically pick up my new Windows password, or somehow not be tied to my main login?

My user account type is Debugger, not full Administrator, so I'm not sure if that would restrict me in any way, e.g. still forcing a four-weekly password change on a dedicated user account for this. The PC runs XP SP2 on a Windows Server 2003 R2 domain.

Answer 1

You should be able to specify the account that ntbackup runs under when you set up the scheduled task.

I'm not running XP on this machine so I can't double check where the options are, but on the new task dialog there should be an option for specifying the user. See this guide (which is for a defragmentation, but the same logic applies) for the various screens.

You'll probably have to log in as an administrator to create the account. The new account still needs a password (obviously), but you could make this a pass phrase as you only need to type it when you set up the task. Oh yes, I should make it clear that the password on this account is set to never expire.

If you feel you need extra security then you can give this user no access to folders on the hard drive except for those it needs to backup, to which you give it just read access. You then just give it write access to the network share drive. It will need execute access to the folder containing the ntbackup of course.