Hi I work at a school that has a linux server and windows workstations. The linux server is managed remotely by someone else. Up until now we have backed up to a tape drive on the linux using Bru. This was becoming more and more unreliable so I changed tack and I have been backing up Shares on the server through Windows XP using an MS-Dos batch file -using xcopy, copying to a removable drive attached to the Windows machine. It has been working OK as far as I can see, i.e the files are copied to the removable drive. I have been doing this daily for about 2 weeks. However today the server crashed apparently because of 'kernel panic'. The remote tech suggested this may because xcopy leaves the files open on the linux. Could this be true? If it is can you suggest an easy way to achieve backups through the Windows interface? Thanks YoYo Oliver Computers James Street School Box 2115 Whakatane Ph 07-3086855 Fax 07-3070855