SBS Backup Configuration Wizard does not let you select "Removable Media" as a backup target location

[Today's tip comes to us courtesy of Peter Gallagher]

We've had a few customers that have purchased external storage devices as backup targets for their Small Business Server 2003 customers only to find that the new drive/device is not an option as a target for the Small Business Server 2003 Backup Configuration Wizard. The SBS Backup Configuration Wizard will only expose physical drives/tape devices as valid targets for a backup, even though the external storage device has a drive letter assigned in My Computer. Think of how Secure Digital cards (SD cards) or Compact Flash cards (CF cards) show up in Windows XP in My Computer. Typically they show up under "Devices with Removable Storage". You cannot select this type of media as a target for the SBS Backup Configuration Wizard.

The workaround is to run the SBS Backup Configuration Wizard and to select a physical drive as a target (the C: drive or D: drive for example, any physical disk will do). If you select the C: drive (the system partition, where Windows is installed) make sure to click NO to "You have chosen to back up...Do you want to change the backup location?". Once the Backup Configuration Wizard has completed, edit the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftSmallBusinessServerBackupBackup Location Path

Change it from C:BackupsBackup Files to X:BackupsBackup Files where X: is the drive letter assigned in My Computer to the external storage device.

We have seen this issue with IOMEGA REV drives and GoVault drives.