How to Schedule Windows Server Backup Once a Week

Creating a Windows Server backup once a week is a practical way to protect important business data, system settings, and applications without consuming excessive storage space or network bandwidth. In this guide, you’ll learn different ways to schedule weekly backups on Windows Server, including built-in and professional backup tools.

🌟 To check more scenarios about backing up Windows Server, please refer to this complete guide: Backup Windows Server.

Need to schedule Windows Server Backup once a week

Windows Server Backup (WSB), a backup solution for Server users, was first introduced in Windows Server 2008. It replaced the NTbackup feature in earlier Server operating systems. By using this built-in tool, administrators can not only backup various data, but also configure a scheduled backup.

However, you may find that the scheduling options are limited. You can either set daily backups, or more frequent backups, but not less frequent backups, like weekly scheduled backups. You must disappoint with this, as the data is already protected by a Database Availability Group and your backup disk may be quickly filled with frequent backups. Thus, you would rather reduce backups to run weekly.

How to perform Windows Server Backup weekly

Fortunately, Task Scheduler comes to the rescue. This is a management application provided in Windows operating system that enables users to schedule any task to run any time you like. Let’s learn how to create Windows Server 2012 backup schedule weekly. You also need to use Windows Server 2012 Wbadmin in the process of operation.

1.  Launch Server Manager by searching for it in the Start menu. Click Task Scheduler under Tools tab.

1.  Click Create Task in the Actions pane.

1. Give the task a name. Configure it to run whether the user is logged on or not. Then click OK.

1. Choose New under the Triggers tab.
2. Select On a schedule from the pull-down menu. Choose Weekly and specify the day in a week to run the backup. Then click OK.

1. Choose New under Actions tab.
2. Type wbadmin in the Program/script box. Put the following wbadmin command in the pane next to Add arguments (optional). Then click OK.

start backup -backupTarget:H: -include:C: -allCritical -quiet

1. Click OK. You will be prompted for the password for the user account. Then click OK to schedule backup Windows Server once a week and you will see this task in the Task Schedulers.  

As you see, these steps might look a little complex, especially for some non-technical users. And this task may not work if you specify any parameters wrong in the wbadmin command. Note that only the partitions formatted with NTFS can be included in the backup, and critical volumes cannot be used as the target location.

In addition, you can’t share incremental and differential backups over the internet, if you choose a network as the target location. This is because multiple versions on the network share are not supported.

Thus, if you want to ensure that all the scheduled tasks always work or break these limitations in the Task Scheduler, you'd better turn to a professional server backup software.  

Easier way to run Windows Server Backup schedule weekly

1. AOMEI Backupper Server

AOMEI Backupper Server is a great server backup software to help you create backups on Windows Server 2012/2016/2019/2022/2025, etc.

Take system backup as an example, you can follow the steps below to create Windows Server Backup once a week. Please download this software first. 

Step 1. Open this program, click Backup and then choose System Backup.

Step 2. Give this backup task a name. The required system partitions are selected by default. Click the destination box and select a destination path in the pop-up window.

Step 3. Click Schedule -> Enable Schedule Backup and then choose Weekly from the drop-down menu. You can also specify the day and time to schedule the backup. 

Step 4. Click Backup Scheme to do more configurations:

• Select Full/Incremental/Differential Backup under the Backup Method tab.
• Click Enable Automatic Backup Cleanup and select a way to delete old backups. For example, to retain the most recent 4 weeks of backups, choose By time and set “Only keep the latest 4 weeks of backups”.

Step 5. Review your operation and then click Start Backup to schedule Windows Server backup once a week.

2. AOMEI Cyber Backup

AOMEI Cyber Backup offers enterprise users all-around server backup solutions: System Backup, Disk Backup and Partition Backup. You are allowed to save backup images on a local disk, external hard drive, network share or NAS device, etc. It runs well on Windows Server 2022/2019/2016/2012 (R2)/2008 R2. Download it now and follow the instructions below to backup Windows Server OS once a week.

1. Install and run AOMEI Cyber Backup. The default username and password for AOMEI Cyber Backup are both "admin". Enter them and click Log in.

2. Add source device that you want to backup.

• Click Source Device > Windows > Add Windows Device.
• Enter the IP address, username and password of the source device and click Confirm.

3. Create a new backup task.

• Click Backup Task on the left menu bar and select Backup Task > Create New Task.
• In the Backup Type field, select System Backup.

• In the Task Name field, set your desired task name.
• In the Device Name field, click Select + to select the device you just added.
• In the Target field, click Select + and Add a new local storage or Add a new network storage to specify a destination path.

• In the Schedule field, change the default schedule settings based on your needs.

• Click Start Backup > Add the schedule and start backup now to launch the backup process.

FAQs about Windows Server backup once a week

❓ 1. Is backing up Windows Server once a week enough?

It depends on how often your data changes. Weekly backups may be sufficient for small businesses, archive servers, or systems with low activity. However, for critical servers or frequently updated data, daily or incremental backups are usually recommended.

❓ 2. What is the best tool for scheduling weekly backups on Windows Server?

Windows Server Backup is suitable for basic scheduled backups, while tools like AOMEI Backupper provide more flexible scheduling options, backup schemes, and easier management for long-term use.

❓ 3. How can I avoid backup failure during scheduled weekly backups?

To avoid backup failure during scheduled weekly backups, you can:

• Make sure there is enough storage space.
• Maintain a stable network connection.
• Regularly check backup logs.
• Test restore operations periodically to ensure backup integrity.

❓ 4. How long should I keep weekly Windows Server backups?

Retention depends on your business needs and compliance requirements. Many organizations keep weekly backups for several weeks or months while also maintaining monthly or yearly backup archives.

Summary

When you intend to take backups at a lesser frequency, you can use Task Scheduler to run Windows Server Backup once a week. However, some certain restrictions must be followed. And the wbadmin command line is not easy for many users to learn and use. If there is any parameter goes wrong, the scheduled task will not work.

To make it easily, you can create Windows Server backup schedule weekly with a professional server backup software - AOMEI Backupper Server. It still allows you to perform incremental/differential backup to network share. With its help, you can  create a Windows Server recovery disk to help you restore your system in the event of system failure.