Modifying NTBackup schedules on 2008 Server when NTBackup won’t let you

I had a problem with backing up just MS Exchange data on a MS 2008 Server.  As discussed by others around the net, a fall-back solution is to copy the last version of NTBackup onto the server and use it.  Unfortunately a common problem seems to be that after you Schedule the first backup task you can no longer edit the task schedule or job parameters like the destination.

Here is a solution:

The .job file that is created for the backup resides in the windowstasks directory and visible through the windows task scheduler

1. Open Administrative Tools, Tasks
2. Select Task Scheduler Library
3. Highlight the backup job task.
4. Under the Actions column select Export, this will create an XML version of the task.
5. Edit the XML file, you can change the schedule and the backup parameters like backup file name and destination. Note that tags are case sensitive.
6. Save your changes
7. Delete the original task.
8. Under the Actions column select Import and then select your edited XML file.

This also proved a quick way to setup a multi-day backup schedule.  I just copied the first file which was for Monday night to six additional files.  I renamed the files for the days of the week and modified the backup filename and scheduled day.