How To Open a .BKF File in Windows 7, 8, 8.1 & 10?

  author
Written By Andrew Jackson
Anuraag Singh
Approved By Anuraag Singh
Published On August 25th, 2022
Reading Time 6 Minutes Reading

Data backup is an extensively important strategy and a minor strike-through in the backup can ruin your efforts. NTBackup utility present in NT series of Windows versions, e.g. Windows XP is a precious application with stupendous results. The result of backing up several data files is a single .bkf file which can be restored using the same utility. The real problem arrived when new versions of Windows series were introduced. Windows 7/8 or 8.1 0r 10, none of these versions are integrated with the NTBackup.exe and even do not support Windows XP backup file. Some users might know this already, but for the rest of the others, it might be surprising that the new versions also don’t have an option to Open a .BKF File in Windows. No support is provided which is quite disappointing for users who had old data in the form of .bkf file.

Windows 8.1/8 and 7 have composed more advanced backup options like image backup and File History and these backup applications do not support backup file in any way. This drawback can be mended with little efforts through a manual procedure. It will require the set-up of BKF file extractor in Windows 7/8/8.1 system

Quick Note

Here, consider a scenario in which you need to restore or recover your corrupt BKF files. This situation is very annoying as you cannot recover your data with the help of backup file by using free methods due to the corrupted BKF data file. Do not worry! You can use BKF Repair Tool”. Using this software, one can recover and view corrupt BAK file without any data loss.

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How To Install the Setup?

NTBackup is an application and this means that to run it, the basic requirement to run this application is its executable file and some supporting files. So once these files are available in your system, applications can be run explicitly in new versions as well. To endure this following files are needed;

  • exe
  • dll

 Where To Get These Files From?

  1. The best source for these files is an old Windows system. One can copy these files from C:\Windows\System32 location path.
  2. Microsoft also provides a plug-in with these executable and supporting files.
  3. One can also download cab from the internet. Remember that executable alone is enough to run this application, but associated files are also necessary and it is mandatory to store these files at the same location.

How To Open a .BKF File in Windows 7/8/8.1?

Here is described step-wise method to view .bkf file (backed up data files) with a temporary BKF extractor;

  • Once the files are saved in a location, double-click on the ntbackup.exe file. Below mentioned image will appear. Click OK and proceed.

Note: This message appears because Windows 7 or Windows 8 does not have Removable Storage Manager which is crucially needed to restore the backup saved on tape.

BKF view

  • Now click on Browse to add BKF file to the NTBackup application setup

open .bkf file

  • As we need to open the already created backup, select second option as Restore Files and Settings and click Next.

Restore Files

  • This will lead to open the Backup and Restore Wizard. Click Next to this.

Open BKF file

  • Browse for the exact location of BKF file and add it to the utility. Click OK once done.backup and restore wizard
  • A complete preview will be provided. Expand the folder structure to open its content in the left pane.read BKF file in Win7
  • The data files will be enlisted in right pane. Here user can view the list of files which is held by backup file. But the search option is not available to search particular file and thus it can be little difficult to open all the files  just to find a specific file.

free tool to view BKF file

In this way one can easily open .bkf file content in Windows 7 and 8 versions as well.

Caveats & Downside OF This Method

To be honest, any external application which has not been developed for certain OS should not be executed in it. Its aftereffect can harm the internal mechanism of Operating System which is not at all recommended. So, it is suggested that the method described above should be followed on a regular basis. The process is a cumbersome task, so it is necessary to follow the procedure wisely right from downloading files to open a .bkf file in Windows7/8/8.1.

There are various cases where the above mentioned method will not work;

  • If the backup is saved on tape, then this method will not work. The Backup must be stored in the system itself.
  • Novice users might find this method difficult as the whole process is lengthy and time taking task.
  • In case of any corruption in BKF file, this method will not work at all.

Manifest Alternative For Easy Execution

The method elaborated above may not work in these cases. To simplify the task to open BKF file, one can opt for a freeware application available online well known as BKF File Viewer. This tool to view a .bkf file in Windows 7 and all versions is integrated with a scanning mechanism to work on corrupted BKF data File and also has search functionality which can be used to search particular file with respect to its extension or name letting users know how to view .bkf file.

Steps To View & Read BKF Data File in Windows are as follows;

1: Download and Run BKF Viewer Software

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2: Browse BKF data File from local system

browse BKF Files

3: Select 3 Scanning Mode: Quick, Deep & Range Based Scan

Choose Scan Optios

4: Preview BKF Files with all items

Preview BKF Files

Some Effective Features OF Windows Backup Viewer Tool

  • The BKF Viewer application creates a preview of .bkf and ZIP data with properties.
  • Provides three different scanning modes like Quick Scan, Deep Scan & Range Based BKF Scan to extract and view BKF File.
  • Offers a Search option to find components within the output after completion of BKF scanning.
  • BAK Reader sort backup file after reading BKF file according to its size, name and date.
  • It does not have any file size restrictions Scan & Preview BKF Files of any size.
  • It supports all versions of Windows Operating System to open the BAK file.

Concluding Thoughts

We have illustrated the description of backup files, how to Open a .BKF File in Windows 7, 8, 8.1, and 10 manually and by using the BKF Viewer Utility. You can go with the manual method but be careful while using this as a small error may corrupt your complete data. If in case, you are already facing this issue, then you can use BKF File Repair Tool. Hope this article will be informative and helpful to the users.

  author

By Andrew Jackson

I am SQL DBA and SQL Server blogger too. I like to share about SQL Server and the problems related to it as well as their solution and also I do handle database related user queries, server or database maintenance, database management, etc. I love to share my knowledge with SQL Geeks.