If you wanted to find out (SQL Server 2005 and onwards or with compatibility modes of 90 and higher) how long a particular Backup or restore on a database was taking or elapsed time, then the following SQL can help:
(I know the SQL GUI will show this in increments of 10% and all... but sometimes we just want to know how long it has taken and what percent it is currently at )

USE MASTER
--
SELECT SESSION_ID, '[' + CAST(DATABASE_ID AS VARCHAR(10)) + '] ' + DB_NAME(DATABASE_ID) AS [DATABASE], 
PERCENT_COMPLETE, START_TIME, STATUS, COMMAND, 
DATEADD(MS, ESTIMATED_COMPLETION_TIME, GETDATE()) AS ESTIMATED_COMPLETION_TIME, CPU_TIME
FROM SYS.DM_EXEC_REQUESTS 
--Apply this Where Clause Filter if you need to check specific events such as Backups, Restores, Index et al. 
WHERE COMMAND LIKE '%BACKUP%' OR COMMAND LIKE '%RESTORE%' OR COMMAND LIKE '%INDEX%' OR COMMAND LIKE '%DBCC%'

Mehernosh