Windows 10

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Use Windows Backup And Restore

Windows 10 includes the Backup And Restore (Windows 7) tool, which allows the creation of backups of your data. This backup feature was not included in Windows 8, but it has returned in Windows 10 to enable users who might have upgraded from Windows 7 to this version to restore data contained in Windows 7 system image backups.

In addition to restoring files and folders, you can also use this tool to create backups of files contained in folders, libraries, and whole disk volumes.

Backups can't be saved to the disk on which Windows 10 is installed, so you must provide another location such as an external USB drive, network drive, or non-system local disk. To launch the Backup And Restore (Windows 7) tool in the GUI, open the System And Security section of Control Panel or use the Backup And Restore (Windows 7) item listed in the Settings app.

To create a backup of your files and folders and a system image, follow these steps.

1. Open Settings and click Update And Security.
2. Click Backup and then click Go To Backup And Restore (Windows 7).
3. On the Backup And Restore (Windows 7) page, click Set Up Backup.
4. On the Select Where You Want To Save Your Backup page, choose the location and click Next.
5. On the What Do You Want To Back Up page, click Let Windows Choose (Recommended) and click Next.
6. On the Review Your Backup Settings page, click Change Schedule.
7. On the How Often Do You Want To Back Up page, leave the Run Backup On A Schedule (Recommended) check box selected and, if necessary, modify the backup schedule.
8. Click OK.
9. On the Review Your Backup Settings page, click Save Settings And Run Backup.
   The backup begins, and you see the progress bar.

Note: Backup Time
The first backup takes the longest time because it is a full backup. Subsequent backups are incremental and can take only a few minutes to complete.

When the backup is complete, use the links on the Backup And Restore (Windows 7) page to see the size of the backup on disk, edit the schedule, and manage the disk space the Backup And Restore (Windows 7) tool uses.

When backing up your system, you can opt for the recommended settings, which create a backup of all files and folders in your user profile (including libraries) as well as a system image. The system image files are large, likely to be approximately 10 GB in size. You can specify the frequency and time when Windows 10 performs backups or retain the default backup schedule of Sunday at 7 P.M. every week.

If you require more specific scheduling, you can modify the triggers in the AutomaticBackup job in Task Scheduler after you have enabled scheduled backups. Available options to trigger a scheduled backup include:

• On A Schedule.
• At Logon.
• At Startup.
• On Idle.
• On An Event.
• At Task Creation/Modification.
• On Connection/Disconnect To A User Session.
• On Workstation Lock/Unlock.

If you want to choose specific libraries and folders for the backup manually, select Let Me Choose on the What Do You Want To Back Up page when initially setting up the backup. Although you cannot select individual files for backup, you can clear the check box to include a system image of the drive.

The Backup And Restore (Windows 7) tool uses the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) to create the backups. The initial backup creates a block-level backup of the files to the backup file and uses the virtual hard disk (.vhdx) file format. VSS greatly enhances the performance of the backup operation because subsequent backups only copy the data that has changed since the previous backup, which is typically a smaller amount of data, thus creating the incremental backup much faster.

Each time you run a backup, the Backup And Restore (Windows 7) tool creates a new restore point, which the Previous Versions feature in File Explorer can use (and is covered later in this tutorial).

Note: Back up NTFS Only
The Backup And Restore (Windows 7) tool can only be used to back up data that is stored on file system volumes formatted as NTFS.

To restore libraries, folders, or files from a backup, you can use the Restore My Files link in the lower right of the Backup And Restore (Windows 7) screen. You can select which backup set to use and restore items to their original locations or to different locations. To restore data from a backup, use these steps.

1. On the Backup And Restore (Windows 7) page, click Restore My Files.
2. The Restore Files dialog box presents you with access to the latest backup. If you want to choose an alternative backup, click Choose A Different Date, select the correct backup, and click OK.
3. Locate the files or folders you intend to restore by using one of the three options for you to find your files to recover.
   • Search Type part of the name of the file you intend to restore. Click the file or Select All to restore all the found files. Click OK. (The search speed is very fast.)
   • Browse For Files Click the backup name with the correct date and time stamp and browse to the folder that contains the items you want. Select the items and click Add Files.
   • Browse For Folders Click the backup name with the correct date and time stamp and browse to the folder that you want. Select the folder and click Add Folder.
     You can choose multiple files and folders and use any of the three options or combinations of the options to locate the items you want.
4. Click Next.
5. On the Where Do You Want To Restore Your Files page, choose to restore to the original location or browse and select a different location.
6. If you restore an item to a location that contains the same item name, you are prompted to choose one of the following.
   • Copy And Replace: The item restored from the backup overwrites the item in the destination location.
   • Don't Copy: Nothing changes and no item is restored.
   • Copy, But Keep Both Files: The original items remain as is, and the file name of the restored item is modified to show it is a version of the same item.
   • Do This For All Conflicts: If you're restoring multiple items, you can apply the same choice to each conflict.
7. When the restoration is complete, the Your Files Have Been Restored page appears, and you can click the link to View Restored Files.
8. Click Finish