Managing Disks and File Systems

The most important aspect of a computer is the user data. Businesses depend on the privacy of their intellectual property to stay competitive, and government organizations depend on confidentiality for national security. Thus, it's critical that Windows protects the availability, integrity, and privacy of the user data on client computers. The Windows 7 operating system provides several important improvements to disk and file management.

Windows 7 includes several improvements that both users and administrators will appreciate. By default, backups automatically create a System Image backup of the entire system drive. Additionally, you can store System Image backups to shared folders. System Image backups greatly reduce the time required to restore a computer after a hard disk failure or system corruption.

To improve data security, you can use Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption to encrypt an entire volume, protecting the data on the disk even if the disk is physically removed from the computer. BitLocker works alongside Encrypting File System (EFS): BitLocker can encrypt system files and the page file along with any other files on the volume, whereas EFS is intended primarily to encrypt user files. Windows 7 supports BitLocker To Go, enabling removable flash drives to be encrypted with BitLocker. The BitLocker To Go Reader enables earlier versions of Windows to read encrypted files from the removable flash drive if the user has the required password.

This tutorial describes these features, as well as features introduced in Windows Vista, in more detail.