The Windows 7 Backup and Restore utility
enables you to create and restore backups. Backups protect your data in
the event of system failure by storing the data on another medium, such
a hard disk, CD, DVD, or network location. If your original data is
lost because of corruption, deletion, or media failure, you can restore
the data by using your saved backup.
To access Backup and Restore, type Backup and Restore in the Windows 7 search box. Alternatively, you can choose Start =>
Control Panel, choose either small or large icon view, and then click
Backup And Restore. The Backup and Restore center is shown in Figure 1.
1. Creating a Backup
You can see in the
previous figure that no backups of this Windows 7 machine have been
taken. To set up a backup, choose the Set Up Backup link in the right
side of the Backup And Restore window. Choosing Set Up Backup launches a
wizard that takes you through the process of creating a backup. The
Backup Wizard first asks you for a location to save your backup. This
location can be a hard disk (removable or fixed), a CD, a DVD, or even a
network location (if you have Windows 7 Premium or Ultimate).
Next you are asked to either
let Windows 7 choose the files and folders to back up or let you
manually select the resources you want to back up. In your manual
selection, you can choose just the data libraries of Windows 7 for you
as a user, or other users. You can also choose to create a backup of the
Windows 7 system files. If you want to choose other files and folders,
you have the option of selecting any resources individually on your hard
disk(s).
The final page of the
wizard enables you to view the items you have selected as well as set up
a schedule for your backups to occur. If you're happy with the setup,
click the Save Settings And Run Backup button. The backup commences, and
you are able to restore the resources if necessary in the future. Figure 2
shows my Windows 7 machine right after I chose to save settings and run
a backup. You can see the backup in progress and the history of my
backups.
Choose Start => Control Panel => Backup And Restore Center. Click the Set Up Backup link. Select the location where you want to save your backup, and then click Next. In our example, we will use our D: drive.
The Set Up Backup screen appears. Click the Let Me Choose radio button and click Next.
Select the files that you would like to back up. Click Next.
At
the Backup Summary screen, you can also select how often you want a
backup to be automatically performed. To start the backup, click the
Save Settings And Start Backup button.
Windows begins backing up files, and a progress indicator indicates how the backup is progressing.
When the backup is complete, click Close.
|
After you have created your backup, you can restore system files and user data files with the restore utility.
2. Restoring Files from a Backup
If you have lost or destroyed
files that you still want on your Windows 7 system, you can restore them
from your backup. To restore files to your computer, launch the Backup
and Restore program by typing Backup and Restore in the Windows 7 search
box. Assuming the media where your backup was saved is available, you
can click the Restore My Files button.
Click the Restore My Files
button to launch a restore wizard that prompts you to search for the
files you want to restore. You can select multiple files and folders.
When you have selected all the files and folders you want to restore,
click Next and you will have one final option—to restore to the original
location or pick an alternate location for restoration, After you make
the restore location decision, choose Restore. The restore operation
commences, and your original files and folders are available for you
from the backup media.
You also have options in the
Backup And Restore window to restore ail users' files or to select
another backup to restore files from. You would use this second option
if you saved your backup to multiple locations, and the last one (the
one listed in the backup section) is not the set of backup files you
want to use in your current session. Other than just restoring files and
folders, you have the choice to use other advanced backup options.
In Exercise 2, you will restore some files. This exercise assumes that you created a backup in Exercise 1.
Choose Start => Control Panel => Backup And Restore Center.
Click the Restore Files button.
At the Restore Files screen, click the Browse For Folders button.
Click
the Microsoft Windows Backup link in the left window. Then double-click
the backup that you created in the previous exercise. Choose the folder
that you want to restore (we chose the Program Files folder) and click
Add. Click Next to continue.
Select whether you want files saved in the original location or a different location. To begin the restore, select Restore.
When the restore is complete, click Finish.
