Windows 7 forum: How do I make and restore backups from Windows 7?

I assume you only have 1 physical drive. If you just want an "instant" backup, have a 2nd hard-drive installed. If you want protection from lightning or mains-surges, get an external drive, but this is significantly slower. Have the backup disk labelled Backup.

Either way, get Partition Wizard Free Version from www.PartitionWizard.com.

At regular intervals, or if you have installed or removed software, (plug in your backup drive if using an external drive), run Partition Wizard and select Copy Disk Wizard. It will tell you to reboot to complete. When it has finished it restarts your PC. If you are using an external drive, unplug it and store it in a safe place.

When your hard-drive fails, you remove it and replace it with your backup drive.

It will be a faithful bootable copy of your harddrive as it was when you did your last backup. No need for a Windows repair disk or anything like that.

The external drive gives an extra layer of safety as you can keep it in a cupboard - almost like off-site storage. The drawback is speed, ie the time needed to do a backup. If you are happy with the idea (and this is what I do) get a technician to install a Sata pawer and Sata data cable that hangs out the edge of your PC casing. To do your backup, you shut down, plug in the backup drive, reboot, run Partition Wiziard, shut down, remove backup dribe, reboot.

i think you people realy missed the there question ......there question was how do they make a restore disk......

in other words they want to know how to make a restore disk of there operating system with all the files it came with
on there computer and in most cases when they ask its norm for a laptop not a desk top computer

and i to would like to know how to make a restore disk of windows 7 for my laptop since all the above info was
all useless info as far as making a restore disk ....

if your computer goes out and if the only operating system you have is on your lap top and you want to restore those
files along with the operating system from cdr or dvd disk how do you do it using what you have now so that you
do not loose it so you can reuse it in any computer

If you mean a disk (or a set of disks, on my new laptop it were 4 DVD's) that restores the laptop to "factory condition": that's not a standard Windows option. It's added by the maker, and every maker has his own software for it. The user manual should tell how it works with you.

But it only works on the original computer, not on "any computer".

Kees

I don't know what you mean.
I know a computer has an internal hard drive.
I thought USB referred to a port.
Can you elaborate, please ...

I have been using Paragon Hard Disk Manager for over a decade.

I can't remember if the free version has hard disk backup or not but there is a free version.

With Paragon you can back up your C:\ drive (or any other drive) to any other drive or to a "backup capsule"

If you have all your files on C:\ drive you can back them all in one compressed archive.

The "backup capsule" option allows you to back everything up to a virus proof hidden partition on the same hard drive as C:\ (if you only have one drive). And it even has an option to boot direct from that capsule instead of your normal C:\ drive (on boot it shows a 5 second prompt: "Do you want to boot from backup capsule").

I just back up C:\ drive with no personal files (I keep personal files in a single encrypted file and just copy that file to another drive. I use free Truecrypt for this).

If you want to back up WIN7 and all your files to a "backup capsule", obviously your backup capsule will need to be up to about 80% of your C:\ drive files (left click C:\ and go to "properties" and you can see the size of all files on there). You will be adding files so the "backup capsule" will need room for expansion.

If you don't want to use the "backup capsule" you can just back up your C:\ drive to another drive which should be a removable external drive for safety.

Paragon has wizards to direct you through the process. Both backup and restore will take 20-40 minutes (maybe more depending on the PC speed and personal files size). You cannot use your PC during the process if you use a "backup capsule.

Remember: You need to update the backup regularly to keep you latest files, contacts, e-mails, favourites etc. up to date.

See for yourself:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_flash_drive
http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=414&name=External-Hard-Drives

But they all connect to a USB port on your PC.

Kees

Hi Angie

It's admirable that you are concerned about being able to recover your data in the event of a system failure or accidental deletion of a file. I wish more people saw the benefit of installing a 3rd party or utilizing the built-in Windows backup solution. However, your question is really threefold. There are:

• File and Folder Backups
• Image Backups
• Windows System Restore

File and Folders Backups are the type that should be run most often. All the data that you create or download (documents, pictures, music, and video) will be stored in those areas. It is also the most common data that is lost or corrupted that requires restoration. This should be your first option to restore an individual (or groups of) document, picture, music(song), and/or video. Windows has this feature built in.

Image Backups are the type that should be run once a month, quarterly or bi-annually depending upon how often you are making changes that affect the Operating System (OS) and/or System Registry. This typically occurs when adding or removing programs. Image Backups are typically not used for simple file or folder restoration. Restoring your system with an Image Backup should only be used when the OS has been compromised beyond a routine repair. Yes, it will overwrite any information added since it was created. An Image Backup restoration will also require a Boot CD.

Windows System Restore (WSR) is a feature that is built into every Windows OS. Windows in the background creates on a regular basis "Restore Points" or dates that mirror the state of your computer at a particular point in past time. If you are able to boot your computer and logon but notice that a program or function is not behaving properly you really have two options (1) Uninstall the program and re-install it and if that doesn't solve the problem (2) you can use Windows System Restore.

WSR allows you to choose a date in the past when your system was operating as it should. It returns your OS to the state it was in on that particular date. No files or folders are altered. You may have to run Windows update and/or re-install a program that was not on your system on the chosen date. WSR handles most system related issues for the average user and negates the use of a stored Image Backup which is more involved and recommended only in extreme circumstances.

Now which solution should you use...Windows built-in program or a 3rd party? I prefer a good 3rd party solution. First of all be sure to use a destination for your file/folder and image back-ups that is not located on the computer you are using. There are a variety of good programs on the market from which to choose. Some are main stream like Norton Ghost and Norton 360 and others are better known in "geek" circles like Acronis and NovaStor.

Norton Ghost, Acronis and NovaStor are dedicated back-up programs for Files and Folders as well as Disk Imaging. I've used them all but would recommend Norton Ghost as the least intimidating for the novice user. NovaStor has the largest feature set for customization of your back-ups. All three offer good tech support. Read about them here:

http://data-backup-software-review.toptenreviews.com/

Norton 360 is a comprehensive internet security suite and back-up software. Its only shortcoming is that it will not perform Disk Imaging. It's expensive but does allow installation on three (3) computers. Either one of the dedicated back-up solutions mentioned for creating a Disk Image will play well with Norton 360. Read about it here:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2400192,00.asp

Angie, you also mentioned that you wanted something user-friendly. Generically speaking the most difficult part of using a back-up solution will be creating the first Disk Image (i.e. Image Backup) Below is a link to a tutorial of sorts that walks through the steps to create a Disk Image using Norton Ghost. The process would be similar with either of the solutions mentioned but this is the only one I could find with a good step-by-step process with screen shots.

http://www.whatsabyte.com/P1/ghost_image.htm

I hope this information helps you to make an informed decision as well as explaining when to use a particular type of back-up (or system restore) when you run into trouble as we all do from time to time

Together Everyone Achieves More

Glad to know that others appreciate the effort!

If you are an aged & frail pensioner like myself, often I'm not at home: hospitals, clinics, visiting, etc. My most important data is on my Google Gmail account. If my carers or others want access, it is easy for myself or trusted others to access it.

There are many other free on-line storage places. And paid ones. For my most personal desperate needs, I could encrypt, compress, etc any data with passwords if I wish.

The most deserving thanks goes to those from whom I learned. The researchers, teachers, authors and least not the contributors in forums like this....who came before me.

Together Everyone Achieves More

I use the free version of GFI Backup. I have it set to back up daily to a .zip file, which has become an industry standard. That makes it trivially easy to look into them to grab individual files, if you like.

I give GFI Backup 3 1/2 stars. It works, but I'm thinking of looking for something else.

But, one thing I recommend is backing up to a Network Addressed Storage (NAS) device. That's a box that plugs into your network (one of the ports on your router) instead of directly into your computer like a USB hard drive. They're a little more expensive, but worth it, I think.

The advantage of the NAS over the USB drive is that, sometimes, if your computer gets flaky for a while before giving up completely, it can corrupt both your internal hard drive and the external USB drive at the same time. Because they're both being maintained and organized by the same machine. That means that you can lose both your original data and the backup at the same time, and you're left with nothing.

The NAS, on the other hand, is a separate computer on your network. So, any flakiness in your computer won't affect the NAS. It's far less likely that you would lose both at the same time.

Current prices are from $80-$150 for the NAS box, plus the hard drive, which is $50-70. So, a little pricey. But, it's something you can use for multiple computers, if you have them.

Drake Christensen

Not EVERY version of Windows has System Restore! Granted, 99% of the people using Windows have XP, Vista, or 7 . . . but there could still be people out there using Windows98 (or possibly older still!), which lacked System Restore. In any case, they are better off than those using Windows Me, which was so utterly horrible as to make Vista look great by comparison!

That nit picked, i echo others who have lauded your answer for its accuracy, completeness and readability.

Windows ME was the first operating system to feature restore. I never used it, because doing an overlay installation worked wonders. ME was actually more reliable than W2K for a while; all you had to do is regular maintenance and keep anti-virus on it, and it worked like a slave for 3 years on average, without one BSOD.

I have a 1TB internal hd and a 1TB external usb HD.
How do I just duplicate what is on the internal so that if I want to restore a certain file I can find it on the external and copy it to the internal?

Andreas1292 answer was perfect and I think the best answer for the average PC user.

Jimmy

www.computers-itpro.com
Ahead of the curve


PS:
However, experts (computer guru's) use Acronis True Image Home 11 and in less than 15 minutes we can clone the hard drive whenever we need to. You need two hard drives and Acronis True Image but it is really worth the money if you really want an easy way to back up.