Backup your computer and applications
Windows Vista includes two types of backups:
- Files and folders. This backs up your documents. If you lose your hard disk, you can use this to restore your most important files. You’ll need to re-install Windows and all of your applications, though.
- Complete PC. This backs up your entire computer, including all of your applications and settings. This backs up your personal files, too, but it takes up so much space that you won’t want to do this on a daily basis. CompletePC backup is only available on Windows Vista Business, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions. It’s not part of Windows Vista Home Basic or Home Premium.
You should create a Complete PC backup when you first get your computer setup and all your applications installed. Then, schedule a files and folders backup nightly. You can run another Complete PC backup if you install new applications, or every six months.
First, buy yourself an external USB hard disk to hold your backup. You can’t backup to your C:\ drive, because you won’t be able to get to your backup if it dies. Here are some well-reviewed drives in different capacities: 250 GB, 500 GB, and 750 GB. I have the 750 gigger. Be sure to get one big enough to hold all your files.
To run a Complete PC backup, follow these steps:
1. Connect and turn on your external hard disk.
2. Click Start, type Backup, and then click Backup and Restore Center.
3. Click Back up computer.
4. On the Where Do You Want To Save The Backup page, click On a hard disk, and then select your disk. Click Next. Yes, you can backup your computer to DVDs if you have a writeable DVD drive, but it would take dozens of DVDs, and you’ll forget to do it on a regular basis.
5. Click Start Backup. Windows Vista will work for quite some time… It’ll probably take hours.
If your hard disk every fails, or if you get hit by a spyware or virus and you can’t fix your computer, you’ll be able to restore your computer using this backup from the Backup And Restore Center.
Posted: December 14th, 2006 under Backup.
Comments: 14
Comments
Pingback from Vista Clues » Schedule an Automatic Backup - Windows Vista help
Time: December 14, 2006, 2:01 am
[...] This automatic backup will save your most important files. You should also do a Complete PC backup at least once (it’s better to do it every six months). You can’t easily schedule that, though. [...]
Pingback from Restore Files from a Windows XP .BKF file in Vista - Windows Vista help
Time: December 20, 2006, 9:16 pm
[...] Microsoft is working on a tool to simplify restoring files from backups you made with Windows XP, but it’s not ready yet. In the meantime, plan on scrapping your old backups–as soon as you get Vista running, do a Complete PC backup, and then schedule nightly backups. [...]
Pingback from Restore a Complete PC Backup when your computer won’t start - Windows Vista help
Time: December 25, 2006, 1:04 pm
[...] Your hard drive has died, or your computer has been taken over by spyware or viruses. If you’ve made a Complete PC backup, you can be up and running in less than an hour. To restore a Complete PC backup, follow these steps: 1. If your hard drive failed, replace it. 2. Insert your Windows Vista DVD, and boot your computer. When prompted, press a key to start from the CD/DVD. 3. Windows Vista setup starts. Select your regional settings, and click Repair Your Computer on the second page. 4. Follow the prompts that appear. Startup Repair will probably try to fix your startup problems without recovering from backup–if you don’t want it to bother, you can cancel the attempt. 5. When the System Recovery Options dialog appears, click Windows Complete PC Restore. 6. On the Restore Your Entire Computer From A Backup page of the WIndows Complete PC Restore wizard, click Next to use the most recent backup. 7. On the final page of the wizard, you can select the Format and repartition disks checkbox if you don’t want to save any of your data. This is the only way to be completely sure your computer is clean of any spyware, viruses, or worms. It will delete all the files on your disk before restoring the backup, however. If you don’t select the checkbox, it’ll leave your files on the disk and overwrite any files found in the backup. Therefore, any files you created after the backup was made will still be there if you do not format the disk. Click Finish to start the restore. The restore will take a while. When it’s done, your computer will restart, back at the state it was in the last time you did a Complete PC backup. Now, you should recover any files you’ve backed up since your Complete PC backup. [...]
Pingback from How to Schedule a Complete PC Backup - Windows Vista help
Time: December 28, 2006, 8:40 pm
[...] Windows Vista can automatically schedule file backups that back up your most important documents. It does not, however, give you a wizard to schedule Complete PC backups. Complete PC backups store your entire hard disk (well, your system volume), so if your hard drive dies at some point, you can do a quick restore and be up and running again in minutes. That’s better than file backups in many ways, because all your applications will be restored, and none of your files or settings will be lost. It’s so useful, you should schedule automatic Complete PC backups to an external hard disk. Just follow these steps: 1. Click Start, type Task Scheduler, and then press Enter (you’ll need admin rights). 2. In Task Scheduler, in the Actions pane, click Create Basic Task. 3. The Create A Basic Task wizard appears. In the Name box, type Complete PC Backup. Click Next. 4. On the Task Trigger page, click Next to accept a daily schedule. 5. On the Daily page, configure the time that you want the backup to run. It should run at a time when your computer is turned on and connected to your backup media (like your external hard disk). Don’t worry if your computer won’t always be connected–the backup will fail, but as long as it runs most nights, you’ll be fine. Click Next. 6. On the Action page, click Next to accept Start a program as the default. 7. On the Start A Program page, in the Program/script box, type Wbadmin. in the Add arguments box, type start backup -backupTarget:BackupDriveLetter: -include:C: -quiet. Replace BackupDriveLetter with the drive letter of your backup drive. For example, my backup drive is my L drive, so I used the arguments shown in this screenshot. Click Next. 8. Click Finish. To test your backup, click the Task Scheduler Library node in the left pane of Task Scheduler. Then, right-click your Complete PC Backup task and click Run. If this is the first time you’ve run a Complete PC backup, it’ll take a while–more than an hour. After that, it’ll only take 10-20 minutes (maybe less). [...]
Comment from JW
Time: January 5, 2007, 2:58 pm
Is it also to select just a directory instead of a full disk to backup?
Or is there only an option to make another partition on my disk to be able to backup that part of that that I want to have backupped?
Comment from Tony
Time: January 5, 2007, 3:08 pm
JW, you can’t backup specific directories using these tools. You have to select files by file type.
I’m not going to try and justify this decision from Microsoft, but their explanation is that the backup tool is designed for home users, and the priority is that it be as simple as possible. IT users typically use third-party enterprise backup tools, anyway.
I will say that I’m using the tools built into Vista. Yes, it’s backup up some unnecessary folders for me, but I’d rather waste a little bit of disk space than to put the extra time into making sure just the files I really need are backed up. Storage is cheap.
Comment from JW
Time: January 5, 2007, 6:14 pm
Maybe this is usefull to solve this “problem”:
http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/99609816/m/719008622831
That is a how to use the old backup system build in with XP.
My solution is now:
I backup my mail files (.pst) with the windows vista backup tool, because it can backup while my outlook is opened.
The other files I backup with another tool.
Because storage may be cheap, but I am not going to buy a new harddisk of 500 gb to make sure I will not lose 10 gb of important data.
Comment from Michel Dorteaux
Time: January 17, 2007, 5:33 pm
Hi,
and for those with musical talent the “Backup Song”:
http://netzreport.googlepages.com/all_those_backups_waste_of_pay.html
Pingback from Reader Question: Creating Restore CDs/DVDs - Windows Vista help
Time: February 2, 2007, 4:02 pm
[...] Here’s the good news: Don’t sweat it. Take them up on their offer to ship you restore CDs (after all, what choice to you have?). Then, buy an external hard disk, and run a Complete PC backup. That’s better than the Restore CD anyway, because it’ll also restore your applications instead of just wiping your hard disk clean. [...]
Comment from Brian
Time: March 5, 2007, 12:26 am
I’m having a problem with my recovery drive in Vista. My computer is no more than a month old, and since the first day my recovery drive has been at least 98% full. I think I may have accidentally tried to back up ALL my files (the problem of just hitting ‘next’ instead of reading). How do I get rid of all those files and start with a new backup? ANY help would be great!!!!! Thanks…
Comment from Dick Muller
Time: April 1, 2007, 11:51 pm
Could someone please help me? I would like to transfer my Windows Vista Mail emails to my old computer which uses outlook.
Comment from Dipen Mitra
Time: August 18, 2007, 5:10 am
I cannot do complete PC backup. I am using Vista Business.
When I try to do backup into an external Maxtor hard drive it starts alright only to end saying ” the drive cannot find the sector requested 0×8007001B”
Can you help please.
Thank you
Dipen Mitra
Comment from Shirley
Time: November 20, 2007, 8:54 pm
I’m trying to o a system backup with Vista Premium to a DVD+R. I’m getting the same msg. as Dipen Mitra on 8/18
“the drive cannot find he sector requested OX8007001B”
Do you have an answer? Thanks!
Comment from Paul
Time: February 23, 2008, 3:08 pm
Is it possible to have your C:/ drive as your RECOVERY drive? if so, mine is… can you help?
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