1. Click Start, right-click Computer, and then click Manage.

2. Expand Storage, and then click Disk Management.

3. Click the Action menu, and then click Attach VHD.

4. Click the Browse button, select your VHD file, and then click OK twice.

5. Open Explorer and access the VHD like a newly created hard disk. It’ll show up as a blue disk in the Disk Management snap-in. For example, mine appeared as the H: drive.

I go on and on about how important backup up your data is. All hard disks fail eventually, and when they do, you’ll lose all your stuff–including your personal pictures and home videos.

So, you need to backup. I tell most people to buy a USB drive a bit bigger than their computer’s C:\ drive and use that for backups. That works well and protects you from a failed hard disk or accidentally deleted files–but it doesn’t protect you from fire or theft, because you’d lose your backup drive, too.

Businesses do off-site backups for disaster recovery. Basically they take their backup drives or tapes to a different location that they can get to if something goes really bad. That doesn’t work well for people, though, because even if you buy a second external drive and take it to a friend’s house, you’ll forget to do it regularly. For the home user (myself included), backups must be automated or they’ll be forgotten.

Enter online backup services, which copy files from your computer to a server on the Internet. When you lose your data, you download it back from them. I checked out the major online backup services and found one that’s working for me.

Online backup services either charge based on how many GB of data you upload or they give you a flat monthly rate. Some of those with the flat monthly rate cap the amount of data you can store to, say, 100GB. I have about a terabyte (1,000 GB) to backup. That means paying per GB is out of the question for me, and I’m way past any caps. If you don’t have as much data, the math might be different.

Consider customer service as you’re evaluating online backups. When you do need to restore files, you’ll discover that it’s not the backing up that’s important–it’s the restoring. You’ll be really disappointed in the service if you can’t access your files or if some of your files are missing.

Most of these services offer similar feature sets–they backup and restore your files. Some of the distinguishing features are:

• Support for MacOS X and Linux in addition to Windows
• Storing multiple revisions of a file (in case you need to go back to a version of a Word file from two months ago)
• Sharing files with other users
• Software includes local backup capabilities (not required with Windows Vista or Windows 7)
• Business, enterprise, or server backup (note that I focus on backups for home users)

The limitations were more important than the features to me. Some limitations of different services include:

• Limiting the amount of backups per month
• Not backup up network drives
• Not backing up external drives
• Not backing up large files over a specific size

I also recommend picking one of the big services–you don’t want your backup service going out of business. Keep these factors in mind as you review my notes of the individual services.

Unlimited Online Backup Services

If you have more than 100GB of data, I suggest choosing an unlimited backup service. I can’t fathom how they can make money redundantly storing a terabyte of data for me for $5/month, but it’s not my problem!

Update (2/7/2011): Oh, the irony of that previous statement. When I first wrote this on January 27, 2010 (about a year ago), Mozy offered unlimited backup for $5/month. I used the service for a year, and stored about 1TB of data on their servers. It took about 11 months just to get that 1TB of data uploaded across my Internet connection. Then, Mozy upped my rates just a bit–from $5/mo to $89.99/mo–an 18x increase. A 2TB hard disk only costs about $80 and will last many years, so clearly Mozy is no longer a good value. I can’t imagine why they don’t come up with a more reasonable plan for those of us with lots of data–clearly they could make a profit at a much lower price point. Instead of waiting another year to upload my data to another backup service, I’m going back to my previous offsite backup technique: backing up to an external hard disk, and then storing it at a friend’s house. My new 2TB eSATA external hard disk is $104 shipped: Fantom G-Force 2 TB USB 2.0/eSATA Hard Drive GF2000EU. I plan to write a script to copy all my files to it. Then, I’ll take it to a friend’s house for safe storage. In a month, I’ll do the same to a second external disk, and swap it out when I next visit the friend–that way, I always have one disk safely stored off-site. Backups will be a month old, but that’s way better than nothing.

One last thing: BOO MOZYHOME. You wasted my time and annoyed me.

Carbonite – $5/month Unlimited

Users complain Carbonite won’t backup all file types, even if you select them. This is okay for the average user. If you’re a developer and you want to make sure your MSIs are backed up, you can manually choose to backup other file types.

Carbonite won’t backup external drives, which is a problem for me. Otherwise, they’re very comparable to MozyHome.

CrashPlan – $4.50/month Unlimited

CrashPlan can store multiple versions of a file (in case you need to go back to an earlier revision) and they provide both local and off-site backups. Of course, you don’t really need the local backups if you’re using Vista or Windows 7, because they have backup software built-in.

CrashPlan offers a “seeding” service which starts your backup by shipping storage the old fashioned way–with UPS. This helps to overcome the VERY LONG initial backup period. For MozyHome, the initial backup has taken months. I didn’t mind waiting because I have local backups anyway, but if you’re willing to spend some time with shipping, this is a nice feature.

CrashPlan charges you more for constant backup without ads, so you might not actually get the $4.50/month price and be happy with it.

CrashPlan also offers a Linux client.

ElephantDrive – $5/month Unlimited

ElephantDrive works, but they limit files to 1 GB each. If you upgrade to their $10/month plan (which allows up to 4 computers to be backed up), they’ll backup files up to 2GB in size. I still need bigger files, but most people don’t.

You can also use it for file sharing on the Internet, because you can upload any file.

Like CrashPlan, ElephantDrive can store multiple revisions of files.

BackBlaze – $5/month Unlimited

Files are limited to 4GB each and they can store multiple revisions of files.

Space-Limited Online Backup Services

If you don’t have that much data, these might be good for you:

iDrive – $5/month for 150GB or $15/month for 500GB

Free 2GB backups and they store multiple versions of your files.

SpiderOak – $10/mo per 10GB or $100/year per 100GB

They support Windows, MacOS X, and Linux and store multiple versions of files, but the per-gigabyte pricing would get expensive for me. They provide file-sharing capabilities, too

Dropbox: $10/month for 10GB or $20/month for 100GB

They support Windows, MacOS X, and Linux. Like MozyHome, they give you 2GB for free. DropBox makes sharing files with other users easier, so it actually provides services beyond basic backup and restore.

SOSOnline: $30/year for 5GB or $50/year for 15GB

Their software provides local backup, too. The low storage limits eliminated SOSOnline as an option for me.

IBackup: $1/gb/month

IBackup is more of a business-oriented service, and their pricing reflects that. Supports Windows, MacOS X, and Linux. Their simple pricing plan turns out to be awful if you have large amounts of data, as I do.

Summary

There are MANY other online backup services that I haven’t reviewed: Syncplicity, Humyo, Data Desposit Box, Zectar Zumodrive, Livedrive, Microsoft Live Mesh, BullGuard, Fabrik, and others! As I mentioned above, try to stick with one of the big providers to reduce the risk that they’ll have terrible service when you need a restore or that they go bankrupt on you.

If you have real-world experience with a backup service, please describe it in the comments.

Before doing a System Restore, I’d try running Startup Repair. Then, do this:

1. If you’re using Windows 7, your computer might automatically prompt you to perform a Startup Repair or to load the Windows Recovery Environment. Do this first. If it doesn’t work, continue following these steps.

2. Restart the computer from the Windows Vista or Windows 7 DVD (the computer must be configured to start from CD/DVD), and start setup.

3. When prompted, click Repair your computer.

4. Startup Repair will automatically detect a problem. When prompted, click Repair and restart, and then restart your computer from the Windows DVD. If Startup Repair does not automatically detect a problem, continue to the next step.

5. When prompted, click Repair Your Computer.

6. Click System Restore from the System Recovery Options.

7. Follow the prompts that appear to restore your system configuration to an earlier state.

8. When prompted, remove the Windows DVD and restart your computer normally.

If the problems still don’t disappear, you can repeat the process and choose an earlier System Restore date. If it still doesn’t work–I hope you made a backup! If so, you can restore your computer from a system image.

Tony,

I have Windows Vista Home Premium, and want to use Task Scheduler to schedule Automatic Backup to my DVD to wake-up and run this task after I put my computer into Sleep Mode.  In Task Scheduler, I click on Create Task, and when I get to the Actions window, I click on New, and then click on Browse, and then click on Look-In.  However, I can’t locate the Backup task in the Look-In portion of the Actions window, so that I can schedule it to wake-up the computer (on the Conditions window), in order to run backup, after I have put it into Sleep mode.  Can you tell me how to locate Backup in the Look-In window?  Your prompt reply will be greatly appreciated.

Stan  

Answer:

Hi, Stan. Try this:

First, follow these steps to configure an automatic backup. Then:

1. Click Start, type Task,  and then click Task Scheduler on the Start menu.

2. Select the Task Scheduler\Task Scheduler Library\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsBackup\ node.

3. In the right pane, right-click AutomaticBackup, and then click Properties.

4. On the AutomaticBackup Properties dialog, select the Conditions tab. Select the Wake the computer to run this task check box. Click OK.

That’s it! Assuming your computer supports waking up at a scheduled time (it probably does, if it’s running Vista), you should be all set.

Hi Tony. THANKS SO MUCH for all the great info!

I tried to follow the procedures to do a complete PC backup but 2 issues: 1) system can’t find the file wbadmin and 2) I want to do the backup to a specific directory of the external hard drive: is that ok?

Thanks!

Answer:

I can’t explain why your system can’t find the wbadmin tool–are you using Home Basic, perhaps? It might not be included in the home versions of Vista. Anyway, it should located in your C:\Windows\System32\ folder, so you might try browsing for it there.

Regarding storing a CompletePC backup in a different folder, I couldn’t find a way to do that. Sorry; I think you’re stuck with the default location.

For reference, here’s my original post on how to schedule a CompletePC backup.

Frank responded in a comment below:

Tony, I have Vista Premium, preinstalled on a Gateway PC. I checked the c:\windows\system32 folder and the file wbadmin is not there (I set Folders to show hidden and system files too).  On my second question, I want to install to a specific directory rather than have the backup wipe out what is on that external drive now.  Can that be done, assuming there is a way to run this.  Thanks!

Yep, that’s the problem–Vista Premium doesn’t have CompletePC backups. So, this won’t work for you. You can upgrade to Ultimate, though.

And for others who use CompletePC, it doesn’t overwrite any data on your external disk, it just adds a bunch of big files. You can’t change the folder.

When I provided these manual instructions for restoring a BKF file, I promised that Microsoft would release a tool to simplify the process. Well, here it is.

Before you install it, you’ll need to turn on or install the Removable Storage Management by following these steps:

1. Click the Start button and then click Control Panel.
2. Click Programs.
3. Click Turn Windows Features on or off, and respond to the security prompt.
4. Select the check box next to Removable Storage Management to turn the feature on, and then click OK.

To check the space, click Start, and then click Computer. Right-click your backup disk and then click Properties. From there, you can run Disk Cleanup to clear up some space.

After you free up the space, reopen the Backup Status And Configuration or the Backup And Restore Center pages–it should work this time.

You should schedule a nightly automatic backup on your computer. You can then view the scheduled task in the Task Scheduler tool:

1. Click Start. Type task, and then click Task Scheduler.
2. Expand Task Scheduler Library, Microsoft, Windows, and then click WindowsBackup.
3. In the right pane, notice the AutomaticBackup task.

Here’s the thing: The AutomaticBackup task will show The operation completed successfully even if it didn’t run. It lies. So, if you want to know if you completed a backup or not, open the Backup and Restore Center instead.

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. Select the Open the Properties dialog for this task when I click Finish checkbox. Then, click Finish.

9. The Properties dialog appears. On the General tab, select the Run with highest privileges checkbox. Then, click OK.

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. You should see the command prompt appear as the Complete PC backup runs. If it doesn’t run, make sure the account you specified on the General tab has administrative privileges.

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).

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.

If you really need to restore files from a .BKF file, this thread provides guidance. I’ll copy the steps here for reference:

1) create a folder somewhere, call it ntbackup just so you can keep track of
what you’ve done
2) from an existing XP installation, copy these 3 files into the new folder:
ntbackup.exe, vssapi.dll, ntmsapi.dll. Optionally, copy the files
ntbackup.chm and ntbackup.hlp. Do not overwrite any Vista files that have
the same names.
3) run ntbackup.exe. dismiss the error dialog concerning removable storage
if it appears.
4) catalog the backup file as you normally would (select the Restore tab,
then select Tools/Catalog) then select and restore your files. Remember to
restore them to an alternate location using the drop-down box in the
lower-left corner of ntbackup.

If you don’t have a running XP installation, then extract the listed files
from the XP installation CD. If you don’t know where these files are, you
can use search to find them; they will have the same filename except the last
character will be an underscore (e.g., ntbackup.exe will be ntbackup.ex_ on
the CD). i have not done an exhaustive search of every version of XP’s
installation CD to determine their locations.

Since you are (presumably) not running as an administrator under Vista as
you probably were under XP,
1) some extraneous errors may occur during the restore. check the results
of the restore to ensure that you got all the files you needed from the
backup, and apply the appropriate security settings to the restored files
manually if necessary
2) You might need to turn off the option to restore file security. (Hit the
“Advanced” button in the restore dialog).

ntbackup also appears to work for backing up files, but I wouldn’t trust it
to do so correctly without extensive testing.

I suggest automatically backing up your computer nightly to an external hard disk. If you follow that advice, you can easily restore earlier versions of corrupted files. To restore an earlier version of a file that has been backed up, follow these steps:

1. Find your file in Explorer. Right-click the file, and then click Restore Previous Versions.

2. The Previous Versions tab appears. If an earlier version of the file is available, click it, and then click Restore if the button is available. For system files, you can click Open or Copy. If you don’t see any previous versions, you’ve never made a backup of this file (using Windows, at least). Before you can recover the file, you have to configure Windows to automatically backup your files.

3. The Copy File dialog appears. You can choose to overwrite the existing file or save the recovered file with a different name. Click Copy and Replace if you’re sure about it. If you’re not sure, click Copy, but keep both files. Your recovered file will have the same name with a “(2)” after it.

4. Click Finish.

The file will be restored to its previous state.

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.

Then, follow these steps to schedule a backup (you’ll need administrative privileges):

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 files.

4. On the Where Do You Want To Save The Backup page, click On a hard disk, CD, or DVD, and then select your disk. Click Next.

5. If the Which Disks Do You Want To Include In The Backup page appears, select the disks where you store important files, and then click Next.

6. On the Which File Types Do You Want To Back Up page, select any file types you don’t want to lose. Then, click Next.

7. On the Back Up Files page, schedule how often you want your files backed up. I suggest changing this to Daily. If you don’t mind losing a whole week of work if your computer has a problem, you can leave it at Weekly. Then, schedule a time when your computer will be turned on and connected to the external hard disk, and click Save settings and start backup.

Windows Vista will immediately start a backup. It’ll also run a backup at the time and interval you specified.

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.

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.