Properly Backing Up Windows Vista

The Importance of a Backup

These days’ people are truly relying on their computers. They store irreplaceable photos, video, and other documents on them. People use them to communicate with others and do business.

Have you ever thought about what would happen if you had a hardware failure or caught a nasty virus and all of your precious data were gone?

This guide shows you how to properly backup a Windows Vista computer and protect your valuable data.

Backup Technologies Available in Vista

• Windows Complete PC Backup: An imaged based backup that makes an exact copy of your entire computer including Windows, programs, files, and settings. This type of backup is only available in Windows Vista Ultimate, Business, or Enterprise.
• File Backup and Restore: Backs up pretty much everything except Windows, programs, and most settings.
• Shadow Copy: A quick and easy way to restore deleted or previous versions of a file or folder backed up by Windows Complete PC Backup or File Backup and Restore.
• System Restore: This is a cross between a Windows Complete PC Backup and Shadow Copy that backs up your system files and is enabled on all versions of Vista by default. It only backs up your system files and can’t be used to backup anything else.

Create a Backup Plan

Everyone uses their computer differently. Your backup plan should fit how you use your computer.

Backup Media

Your backups shouldn’t be saved on the same hard drive as the media being backed up. If the hard drive crashes so does your backup. You should use a separate hard drive, USB/FireWire attached hard drive (my favorite), tape drive, NAS device, or CD/DVDs to save your backups. Ideally your backup media should be 3 or more times larger than the media you’re backing up.

Backup Type and Frequency

Windows Vista automatically creates a System Restore Point every time your computer boots up and before software or drivers are installed. Before you change any major settings (the registry for example) you should manually create a system restore point to be safe.

You should setup File Backup and Restore to backup all of your files from once a day to once a week depending on how often you edit files and how much backup space you have available. It’s a good idea to manually backup your files and save them on a CD/DVD for safe keeping in a different location as the computer.

If you’re running Windows Vista Ultimate, Business, or Enterprise you should create a Complete PC Backup every month or so. You can automate Complete PC Backup here. I would also manually create a Complete PC Backup and save it on DVD to be stored in a different location as the computer.

Recovering Backed Up Data

System Crash

If Windows crashes you should use System Restore to try and fix it first. If that doesn’t work and a computer technician can’t fix it a Complete PC Backup might have to be used if one is available. A Complete PC Backup should only be restored as a last resort.

Data Loss

When recovering data you should try File Shadow first and a restore from a previous Complete PC Backup should be the last resort.