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Using Windows Backup and Restore in Windows 10
For an informative article, click HERE.
To force it to also backup you data on the D: drive, Schedule>Change Settings>Select what to backup>What files do you want to backup>Let me choose. The default is called Data Files but this is mostly just the data files on the C: drive. You will need to also check the D drive. It looks like the only option is all of the D: drive which wastes space but the non-data files on the drive should not change much so it will not continually add more.
Windows 10 has two types of backup and some related operations 1. System Image Backup: This backs up everything so you can return to the configuration the computer was when you made the image. If you use the system image to restore your PC you will loose any files created since that date so be careful.
2. File History: This backs up your most important files, it
is not a system backup so it does not back up things like your programs.
You would normally set it up to keep your PC backed up all the time.
Making a System Image Backup updated 5/16/20 windows 10 version 1909 Note, how to get to this function seems to change with each version of windows 10,
Note the amount of free space on the disk you are backing up to. You will
need a lot, 80 Gb for a small system but the main reason to note the amount of
space is to use it as a check of a successful run.
6) it worns you it is scheduled to do a system image backup every so many days such as every Sunday at 7 PM. These are incremental sytem image bakus so not huge. Adust the schedule as deasred. You may want to not run it on a schedule at all. 7) Click on save settings and run backup" It creates 3 files, Desktop-OVNU9GC or eqivalet, WindowsImageBackup and MedialD.bin` A summary of this https://www.windowscentral.com/how-make-full-backup-windows-10
The following paragraph has not been edited into the material above. 7)" Now select "Create a system Image" Next pick the drive to backup to. It will list what it is backing up. Make certain it is all the drives you want. When in doubt back it up. When the System image is done being created, it will ask if you want to create a rescue disk. This is a bootable disk that rescues you from a mired of problems so if you have not made one in a while, you might as well. It fits on one CD. If you get any error messages be very suspicions of your backup even if it only says it could not back up something that makes no sence to you,. Check the remaining size of the free space on your backup disk. Did it decrease a plausible amount. Checking the size of the backup file, WindowsImageBackup is no use because it always lists as 9 bytes for some reason. Consider moving WindowsImageBackup to a named folder to keep better track of it. A new system image backup will erase the old one unless the old one is renamed or moved to a subfolder. You should also note that, if you check the size of the file, it will show up as zero unless you copy it to a different drive.
To set up File History: Start>Settings (the gear icon)>Update and Security>backup (along the left side)>Add a Drive (Under Backup using File History) then select your backup drive (this option will not appear if one has already been selected, if you want to change it, click HERE for details. Then make certain the option to Automatically back up my files is turned on (Assuming your backup drive is always connected) then select More options. Some options you may want to change the backup frequency, the default is every hour, For a home computer, every day should be adequate. You can set how long to keep the backups, the default is forever, you might prefer to choose "Until space is needed". Then review the folders it is backing up, you can add additional folders or delete folders it is backing up. If you have a ram disk for your C: drive, you may be storing your files on the D: drive so there would be a lot of folders on the C: drive that do not need backing up (although they are black so they do not take a lot of space). Adding folders is not as strait forward as it might seem. My "Documents" is D:/SOP/Documents. I said to backup D:/SOP but it only backed up the "AppData" folder on SOP. I changed my settings to specify backing up D:/SOP/Documents and the problem went away. I suspect that if you were just using the C: drive the defaults would take care of most everything. If the computer is off when the backup is scheduled, the backup will happen when the computer is next turned on regardless of the time. A good reference is HERE. For a good reference for what to do when your backup drive is out of space, click HERE.
If you get a "File History Doesn’t Recognize This Drive" it is probably related to changes you made in the disk you are using for backup. Click HERE for a fix. Restoring: It is good to test this out prior to needing it. You learn how to use it and you verify our backups really exist. The easiest way to initiate a file restore is by opening File Explorer, the the program you use to see the files and directories on your computer, then click "Home" along the top. This brings up a new menu. Select "History". It is a folder like icon towards the right. Windows Recovery Environment: You can boot into this mode to work various recovery issues. To get to it, Got to Start>Settings(the gear icon)>Update & Security>Advanced Startup (Restart Now). Another reference said to force a restart 3 times by forcibly shutting down your computer 3 times by holding the power on button down until the computer shuts down then let it boot normally and it should boot into the recovery mode. At the first sign of windows type screen is when you shut down again. If it does not work with 3 it might work with 2. There is also a way if you have the original windows disk but you probably do not have the windows 10 installation disks. 4. PC Reset: Lets you return your computer to the way it was when you purchased it. At your option, you can also restore it retaining your files and many of your installed programs.
Restoring from a System Image: (Try a system
restore before a complete recovery because a recovery will remove any data files
created after the backup point. I do not fully understand this!
If you can boot (start) your computert normally, you can get to the place where you run the sytem image restore the same way you do a system image backup through step 4, choosing "Go to Backup and Restpre (Windows 7)" then select "restore". It will attempt to restore from the drive you baced up to bur if this is a clean hard sisk, you will have to tell it where the bzkup is.
Click HERE to see how to restore individual files from a System Image backup (Warning it is complicated.) Restoring individual files from the System Image backup. The System image backup is nor really intended for that, normally you would use the File History Backup. If you do want to use the System Image backup, see https://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/24771-system-image-extract-files-using-disk-management.html. My one bit of extra caution is to do the recovery from a copy of the System Image Backup. When I did it, I could not get the System Image backup back to its original state. The process is quite involved as the backup was never intended for individual file backups.
Restore from File History
To restore an individual file, Click on “Restore my files”
If you do not want the latest version, t Then you can choose a date, then search for files or
folders to restore individual files or folders When you have navigated to the file or folder, click on
“Add File” or “Add Folder”, you can then select more files or folders if you
want When done selecting, Check the box next to the files you
want and select “Next” at the bottom right of the box. It will then
ask if you want it restored to the original spot or a new one.
Keep in mind that if you restore it to the original spot it may overwrite
the file you have there now. That
may or may not be a problem. Then Click Restore then End or Exit Some General notes: 1) Even though it only backs up the changed files, when you
do a restore and choose a backup date, you will see all the files that were on
the computer at that date, not just the ones backed up on that date. 3) How to change backup drive: https://www.asus.com/support/faq/1013067/ 4) How to map network drive: https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/map-network-drive-windows-10
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