Back Up and Restore PDF

Backup and restore your PC
Applies to: Windows 7 Windows 8.1
To learn how to back up and restore individual files on a Windows-based computer:
 How to back up or transfer your data on a Windows-based computer
To learn how to back up and restore in Windows 10:
 Back up and restore your files

 Backup and Restore in Windows 10
Back up
There are several ways to back up your PC.
1. Select the Start button, then select Control Panel > System and Maintenance >
Backup and Restore.
2. Do one of the following:
o If you've never used Windows Backup before, or recently upgraded your version
of Windows, select Set up backup, and then follow the steps in the wizard.
o If you've created a backup before, you can wait for your regularly scheduled
backup to occur, or you can manually create a new backup by selecting back up
now.
o If you’ve created a backup before, but want to make a new, full back up rather
than updating the old one, select Create new, full back up, and then follow the
steps in the wizard.
Note
Do not back up files to the same hard disk that Windows is installed on. For example, do not
back up files to a recovery partition. Always store media used for backups (external hard disks,
DVDs, or CDs) in a secure place to prevent unauthorized people from having access to your
files; a fireproof location separate from your computer is recommended. You might also consider
encrypting the data on your backup.
Create a system image
System images contain all of the info on your PC at a particular state.
1. Right-click the Start button, then select Control Panel > System and Maintenance >
Backup and Restore.
2. In the left pane, choose Create a system image, and then follow the steps in the wizard.
If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or

provide confirmation.
Note
To create a system image of a drive, it must be formatted to use the NTFS file system. If you
save the system image on a hard drive or USB flash drive, it must be formatted to use the NTFS
file system.
Keeping different versions of system images
You can keep several versions of system images. On internal and external hard drives, older
system images will be deleted when the drive runs out of space. To help conserve disk space,
delete older system images.
If you're saving your system images in a network location, you can only keep the most current
system image for each computer. System images are saved in the format of
drive\WindowsImageBackup\computer name\. If you already have a system image for a
computer and are creating a new one for the same computer, the new system image will
overwrite the old one.
If you want to keep the old system image, you can copy it to a different location before creating
the new system image by following these steps.
1. Navigate to the location of the system image.

2. Copy the WindowsImageBackup folder to a new location.
Create a restore point
You can use a restore point to restore your computer's system files to an earlier point in time.
Restore points are automatically created each week by System Restore and when your PC detects
change, like when you install an app or driver.
Here's how to create a restore point.
System.
2. In the left pane, select System protection.
3. Select the System Protection tab, and then select Create.
4. In the System Protection dialog box, type a description, and then select Create.
Restore
Backup and Restore.
o To restore your files, choose Restore my files.
o To restore the files of all users, choose Restore all users' files.
o To look through the contents of the backup, select Browse for files or Browse for
folders. When you're browsing for folders, you won't be able to see the individual
files in a folder. To view individual files, use the Browse for files option.
o To search the contents of the backup, select Search, type all or part of a file
name, and then select Search.
Tips
If you're searching for files or folders associated with a specific user account, you can improve
search results by typing the location of the file or folder in the Search for box. For example, to
search for all JPG files that were backed up, type JPG in the Search for box. To only search for
JPG files associated with the user Bill, type C:\Users\Bill\JPG in the Search for box. Use
wildcard characters such as *.jpg to search for all JPG files that were backed up.
Restore a backup made on another computer
You can restore files from a backup that was created on another computer running Windows
Vista or Windows 7.
1. Select the Start button, then select Control Panel > System and Maintenance >
Backup and Restore.
2. Choose Select another backup to restore files from, and then follow the steps in the
wizard.

Find files that were restored from a backup made on another computer
If you're restoring files from a backup that was made on another computer, the files will be
restored in a folder under the user name that was used to create the backup. If the user names are
different, you'll need to navigate to the folder where the files are restored. For example, if your
user name was Molly on the computer that the backup was made on but your user name is
MollyC on the computer that the backup is being restored on, the restored files will be saved in a
folder labelled Molly.
To find restored files:
1. Select the Start button, then select Computer.

2. Double-click the icon of the drive that the files are saved on, for example C:\.
3. Double-click the Users folder. You will see a folder for each user account.
4. Double-click the folder for the user name that was used to create the backup. The restored
files will be in the various folders based on where they were located originally.
Restore files from a file backup after restoring your computer from a system image backup
After you restore your computer from a system image backup, there may be newer versions of
some of your files in a file backup that you want to restore.
To restore files from a file backup that was created after the system image backup was created,
follow these steps.
1. Select the Start button, then select Control Panel > System and Maintenance >Backup
and Restore.
2. Choose Select another backup to restore files from.

3. In Backup Period, select the date range of the backup that contains the files that you
want to restore, and then follow the steps in the wizard.

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Backup and restore your PC

Applies to: Windows 7 Windows 8.1

To learn how to back up and restore individual files on a Windows-based computer:

 How to back up or transfer your data on a Windows-based computer

To learn how to back up and restore in Windows 10:

 Back up and restore your files

There are several ways to back up your PC.

Create a system image

System images contain all of the info on your PC at a particular state.

If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or

Keeping different versions of system images

1. Navigate to the location of the system image.

Create a restore point

Here's how to create a restore point.

Restore a backup made on another computer

If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or

1. Select the Start button, then select Computer.

If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or

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