Backup - Restore - Recovery in Windows 7

No matter what system you use there are three constants; backing up systems and data is largely ignored, hard drives fail, and users screw up - usually at the worst possible time. You may make a colossal file or hard drive deletion screw-up, the system could be stolen, or you get mad enough to throw it out a 35th story window - but sooner or later a 'Damnit' moment arrives when something goes wrong. Without a backup you're essentially up the proverbial creek without a paddle. The focus of this article is on the tools included in Windows 7 to backup your system and data and facilitate restoration or recovery when a problem occurs.

There are two aspects to successfully protecting your system and data: backup and restore and/or recovery. This page contains an overview of what you need to know with numerous links to other pages that provide walkthroughs and screen captures that detail the procedures.

There are a number of ways to access the basic Backup, Restore, and Recovery functions. Some of the methods are quite convoluted and require drilling down through a number of menus. I suggest using the search box on the start menu. As you can see in the three screen captures below, not only does this method allow quick access, each search also reveals a number of associated tasks for quick access.

Backup

There are two different types of backups available in Windows 7; data file backups and system image backups.

Data File Backup - Data file backups are pretty much just as the name states, backups of data files on the computer that are gathered together from a number of different places and backed up into a series of individual zip files. The 'data file' backup is primarily used to restore or recover individual files and folders. At best the 'data file' backup is incredibly slow and there have been many reports of the contents being corrupt and unrecoverable. I can't say one way or the other whether it's an issue with the program or the users because I only use system images, but I've never had any issues with images using Microsoft's included backup tools or other third party recovery tools.

System Image Backups - A 'system image' backup is a complete image of a hard drive or drives at a single point in time and is stored as a virtual hard drive (.vhd)  file. It's used to recover a system to that single point in time by overwriting the data on an entire hard drive or partition. Although it is possible to recover individual folders and files from a 'system image' backup, that's not what Microsoft intends. To recover individual folders and files from  a system image you do so by mounting the virtual hard drive (.vhd) and then picking and choosing the folders and files you need. I'll explain how this is done in the Restore section.

The first time [Backup and Restore] is accessed it will appear as shown below in Fig. 02. This view of [Backup and Restore] will continue to appear only until you access the [Set Up Backup] hyperlink to configure and save initial backup and restore settings. It isn't required you set up backup at this point but I suggest you do so to get a protection scheme in place. Completing setup allows specifying what you want backed up and establishing a schedule for future backups. See [Backup and Restore Setup] for a guide to setting up the initial backup and saving the settings.

Rather than completing the initial [Backup and Restore] setup, many users working with a fresh (whether it was clean or upgrade doesn't matter), installation of Windows 7 opt to create an initial system image as their first order of business. That's fine, but don't ignore the initial setup after that image has been created. See [Create A System Image of Windows 7] for a guide to creating a system image in Windows 7.

A System Repair Disk can also be created without setting up backup. A number of factors determine whether or not you'll need a system repair disk including whether or not you have an actual Windows 7 DVD or if your system shipped with a Recovery DVD or has a manufacturer created recovery partition. I very strongly suggest you create a System Repair Disk. It only requires a single DVD disk and takes only a few minutes of your time. It's far better to have it tucked safely away if you ever do need it then not have it at the worst possible time. For a description of how to create the disk see the [Create A System Repair Disk] tutorial.

After the initial [Backup and Restore] setup has been completed, the next time it is launched it will appear similar to what is shown in Fig. 03 below. Comparing Fig. 02 and Fig. 03 you'll see a number of options, items, and buttons have been added in the left hand menu, backup, and restore sections. You are allowed to save only one group of backup settings. There is no provision for defining and saving different backup sets. Let me make that clear. You can only save one group of backup settings. That one group can be modified as often as you want or have the patience to do so, but if for example you want to set up 'Backup A' where drives C & D are saved to an internal drive and 'Backup B' where drives E & F are saved to an external drive, you're out of luck. In my opinion that's a huge shortcoming in the program and one I hope is changed in the future.

On the left hand side there is now a [Turn Off Schedule] option. A full discussion of scheduling is at Backup and Restore - Scheduling.

Another addition is the [Manage Space] option. While you can allow the management of backups to be controlled by Windows 7, you also have the option to manually control and manage the space allocated, but only to a degree. The controls provided are what I consider weak, and that's being generous. The tutorial on [Backup and Restore - Managing Disk Space] provides illustrated details.

A few users will do the initial [Backup and Restore] setup, save the settings and call it a day and never revisit them again. That's fine, and in some cases perfectly satisfactory, but as you make modifications to the system, add drives, change storage locations, install new programs, and accumulate more and more data files you may well want to reconsider the present backup strategy. That's where [Change Settings] comes into play. Take a look at [Backup and Restore - Change Settings] for a tutorial and ideas.

A final note on the Backup section regarding the [Back Up Now] button. Unlike a lot of situations in Windows where you have to fight through any number of confirmation screens asking if you really intended to do what your click indicates, this time that click on [Back Up Now] throws you immediately into the backup process. No hesitation, no waiting, no confirmation. It's important you have your setting and space management in order so there are no unintended consequences like overwriting or deleting an older backup you wanted to save.

Restore versus Recovery - Restore takes place using a Data File Backup described in the previous section. Restore in the Backup and Restore/Recovery program is not the same as System Restore. They are two totally different operations even though the word 'restore' appears in both names. In Backup and Restore operations the option is available to select as few as one file or all the files you have included in the Data File Backup.

Recovery, on the other hand, uses a System Image that 'recovers' the system to a specific point in time. You don't pick a folder from 'here' and another file from 'there' and mix them together. A System Image is a rigid set of data that replaces all the information contained on a hard drive or drives. Recovering a computer via a System Image will destroy everything on the drive or partition, including anything that has been added to the drive since the image was created.