Best way to backup computer

Backing up data is the most important procedure that ensures the safety of files on the PC. Any organization, be it a huge enterprise or a small firm, periodically makes a backup of the information stored on their computers. Unfortunately, ordinary users of home PCs often neglect the backup of their files, which sometimes leads to very unpleasant consequences in the form of loss of important documents, photographs or videos shot with their camera. Meanwhile, to set up the process of creating backups is not at all difficult and can be done by any PC user.
Windows backup files
Backup storage devices
How to create a backup?
How to restore from backup?
Google drive backup

Windows backup files

Before you start the process of backing up files, you should determine which files will be copied. There is no point in creating duplicate folders such as Windows or Program Files. If the hard drive fails, the operating system and programs still have to be reinstalled. In order to save space on the media that will be used for backup, do not create backup copies of movies or music, except for rare ones. All this can be downloaded from the Internet if necessary. There is no point in making a copy of the games, because they can be reinstalled.

So, what files need to be copied?

  • Important documents. There can be hundreds of such files on your computer. You should periodically back up these documents to ensure that you keep their latest version.
  • Photo. Often people store photos of close people or important events on their computers, not even thinking about the fact that they can be irretrievably lost if the hard drive fails.
  • Music. In some cases, storing copies of audio files does not make sense. For example, if you have very little music on your computer, and these songs are easy to recover by downloading from the Internet. The decision to copy or not to copy such files is determined by the availability of free space on the medium where the backup will be stored. But, if you are a music lover, and several years have collected a music collection, it is definitely worth making a backup copy of it.
  • Letters. If your email client only saves emails on your computer’s hard drive, and among them there are important ones, it makes sense to periodically back up your mail. To do this, it is enough to copy one of the files in which all the data of your mail is stored. For Microsoft Outlook, for example, this will be a file with the .pst extension.
  • Important program settings. In some cases this can be very useful. And, if you know where these settings are stored, and you can restore them from the backup if necessary, it’s better to duplicate them.
  • Bookmarks for browsers. In this situation, you need to proceed from how important this information is to you. If you know how to do this, bookmark your browsers better. These files take up very little space.

Here are just the main recommendations. When organizing a backup of your computer, you should carefully analyze all the information stored on it, choose the most important and perform backup of these files.

Backup storage devices

Specialists recommend storing a backup separately from the main data. This is understandable – if the computer fails, it will be easier and faster to restore the information from the backup, which was stored on an external drive. There are several options for storing copied data.

  • USB storage. This is the simplest solution, which does not require significant expenses. Currently, you can find on sale high-capacity flash drives at a relatively low price. Such a medium is simple and compact. But, unfortunately, it has low reliability. Flash drives often break and, in addition, they have a limited number of data overwrites. If you often make a backup, the media will quickly fail. USB media is best used only as an additional option for storing backups.
  • External drive. The industry produces a large number of external disks of various capacities and prices. You can buy a relatively inexpensive disk with a capacity of several terabytes, which is quite suitable for regular backup of your computer’s data. External disks are reliable and compact enough. Of the disadvantages they can be called unless the need to connect an external drive each time to perform the next backup.
  • Cloud storage of copies or use of external servers for this purpose. This method of backup is quite suitable for users of home computers and is used by them more often. One of the advantages of this method is independence from environmental conditions. For example, if there is a fire in the house or a flood, the data will still be preserved. In addition, with this method of backup you do not need to connect an external disk every time. If you want, you can set up automatic backups. Despite the convenience, this method has some drawbacks. For example, it is recommended to always encrypt backup copies of files, so that no one from outside has access to your data. When choosing this method of creating backups, it is necessary to take into account that a lot of traffic will be spent on this process, which is quite critical with a limited Internet.

How to create a backup?

There are two types of backups:

  • Backup files and folders.
  • Backup image of the operating system.

In the first case, only the specified files and folders are copied. Restoring them individually from the backup copy will not be difficult. In the second case, a single image of the system is created with all its settings. This can be useful, for example, when reinstalling Windows. This will re-install all the settings that were in effect at the time the copy of the system image was created. This saves a lot of time when reinstalling the system.

Consider how in Windows 7 to create a backup of individual files located on the hard disk of the PC. Copying will be performed on an external disk when using the built-in software to perform the backup. Before you start the backup, you need to connect an external drive to the computer.

  1. Go to the “Start” and open the “Control Panel”. Choose the option “Backup and Restore” there. Backup and Restore
  2. In the window that opens, select the “Set up backup” link. Set up backup
  3. In the list of backup destinations, select your external drive and click the “Next” button. Best backup hard drive
  4. In the next step, you will need to choose which folders to include in the backup list. You can let the system choose what it will be archived, or you can specify the folders to back up. To do this, check the box “Let me choose” and click the “Next” button.Computer backup
  5. In the window that appears, specify the folders for which you want to back up and click the “Next” button. Best computer backup
  6. At the next stage, the system will prompt you to check the backup settings. Pay attention to the backup schedule. Best backup drive
  7. If necessary, you can change the backup schedule. Best backup solution
  8. Click the button “Save settings and run backup “.
  9. When the copying process is finished, the following window will appear. Home backup solutions The “Manage space” link allows you to view the created backup copies of files.

For Windows 10, the process looks similar.

  1. Go to the “Start” and open the “Settings” section. Computer backup options .
  2. In the window that opens, click “Update & Security”.Best backup system
  3. Select the “Backup” item and in the right part of the window click the link “Go to Backup and Restore (Windows 7) “. Best pc backup
  4. The rest of the actions are performed, as described above for Windows 7.

How to restore from backup?

How to restore from a backup a lost or accidentally deleted file? You can do it with the built-in tools of Windows OS. Moreover, you can restore both the entire archive (for example, when replacing a failed hard disk), and individual folders and files from a backup. Consider this procedure with the example of restoring files from a backup on a computer running Windows 7.

  1. Connect the media with the backup stored there to the computer. Go through the “Start” in the “Control Panel” and select the “Backup and Restore” section. Click the “Restore my files” button.Best way to backup data
  2. In the window that appears, click on the “Choose a different date” link and select the desired archive creation date. By default, the most recent backup of the files is taken.Computer backup drive
  3. If you need to restore individual files from the archive, click the “Search” button and enter the file name partially or completely. Best computer backup system
  4. Mark the found files and click “OK”.
  5. The “Browse for files” and “Browse for folders” buttons allow you to view the contents of a backup.Best data backup
  6. After all the files to be restored are found in the backup, click on the “Next” button.
  7. In the window that appears, select the location where the recovered files will be located. You can restore them to where you point, or to the same place where they were previously located. Best way to backup files
  8. Click the “Restore” button. After the recovery process is complete, review the recovered files. Backup hard drive

This method allows you not only to restore files and folders from a backup, but also to delete the files you specified from the archive.

For Windows 10, the sequence of actions for restoring files from the archive will be as follows.

  1. Go through the “Start” in the “Settings” section and open the “Update & Security” window. Go to the “Backup” section and click on the “More options” link.Best way to backup pc
  2. Click the “Restore personal files” link.
  3. After the files are found, specify the location where they will be restored, and click the “Restore” button.

Google drive backup

Recently, Google released a service for backup and synchronization of files, which automatically copies data from the PC’s wild card to Google Drive. This method of backup has many advantages:

  1. Synchronization of files is done automatically, without your participation.
  2. There is no need to connect an external drive on which backups are stored each time.
  3. You have access to the copied data at any time and from anywhere in the world with the Internet.
  4. The data will not be lost, even if you have a fire, flood or other natural disaster.
  5. Files from archives can be viewed not only from the computer, but also from another device, for example, from the phone.

In order for you to be able to synchronize your folders with Google Drive, you must download the “Backup and sync” application from the Google Drive website. Then install this program on your computer. The sequence of actions for installing the application will be as follows.

  1. Click the “GET STARTED” button. Google drive backup
  2. Select the folders that will be synchronized.Google backup and restore
  3. Click “GOT IT”. A window will appear with a suggestion to synchronize the Google Drive with your PC. You can sync not the entire Google Drive, but only individual folders on it.
  4. After clicking the “Start” button, the synchronization process begins. Now the files in the folders you specify will be synchronized as soon as you add something to one of the folders.

If you go through the browser in Google Drive, there will be a folder with the name of your device in the “Computers” section.
If you need to change the synchronization settings, you can click the “Backup and sync” application icon in the tray and change the program settings.

Remember to back up important files before doing any automatic data manipulation. For example, always make a backup before using PC cleaner.