Back Up Your Computer in Windows Vista

Backup steps to save individual files and folders, or the entire Windows Vista Operating System, are quite critical in emergency situations such as a system crash. This backup allows you to save an image backup of your entire system which can be restored in a matter of minutes if you need to recover from a hardware or software problem.

Steps

Backing up the entire computer

  1. Click Start and enter the Control Panel.
  2. Click "Backup and Restore Center" under System and Maintenance tab.
  3. Click "Back up computer".
  4. Choose where to backup your data in the drop-down box and click "Next".
  5. Select which disks (if you have multiple disks) do you want to include in the backup and click "Next".
  6. Click the "Start backup" button after confirming your backup settings.

Backing up files and folders

  1. Click Start and open the Control Panel.
  2. Click the System and Maintenance tab, then Backup and Restore Center.
  3. Click the Back up files button.
  4. Choose where to backup your data in the drop-down box, then click Next.
  5. Select which disks (if you have multiple disks) do you want to include in the backup and click "Next".
  6. Select appropriate categories on the Which file types do you want to backup? page, then click Next.
  7. Select frequency, day, and time on the How often do you want to create backup? page and click Save settings and start backup button.

Tips

  • If you want to do a Windows Complete Backup to an external hard disk it must be to an NTFS formatted disk.
  • The data backup will take place in the background without affecting your work in any way.
  • Backing up entire computer can not be done to same drive you are backing up.

Warnings

  • The "Backup Entire System" feature is not available in the Home Basic or Home Premium editions. For these editions, you can backup files and folders only.

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Sources and Citations