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To learn how to back up and restore individual files on a Windows-based computer:
To learn how to back up and restore in Windows 10:
Back up
There are several ways to back up your PC.
Select the Start button, then select Control Panel > System and Maintenance > Backup and Restore.
Do one of the following:
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.
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.
If you’ve created a backup before, but want to make a new, full backup rather than updating the old one, select Create new, full backup, 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.
Right-click the Start button, then select Control Panel > System and Maintenance > Backup and Restore.
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 driveWindowsImageBackupcomputer 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.
Navigate to the location of the system image.
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.
Right-click the Start button, then select Control Panel > System and Maintenance > System.
In the left pane, select System protection.
Select the System Protection tab, and then select Create.
In the System Protection dialog box, type a description, and then select Create.
Restore
Right-click the Start button, then select Control Panel > System and Maintenance > Backup and Restore.
Do one of the following:
To restore your files, choose Restore my files.
To restore the files of all users, choose Restore all users' files.
Do one of the following:
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.
To search the contents of the backup, select Search, type all or part of a file name, and then select Search.
Tip: 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:UsersBillJPG 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.
Select the Start button, then select Control Panel > System and Maintenance > Backup and Restore.
Choose Select another backup to restore files from, and then follow the steps in the wizard. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
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:
Select the Start button, then select Computer.
Double-click the icon of the drive that the files are saved on, for example C:.
Double-click the Users folder. You will see a folder for each user account.
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.
Select the Start button, then select Control Panel > System and Maintenance >Backup and Restore.
Choose Select another backup to restore files from. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
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.
You can use Time Machine, the built-in backup feature of your Mac, to automatically back up all of your files, including apps, music, photos, email, documents, and system files. When you have a backup, you can restore files from your backup if the original files are ever deleted from your Mac, or the hard disk (or SSD) in your Mac is erased or replaced.
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Create a Time Machine backup
To create backups with Time Machine, all you need is an external storage device. After you connect the device and select it as your backup disk, Time Machine automatically makes hourly backups for the past 24 hours, daily backups for the past month, and weekly backups for all previous months. The oldest backups are deleted when your backup disk is full.
Connect an external storage device
Connect one of the following external storage devices, sold separately. Learn more about backup disks that you can use with Time Machine.
- External drive connected to your Mac, such as a USB, Thunderbolt, or FireWire drive
- External drive connected to an AirPort Extreme Base Station (802.11ac model) or AirPort Time Capsule
- AirPort Time Capsule
- Mac shared as a Time Machine backup destination
- Network-attached storage (NAS) device that supports Time Machine over SMB
Select your storage device as the backup disk
When you connect an external drive directly to your Mac, you might be asked if you want to use the drive to back up with Time Machine. Select Encrypt Backup Disk (recommended), then click Use as Backup Disk.
An encrypted backup is accessible only to users with the password. Learn more about keeping your backup disk secure.
If Time Machine doesn't ask to use your drive, follow these steps to add it manually:
- Open Time Machine preferences from the Time Machine menu in the menu bar. Or choose Apple () menu > System Preferences, then click Time Machine.
- Click Select Backup Disk (or Select Disk, or Add or Remove Backup Disk):
- Select your external drive from the list of available disks. Then select ”Encrypt backups” (recommended) and click Use Disk:
If the disk you selected isn't formatted as required by Time Machine, you're prompted to erase the disk first. Click Erase to proceed. This erases all information on the backup disk.
Enjoy the convenience of automatic backups
After you select a backup disk, Time Machine immediately begins making periodic backups—automatically and without further action by you. The first backup may take a long time, depending on how many files you have, but you can continue using your Mac while a backup is underway. Time Machine backs up only the files that changed since the previous backup, so future backups will be faster.
To start a backup manually, choose Back Up Now from the Time Machine menu in the menu bar. Use the same menu to check the status of a backup or skip a backup in progress.
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- If you back up to multiple disks, you can switch disks before entering Time Machine. Press and hold the Option key, then choose Browse Other Backup Disks from the Time Machine menu.
- To exclude items from your backup, open Time Machine preferences, click Options, then click the Add (+) button to add an item to be excluded. To stop excluding an item, such as an external hard drive, select the item and click the Remove (–) button.
- If using Time Machine to back up to a network disk, you can verify those backups to make sure they're in good condition. Press and hold Option, then choose Verify Backups from the Time Machine menu.
- In OS X Lion v10.7.3 or later, you can start up from your Time Machine disk, if necessary. Press and hold Option as your Mac starts up. When you see the Startup Manager screen, choose “EFI Boot” as the startup disk.