Windows Vista replaced the antiquated, tape-oriented Windows NT Backup wizard with a new backup system optimized for external hard disks, and some editions also included true "bare metal" disaster recovery. However, Vista's Backup and Restore Center was missing some vital functionality: there was no way to create a Recovery Environment disc to boot your system (you were expected to use your Windows Vista DVD), file and folder backup and system image backup were performed with different programs, and Home Premium users who needed image backup had to purchase a third-party program. Windows 7 builds on the new features in Windows Vista's backup and fills in the missing functionality. To see how Windows Backup has been transformed from awkward adolescence into full maturity, keep reading.

Starting Backup and Restore for the First Time

To start Backup or Restore functions in Windows 7, open Control Panel and click Back Up Your Computer from the System and Security category:

Windows Backup and Restore has two panes. The right pane is used to configure and run backup and restore functions. This is the right pane for Windows 7 Home Premium (the focus of this article) before it is configured:

The right pane for Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate offers additional links for system recovery:

The left pane is used to launch backup-related tasks:

Setting Up Windows Backup

To set up Windows Backup, click the Set Up Backup link (1). Note that it is marked with a Windows Security shield, which indicates that users might see a User Account Control (UAC) prompt.

Setting Up a Scheduled Backup Job

Next, Windows Backup displays suitable locations for storing your backup: internal and external hard disks and DVD drives are listed. To save the backup on a network share in Business and Ultimate, click Save to Network (Home Premium users can't use network shares). In this example from Home Premium, I selected a Maxtor OneTouch 4 (2), which has over twice the free space of my system drive. After selecting your location, click Next to continue. If you didn't connect your backup drive until you reached this step, click Refresh (arrow).

When you use the default "Let Windows Choose" setting (3), Windows Backup creates two backup types in a single operation: a system image you can use for "bare metal" disaster recovery, and a backup of data files in libraries, the Windows desktop, and default Windows folders. Click Next to continue.

 

Customizing a Backup

To choose what to back up, click Let Me Choose (arrow) and click Next. By default, Windows Backup selects data files for the current user and for any newly-created users (4). To exclude or include particular locations, click the arrow icons (4a) to expand the file tree.

Then, click empty checkboxes to add locations, or clear checkboxes to exclude locations. Checked items are included in the backup (4b). To create a system image, click the Include a System Image... checkbox (arrow). Click Next to continue.

Review backup settings (5), and click Save Settings and Run Backup to start the backup (6). By default, Windows Backup runs weekly at 7:00PM on Sunday. To change the schedule, click the Change Schedule link (arrow).

During the backup, a progress screen (7) displays backup status (this example uses a different backup drive). Click View Details (arrow) to see detailed information.

At the end of the process, a completion dialog appears. Click Close (8) to close the dialog.

Creating a Repair Disc

One of the features proposed for Windows Vista that didn't make the cut was the ability to create a System Repair disc. Thankfully, this features is included in Windows 7. The System Repair disc is used to start a Windows system so you can use system recovery tools, including the restoration of a system image. If you are preparing to create a system image with Windows Backup and have not yet made a System Repair disc, you will be prompted to do so (arrow) before starting an image backup:

To start the System Repair disc creation process, click the link in the left pane. Insert a blank CD or DVD into the drive listed (1) and click Create Disc (2). The process takes only a couple of minutes. Label the disc as prompted and put it away when finished. If you have (or support) a mixture of 32-bit and 64-bit systems, note that you must start 32-bit Windows 7 systems with a recovery disc made on a 32-bit system, and 64-bit Windows 7 systems with a recovery disc made on a 64-bit system

Restoring Files from a Backup

When you make a backup using Windows Backup's defaults, you can restore a system image (used when you must rebuild a system or have replaced a hard disk) or selected files. To start the file restore process, click Restore My Files from Backup and Restore (1). To restore all users' files, or to select a backup from another system to restore files from, click the appropriate links (arrow).

Use the Search, Browse for Files, or Browse for Folders buttons (2) to choose files to restore.

In this example, I selected Browse for Folders. Click through the folder hierarchy to locate the folder you need. Select it (3) and click Add Folder (4) to select the folder and its contents for restoration.

Repeat steps 2-4 as needed, using the appropriate method in Step 2 until you have selected all of the files and folders you want to restore. Review the files and folders you have selected (6). Click Next (7) to continue.

By default, Windows Backup restores selections to the original locations (8). To select a different location (such as for testing a backup), click In the Following Location (arrow) and browse to the desired location. Click Restore (9) to restore files.  At the end of the process, click Finish when prompted.

Restoring a Backup Image

The process of restoring a backup image is similar to the one used in Windows Vista. To restore a backup image, make sure the drive with the backup image is connected to your system. Restart the system with the System Repair disc or the Windows 7 DVD. Press the space bar to boot from the CD or DVD. 

• If you use the System Repair disc, Select Windows Setup [EMS Enabled] from the boot menu.
• If you use the Windows 7 DVD, click Next on the opening Windows 7 screen, and click Repair Your Computer on the following screen.

A progress bar appears while Windows loads files. Click Next when the System Recovery Options dialog appears. Select the installation to repair (1), then click Next (2). In most cases (unlike this example), you will have only one installation. If you have replaced your hard disk with a blank disk, you will not see any installations to repair. Click Next anyway.

Select System Image Recovery (3).

After the system scans for drives containing system images, it displays the most recent (4). Click Next to continue (5).

If you are replacing a failed hard disk, click the Format and Repartition Disks checkbox (6). This formats the target drive to match the layout of the drives in the system image. Use the options buttons (arrows) to exclude disks, install drivers needed to make RAID arrays or SATA drives on host adapters visible, or to make other advanced settings. Click Next to continue (7).

Review settings (8), then click Finish to restore your system (9).

Your system will reboot after it is restored. If you have performed file backups after the most recent system image date, use the Restore Files option to restore any missing files.

Tech Notes

Use the following sections to help you understand technical issues with Windows Backup and Restore and troubleshoot some common problems.

Managing Backups

Windows Backup stores a backup image as a file identified by the Windows Backup icon (1). As far as standard file management features in Windows are concerned, a Windows Backup file is empty (2).

When you right-click the file and select Restore Options, you can restore your files, all files for all users, or manage space used by your backup (3).

The Manage Windows Backup Disk Space dialog includes a space usage summary (4). It lists the space used by file backups, image backups, other files on the drive, and free space on the drive. To see options for clearing space used by older file backups, click View Backups (5). To see options for clearing space used by older system images, click Change Settings (6). Click Close when done (7).

Tips and Tricks for Selecting the Best Backup Location

The largest external hard disk attached isn't always the most suitable choice for backups. In this example, I selected drive L: (WD_Backup), a half-terabyte external hard disk (1). At first glance, it would seem that this drive would be the perfect choice for a backup of a system drive of less than 120GB. However, when I selected it, Windows Backup displays two warnings (2): the drive cannot be used for a system image and is not secure.

When I clicked the more information link in the first warning, Windows Backup displayed the dialog shown here, which states that you cannot use a removable device for a scheduled backup of a system image (3). The only way to use this drive for a backup would be to use the Create a System Image option shown in the left pane (an option which is a one-time backup and does not back up data files).

Why would Windows Backup mistake a 500GB external hard disk for a removable device? The easiest way to find out is to open Computer, right-click the drive, and select Properties. Note that drive L: is formatted with the FAT32 file system (4).

NTFS versus FAT32 File Systems

The FAT32 file system is the standard file system used for most external hard disks; it is compatible with a wide range of operating systems, including both current and older versions of Windows. However, Windows Backup can only be used to back up drives formatted with NTFS, and similarly, it can perform scheduled backups only to NTFS-formatted backup drives. NTFS has security features not found in FAT32 (which explains the second warning seen earlier). As far as Windows Backup is concerned, a FAT32 hard disk is a removable drive.

Convert.exe – The Solution

By using Convert.exe, the command-line file system conversion utility included in Windows 7, you can convert a drive from the FAT32 file system to NTFS. To run Convert.exe on a hard disk, follow this procedure:

1. Click Start.

2. Enter Cmd in the desktop search window.

3. Double-click Cmd in the list of programs.

4. A command prompt window opens.

5. Enter the following command:

Convert x: /fs:ntfs (replace x: with the actual drive letter you are converting). In this example, I'm using Convert to convert the file system on drive L:

6. After the conversion process is over, enter Exit to close the command-prompt window.

You can now use the converted drive as a backup target (assuming it has enough disk space).

Note: In some cases, you might also need to change the Policies setting for the external hard disk from Quick Removal to Better Performance. To make this change, open Device Manager, expand the Disk Drives category, double-click the external hard disk to open its properties sheet, click the Policies tab, and click the Better Performance radio button. Click OK, and restart your computer as prompted [updated 8-4-2009 1:04PM CDT]

How Fast a Location Should You Use for Backup?

Backup locations vary in speed:

• The slowest backup locations are network locations, such as those reached via 10Base-T Ethernet (10Mbps) or Wireless-B (11Mbps, but slower if WEP encryption is used).
• Faster choices include Wireless-A or Wireless-G (54Mbps), Fast Ethernet (100Mbps), Wireless-N (up to 270Mbps)
• The fastest network choice in a home or small-office environment is Gigabit Ethernet (1000Mpbs)
• For external hard disks, USB 2.0 (480Mbps) and FireWire 400 (400Mbps) have broadly similar performance, although FireWire 400 can be faster than USB 2.0 on faster computers. The fastest external hard disk is eSATA (150MB/sec or 300MB/sec).

For convenience and ease of restoration, I recommend using an external hard disk.

How Much Backup Capacity Do You Need?

Ideally, a backup drive should have available space least twice the size of the hard disk capacity you are backing up. For example, if you are backing up a drive with 300GB of space used by the system drive and data files, use at least a 640GB hard disk as a backup drive. If you use a backup target drive that is less than double the capacity of your backup source, you will fill it up more quickly. Windows Backup will prompt you to discard older backups to make room for newer backups.

Conclusion

Although Windows Backup in Windows 7 has a somewhat similar look and feel to its Windows Vista predecessor, it offers much more capabilities, especially for Home Premium users, and better management. It's easy enough to use frequently, and it offers easy restoration of both data files and system images.

Mark Edward Soper has spent a lot of time with Windows 7, and his forthcoming book Easy Microsoft Windows 7 proves it.When he's not using Windows, he's spending time pursuing his favorite hobby, digital photography. Discover what your camera can do by reading his new book, The Shot Doctor: The Amateur's Guide to Great Digital Photos.