How do I back it up??
First, you would make sure that your disaster-recovery and backup software is selected. Both, Windows 7 and 8, applications that are integrated to can complete system-recovery images. Although, in Windows 8 it’s hidden under Control Panel > All Items > Windows 7 File Recovery. The routine to restore is not always successful, it can fail with a change just as simple as replacing your hard drive with a smaller solid-state drive. You are still able to mount system image as a virtual hard drive on the PC, only AFTER manually reinstalling the operating system. The best way to do something like that is to use a third party tool that isn’t fragile when it comes to restoring to different hardware.
Once you have decide on the software you are going to be using, the basic steps are as follows:
⦁ Run the software.
⦁ Select the place for the system backup. This will be the external drive you purchased as a backup repository, a NAS box, or even a shared location on another PC.
⦁ Select the partitions (C:, D:, or the like) that you want to back up. You should select all of them the first time you do this, excluding the destination drive for the backup. (Most backup software prevents you from selecting the destination partition/drive.)
⦁ Run the backup process.
⦁ When the process is finished, put the backup media in a safe place (if applicable).
⦁ Create your recovery media (CD/DVD/thumb drive).
Windows uses its own capable backup application for backing up just your data. You can find a lot of other programs that are easier or more versatile for backing up though. If using an service online, that service should provide you with a backup application. It will create a local backup on your external hard drive/USB drive at the same time it back your data online, in most cases.
You could also find a continuous backup product that will perform a full data backup with no OS or applications added to it, then look for and back up any changed files about every 5 minutes or so. If your information set changes fast or if you just don’t like scheduling backups at all, you can choose real-time backup. You can also find programs that will do a full backup, which attaches it’s self to your operating system, then it will save your files as they change.
After you’ve chosen your software and installed it, follow these steps:
⦁ Run the software.
⦁ Select the files and folders you want to back up.
⦁ Select the destination for the system backup. This will be the external drive you purchased as a backup repository, a NAS box, a shared location on another PC, and/or your online backup service.
⦁ Run the backup process. (Make a full backup of all your data the first time.)
⦁ Verify the backup.
⦁ When the backup process is finished, put the backup media in a safe place (if applicable).
⦁ Repeat as necessary—daily, weekly, or monthly, depending on how often things change and how risk-averse you are.
Note that after your first FULL backup, perform backups only after you that made a change to the last one or you should backup there has been a change made to all files, to cave time. You should only that to start over with a new backup about once a week, or month, if you are backing up daily. If you are backing up once a month would start over about every four to six months to ensure that you will have all your data in the event that something happens. Make sure you finish the new backup before deleting the old one, you wouldn’t want to lose it.
