[TuToRiAl] ♦How To Properly Back-Up EVERYTHING on Windows 7/Vista♦

[Resistance]

Hello everyone! Today I will be showing how to Back-Up your computer. Back-Ups are very helpful for anyone. Computers are truly unpredictable. I've been a victim of the BSoD and thanks to Windows System Image creator, I backed up my computer and did not have to re-install Windows 7 Ultimate.

(If you ask me, this should be put under important threads.)

What Do System Images back up exactly?


They back up everything including the following: All your documents, pictures, videos, music, software and programs, downloads, desktop, games and even Google chrome bookmarks! Don't forget about your system, your files, your entire registry, system options and tweaks. Everything. Now isn't that amazing? I would love to have one of these so I encourage you to use this great feature Microsoft has created.

Now I am going to be sharing some very important and basic knowledge with you that you should know about if you have a lot of data on your computer, or important data on your computer.

This Tutorial will give you a detailed visual prospective on what exactly to do and when in order to Back Up your computer. This is the most highly recommended way to back it up. Unless you have time travel to prevent the problem from happening before lol.

Windows Vista Back Up Tutorial:

Spoiler (Click to View)

To start the backup image, proceed as follows:

1. Click the Start button

2. From the Start Menu, Click All Programs>Accessories>System Tools

3. On the System Tools menu, Click the Backup Status and Configuration option.

4. In the backup Window, Click the Complete PC Backup option

5. In the Complete PC Backup window, Click the Create Backup Now option

6. User Account Control (UAC) asks for permission to continue. If you are the administrator, Click the Continue button. If you are not the administrator you will be required to supply the relevant authority before being able to continue.

7. Vista will now search for operating systems on your PC

8. After Vista has located the operating system details the 'Where do you want to save the backup' window appears

9. Select either the Hard drive or DVD option. Please ensure you have enough free disk space or the required quantity of DVDs before proceeding

10. Click the Next button

11. The next screen asks 'Which disk do you want to include'. You should note that, if you are using a dual boot system - for instance, Windows XP and Vista, both the XP and Vista drives will be marked up for backup, and that these options cannot be changed by the user. If XP is on the first partition, Windows Vista will store its boot-loader files there, hence the need to backup both partitions and drives

12. The Vista drive will already be selected. If you have other partitions/drives you wish to include in the backup now is the time to select them

13. Once you have selected the partition/drive you wish to include in the backup, press the Next button

14. In the Confirm your backup settings window, Check that everything you want to backup is listed in 'The following disk will be backed up' dialogue box, and then Press the Start Backup button

15. Windows will now prepare to Create a Backup

16. If you are using DVDs, you will now be asked to Insert a blank disk larger than 1GB into your DVD drive

17. Insert the DVD

18. The DVD will now be formatted. After formatting Windows will start to backup your PC's data

19. If you are backing up to a separate hard drive or partition the backup process will start as soon as you click the Start Backup Button

From: http://www.internetfixes.com/vista_tips/IF01164.htm

(i.e. View Spoilers for Screenshots)

Requirements for this Tutorial:

Spoiler (Click to View)

1) An External Hard Drive, or storage place with at least 150 Gigabytes worth of a quota (Minimum is 100 Gigabytes of some storage device, External HDs are recommended).


2) Operating Systems Windows 7 or Vista.

3) A Brain.

The Whole Procedure:

0) Step 0, Read over Instructions before following them.

1) First, plug in your External Hard Drive into your any USB Port in your PC.

2) Next, close the AutoPlay – Unless you have a previous WindowsImageBackup folder on that storage device, you must navigate there and delete the old WindowsImageBackup folder to create the new one. Do Not Overwrite. Overwriting it will completely through off the whole process.

3) Now we can actually begin the Back Up process. First navigate to the Control Panel in Start Menu from the Windows Button in the corner.

4) Select Backup your computer under the System and Security sector.

5) Now Select the Create System Image in the top left corner in the middle of the 3 options you see.

6) After that, the following dialog should pop-up. You should select on a Hard disk, the smartest way to go. Networks may crash and all data is lost. CD/DVD's (i.e. Iv'e never heard of a 100 Gigabyte DVD, maybe a record used for a record player? lol) Scratch, and all data is lost. Hard disks don't. Rarely.


7) Select your External Hard disk as the back up destination. If you have already backed up on the same device, you will get an error.

8) Now what you would really want to see on that dialog is a error free dialog.

9) Next, hit the next button, very simple and easy step to follow.

10) Now select all the partitions of your computer you would like to back up.

11) This conformation dialog should appear that is asking if these are the correct settings you have set. Hit next if you feel you have everything confirmed correctly.

12) Begin the Back Up. Do not modify software/your computer, install new software, or interrupt the process while it is active. Results will be disappointing with modified software in the middle of a process. Thats just a warning.

Your back up will take up to at least 2 hours. Well thats how long it takes me but, seriously, leaving your computer away for 2 hours can save you so many system errors from the future. Very helpful if you modify your system a lot. (like me).

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial on how to fully back up your Windows computer. Please reply if it helped or if you need any help, remember we're all friends, I wont "hack you" lol.

[DAMINK™]

I did a quick read through and it did not appear to suggest that a partition within the same drive is still an acceptable way to backup.
And a way i have used for some time actually.
Nice tut none the less mate. Thanks for that.
Making image backups is VITAL IMHO if you want to get your system up and running again quickly after issues.

[Resistance]

I did a quick read through and it did not appear to suggest that a partition within the same drive is still an acceptable way to backup.
And a way i have used for some time actually.
Nice tut none the less mate. Thanks for that.
Making image backups is VITAL IMHO if you want to get your system up and running again quickly after issues.

For sure, and I am always making system changes lol...

[JMK940]

Thanks i will be using this now as i need to backup.

[Resistance]

Omfg! You guys wont believe what had happened to my computer! When it booted, the whole lanuage changed to all these weird ass characters!... And then it all went down hill till I restored my Computer with System Images!!! WOOT THANK YOU SYSIMARES!

[Resistance]

Bump... I hope that this helps someone lol...

[Baked]

This is a helpful tutorial, but very simple.
I think any avid Windows user would be able to figure this out without tutorials.

Nice though, not all of us are avid Windows users.

[aggouras]

Looks a great guide. Bookmarked it. I had always backup problems because I never did one. I'll make sure to make one now.