Post by drcard on Feb 8, 2021 20:01:08 GMT -5
Use Windows to Backup - Part 1
Notice:
These postings are long not because the instructions are difficult to follow, but because the instructions are written so a first timer user can do this. Every detail that makes understanding each step better also makes those instructions longer.
This is Part 1 of a 4 part series of how to use Windows to set up automatic backups of your personal data and automatic backup images of the Windows drive. The parts of this backup system series are:
Part 1 – The why, what, kinds, how often, and how long to keep backups.
Part 2 – Backing up personal data.
Part 3 – Making an image copy of the Windows drive.
Part 4 – Restoring personal data or an image.
The overall goal is to demonstrate how to use the functions of Windows to set up automatic backups of all your personal data and automatic image backups of the drive Windows is installed on. There will be no maintenance of the personal data backups, but the image backups will require some slight maintenance from time to time. All this for a small investment for an external hard drive, a small flash drive, and a little time and effort.
For this backup system to work for you, you will need:
1) Windows 10 (although written for Windows 10 will apply to Windows 7 thru 10). Your user logon must have Administrator’s privileges.
2) HDD to store backup copies on (usually 2TB will do).
3) USB Flash Drive (16GB) – all data on flash will be removed.
4) The ability to read and follow instructions. (This is the tough one.)
Disclaimer:
This backup system doesn’t follow the default backup system of Windows, but uses some components of the Windows backup utilities. I created this backup system because I want only one up to date copy of my personal data and not let duplicate copies of the same files pile up as with the Windows backup system. Windows’ image backup utility can be scheduled for automatic image backups, but in doing so it over writes the last image backup made. It is important to keep image backups for a longer time, which means you need to keep several image backups. To do this you will need to do some file maintenance for these image backups. This backup system does not utilize cloud backup services, putting you in sole possession of all your backed up material.
Overview:
This part explains why we need to backup, how to select what should be backed up, what kinds of backups to make, how to determine how often to make a backup, and how to determine how long to keep backup copies.
Why Backup?
The simple answer as to why we need to backup is to prevent the loss of something we don’t want to lose. Simple? Then why are there so many users that don’t backup up on a regular basis? The excuses: They intend to backup but just haven’t got around to doing it yet, they don’t know how, don’t want to buy some new software; besides, their PC is running just fine. As the bearer of bad news: If God makes it, it dies. If man makes it, it breaks. It is not a matter of if your HDD will fail, it is a matter of when it will fail. Studies show that hard drives on average last 3 – 5 years. Sudden hard drive failure presents a real risk of you losing all the data (photos, email, records, etc.) on that drive unless you have another copy somewhere else. That copy somewhere else is called a backup.
Hard drive failure may be the biggest risk of losing your data, but there are other risks such as malware or bad updates. If you don’t have at least two copies of your personal data, you run the risk of losing that data. If you don’t have a backup image of your Windows system drive you run the risk starting over with that PC like the first day you turned it on (all those settings and programs have to be re-established).
Another very important reason to regularly backup your data to different drives is that digital storage has a very short shelf life. Routine CDs and DVDs will last months to a few years and flash drives will keep data on average of 10 years. Regular backups to different drives while replacing the older drives as time goes by keeps your data from being lost due to digital storage failure.
What To Backup?
The simple answer is to backup anything that you don’t want to lose. Realistically, you want to backup all your personal data files. For the HDD that Windows is installed on, you want to backup the entire drive. For most users, this is everything they have in or connected to the PC.
What Kind of Backup?
There are two basic kinds of backups and which one you use depends upon what you want to protect. A backup of your personal data in selected files and folders is called a data backup and will protect the data in those files and folders by making a copy of them. A single file or folder can be restored from a data backup. A backup of the entire drive to protect your installed Windows system is called an image backup. An image backup would also backup any data on that drive. An image backup can restore your PC like it was before the disaster hit and thus remove whatever happened to Windows. The entire drive is restored when the image is restored, thus individual file or folder restoring is not possible with an image restore. Thus, use data backups for your personal data and use the image backups for the entire drive Windows is installed on.
How Often Should Backups Be Made?
In order to calculate how often a backup should be made, one must keep in mind that when that backup is restored (used) anything you did (downloaded photos, wrote emails, etc.) since that backup was made will be lost. The “how often” must also be realistic in considering work required to perform the backups, and computer downtime to perform the backup. The “how often” will be different for the different kinds of backups and different kinds of data. Because most users make changes to their personal data more often than to the Windows system, the image backup to protect the Windows system doesn’t need to be made as often as the personal data backups will need. The personal data backups can be schedule to run when you are not using the PC or those files, which makes daily backups a realistic frequency. I include my emails with my personal data that is backed up and since I check my emails daily, I backup my personal data daily. Your mileage may vary. For the Windows system drive image backup, once a month backup image will provide protection for Windows and your installed software due to any bad updates they encounter. Monthly system images also goes along with Microsoft’s monthly patches.
How Long Should Backups Be Kept?
A backup copy should be kept as long as it is useful, really useful. When the time comes to use the backup copy, are you going to use that older backup or are you going to use the newest backup with the latest changes? If the answer is the newest, then you don’t need to keep the older backup copies when you are going to use the latest backup. However, there are situations where you will want an older backup, but these situations mostly involve the Windows system. Changes in the Windows system are not always noticed right away simply because a user may use some functions of Windows very rarely and may be weeks before the user discovers the problem. This means the user will need an image backup taken before this change was introduced, which was weeks ago. As a general rule: you only need the latest backup of your personal data, but several backup images of the Windows drive over a time period. The instructions for this backup system will create one backup copy of all your personal data that is updated each night and an image backup once a month with you moving that image every few months creating backup images over a long time period.
Comment:
Invest in an external HDD to store your backups (2TB <$50) and a 16BG flash drive (~$6) to make a bootable flash drive to restore images. Regular backups is the biggest bang for the buck protection you can get. Anti-malware applications may or may not protect you, but a recent backup before you were hit will save you even if the anti-malware applications fail.
This backing up can be made a lot easier by planning ahead. The backing up of personal data will be a lot easier if all your personal data is kept together in a folder or on a separate drive. In order to back up your personal data you must know where that data is stored. This is easy with photos and documents, but if you store your emails on your PC, then you need to know where those emails are stored. I moved my email storage folder to the separate drive I keep my other personal data on. If you can’t move your personal data to keep it together, you can create a folder of sym links, each to a personal data folder. A backup of a sym link will backup the data it links to. See Symbolic Link – The Super Shortcut posting in Computer Software section. So, move your personal data together or create a folder with sym links to your personal data folders.
Notice:
These postings are long not because the instructions are difficult to follow, but because the instructions are written so a first timer user can do this. Every detail that makes understanding each step better also makes those instructions longer.
This is Part 1 of a 4 part series of how to use Windows to set up automatic backups of your personal data and automatic backup images of the Windows drive. The parts of this backup system series are:
Part 1 – The why, what, kinds, how often, and how long to keep backups.
Part 2 – Backing up personal data.
Part 3 – Making an image copy of the Windows drive.
Part 4 – Restoring personal data or an image.
The overall goal is to demonstrate how to use the functions of Windows to set up automatic backups of all your personal data and automatic image backups of the drive Windows is installed on. There will be no maintenance of the personal data backups, but the image backups will require some slight maintenance from time to time. All this for a small investment for an external hard drive, a small flash drive, and a little time and effort.
For this backup system to work for you, you will need:
1) Windows 10 (although written for Windows 10 will apply to Windows 7 thru 10). Your user logon must have Administrator’s privileges.
2) HDD to store backup copies on (usually 2TB will do).
3) USB Flash Drive (16GB) – all data on flash will be removed.
4) The ability to read and follow instructions. (This is the tough one.)
Disclaimer:
This backup system doesn’t follow the default backup system of Windows, but uses some components of the Windows backup utilities. I created this backup system because I want only one up to date copy of my personal data and not let duplicate copies of the same files pile up as with the Windows backup system. Windows’ image backup utility can be scheduled for automatic image backups, but in doing so it over writes the last image backup made. It is important to keep image backups for a longer time, which means you need to keep several image backups. To do this you will need to do some file maintenance for these image backups. This backup system does not utilize cloud backup services, putting you in sole possession of all your backed up material.
Overview:
This part explains why we need to backup, how to select what should be backed up, what kinds of backups to make, how to determine how often to make a backup, and how to determine how long to keep backup copies.
Why Backup?
The simple answer as to why we need to backup is to prevent the loss of something we don’t want to lose. Simple? Then why are there so many users that don’t backup up on a regular basis? The excuses: They intend to backup but just haven’t got around to doing it yet, they don’t know how, don’t want to buy some new software; besides, their PC is running just fine. As the bearer of bad news: If God makes it, it dies. If man makes it, it breaks. It is not a matter of if your HDD will fail, it is a matter of when it will fail. Studies show that hard drives on average last 3 – 5 years. Sudden hard drive failure presents a real risk of you losing all the data (photos, email, records, etc.) on that drive unless you have another copy somewhere else. That copy somewhere else is called a backup.
Hard drive failure may be the biggest risk of losing your data, but there are other risks such as malware or bad updates. If you don’t have at least two copies of your personal data, you run the risk of losing that data. If you don’t have a backup image of your Windows system drive you run the risk starting over with that PC like the first day you turned it on (all those settings and programs have to be re-established).
Another very important reason to regularly backup your data to different drives is that digital storage has a very short shelf life. Routine CDs and DVDs will last months to a few years and flash drives will keep data on average of 10 years. Regular backups to different drives while replacing the older drives as time goes by keeps your data from being lost due to digital storage failure.
What To Backup?
The simple answer is to backup anything that you don’t want to lose. Realistically, you want to backup all your personal data files. For the HDD that Windows is installed on, you want to backup the entire drive. For most users, this is everything they have in or connected to the PC.
What Kind of Backup?
There are two basic kinds of backups and which one you use depends upon what you want to protect. A backup of your personal data in selected files and folders is called a data backup and will protect the data in those files and folders by making a copy of them. A single file or folder can be restored from a data backup. A backup of the entire drive to protect your installed Windows system is called an image backup. An image backup would also backup any data on that drive. An image backup can restore your PC like it was before the disaster hit and thus remove whatever happened to Windows. The entire drive is restored when the image is restored, thus individual file or folder restoring is not possible with an image restore. Thus, use data backups for your personal data and use the image backups for the entire drive Windows is installed on.
How Often Should Backups Be Made?
In order to calculate how often a backup should be made, one must keep in mind that when that backup is restored (used) anything you did (downloaded photos, wrote emails, etc.) since that backup was made will be lost. The “how often” must also be realistic in considering work required to perform the backups, and computer downtime to perform the backup. The “how often” will be different for the different kinds of backups and different kinds of data. Because most users make changes to their personal data more often than to the Windows system, the image backup to protect the Windows system doesn’t need to be made as often as the personal data backups will need. The personal data backups can be schedule to run when you are not using the PC or those files, which makes daily backups a realistic frequency. I include my emails with my personal data that is backed up and since I check my emails daily, I backup my personal data daily. Your mileage may vary. For the Windows system drive image backup, once a month backup image will provide protection for Windows and your installed software due to any bad updates they encounter. Monthly system images also goes along with Microsoft’s monthly patches.
How Long Should Backups Be Kept?
A backup copy should be kept as long as it is useful, really useful. When the time comes to use the backup copy, are you going to use that older backup or are you going to use the newest backup with the latest changes? If the answer is the newest, then you don’t need to keep the older backup copies when you are going to use the latest backup. However, there are situations where you will want an older backup, but these situations mostly involve the Windows system. Changes in the Windows system are not always noticed right away simply because a user may use some functions of Windows very rarely and may be weeks before the user discovers the problem. This means the user will need an image backup taken before this change was introduced, which was weeks ago. As a general rule: you only need the latest backup of your personal data, but several backup images of the Windows drive over a time period. The instructions for this backup system will create one backup copy of all your personal data that is updated each night and an image backup once a month with you moving that image every few months creating backup images over a long time period.
Comment:
Invest in an external HDD to store your backups (2TB <$50) and a 16BG flash drive (~$6) to make a bootable flash drive to restore images. Regular backups is the biggest bang for the buck protection you can get. Anti-malware applications may or may not protect you, but a recent backup before you were hit will save you even if the anti-malware applications fail.
This backing up can be made a lot easier by planning ahead. The backing up of personal data will be a lot easier if all your personal data is kept together in a folder or on a separate drive. In order to back up your personal data you must know where that data is stored. This is easy with photos and documents, but if you store your emails on your PC, then you need to know where those emails are stored. I moved my email storage folder to the separate drive I keep my other personal data on. If you can’t move your personal data to keep it together, you can create a folder of sym links, each to a personal data folder. A backup of a sym link will backup the data it links to. See Symbolic Link – The Super Shortcut posting in Computer Software section. So, move your personal data together or create a folder with sym links to your personal data folders.
