In a previous post, discussing the Restore Points on the Vista operating system, I mentioned a few times that Restore Points do not backup or protect our personal data, documents or other files (i.e. digital picture areas, mp3 collections, game scores, etc.). Vista offers the Backup utility to protect these areas.
Setting up a regular backup schedule for your home computer is always a good idea, and a primary use for external drives. While you can use writable CD’s and DVDs to hold your backup files, I don’t recommend doing so if at all possible. External drives are much better for this function.
Too many things can happen during a CD or DVD write operation which will make your backups useless for restoring. External drives are:
- inexpensive these days
- hold a great deal of data
- are much more stable during the writing process
Your backups have a much better chance of being useful for restoring them later. Also, an external drive can remain plugged in so that the backup doesn’t fail trying to use a CD that is full or no longer writable.
The Backup Configuration Utility is located at :
Start->Programs->Accessories->System Tools->Backup Status and Configuration.
Once open the Utility is fairly easy to setup, with very few options. If you have a large external drive, it is best to back up as much as possible; no telling what file may become “important”.
What’s the difference between Backing up and Copying?
The question I’m asked most about Backup utilities is “Why can’t I just copy everything on my hard drive to my external drive once a day? Why do I need a Backup utility?” The answer is “you can” and “you don’t”, but there are advantages to a backup utility over simply copying all of your files.
Vista Backup and Restore Files Not included
A backup utility normally backs up “all the files” the first time you make a backup, and then it keeps track of files that have been changed or altered since the last backup, so the next time the utility runs, it only copies the files which appear to have been changed. This saves a great deal of space in our storage area, and allows for a saved history over longer periods of time.
The second advantage is that backup utilities generally run automatically, so we don’t have to remember to run them once a day. For some people, always remembering to run the backup is easy, for the rest of us, well, life tends to be busy, and one less thing to remember means, one less thing to forget.
What is Saved with the Windows Backup utility?
Basically just your personal files and data. The backup doesn’t make copies of your program files, nor any copies of your system files. This is because it is running under the belief that a backup should only pay attention to “data” and not programs. The logic goes something like:
If there is a catastrophic problem with the system and it crashes, then:
- The hard drive should be formated
- The system should be restored with a clean install
- Programs should be installed cleanly (off the original disks or from the Internet)
- After the system is stable, data should be restored from the backups
There are some who disagree, or could bring up many scenarios which make this logic … un-logical, but on the whole, for the home user, this is a good way to look at system administration.
This logic also gives us the most effective way to utilize limited backup storage space. After-all, we already have copies of all the programs we use, and the Windows Vista software on disks, or from the Internet. Right?
If you don’t, now would be a good time to get that collection together.
So, System Restore Points protect our Drivers and system files from corruption due to updates and changes.
Backups protect our personal data… but not our personal settings (like our passwords), for obvious reasons.
First Run though of the Backup Configuration
We started up the Backup Utility. We want to setup the backup and the schedule, so we click on Change backup settings, near the bottom of the dialog box.
The first requested information is; where to save our backup files. Here we can choose the CD, DVD or external drive (Vista will default to an external drive if it is present). We can also choose a network drive.
There are some really nice external network drives these days for home use, and soon I’ll be writing an article on the different types of external and network drives available. Right now, choose the best option you currently have available. The suggested order (best to not-so-good) would be External Drive (connected by USB or Firewire), Network Drive, DVD, CD.
After we choose our storage area, we are then asked what type of files to backup. I like the “Select them all” option here. I can’t think of any good reasons not to back up a particular file type listed on this dialog, but if you have a good reason, then now is your chance to insure the file doesn’t get backed up.
Our final setup dialog asks us how often and when to run the back up program. Remember that the computer needs to be on, in order to backup. It won’t power itself on to run the backup at 2AM (but that would be a very cool option). So if you turn the computer off at 10pm every night, have the backup run prior to 10pm with enough time to finish.
My home computer is on all the time, I only turn off the monitors to save electricity, but I let the computer itself go into Sleep Mode. Vista will “wake” from Sleep Mode to run a scheduled backup.
I set my backup to run everyday, because just about everyday, some major change has been done to my files. I work with a lot of documents, spreadsheets and business proposals here on my home computer (which is really an home-office computer). But, if you do not make huge changes every day, then perhaps once a week will work out for you.
Once a month is just silly. Remember that the backup will not be copying files over which have not been changed or updated. So, if you do very few changes (you use the computer mainly for email and web browsing), set it for once a week, and it will be a very fast backup.
There is a check-box at the bottom of this last dialog, which asks if we wish to make a “full backup in addition to saving our settings”, which has confused several people. What this is asking is “Do you wish to run this backup now, or wait until your scheduled time?”
There is a Vista backup utility which comes with the more expensive versions (not the home basic or home professional version) which makes a complete copy of your hard drive; a Snapshot of your system. This “full backup” is not what we are talking about here.
Also, for the schedule, if you have the Windows Vista Home Basic version, you will not be able to setup the Automatic backup… though Windows will remind you to backup your files, which means you open up this utility and click on the Back up now button.
I do recommend checking this “run now” box to do a back up at this point. You can work on your computer while the backup is running. The backup process will run in the background, and it is good to know how slow your computer will be while a backup is running, especially if you have set the schedule to run at 5pm (or while you are typically working on the computer).
Summary Information
The basic Backup utility which comes with Vista is functional, and it has worked for me without me noticing it, which generally means it is not causing me problems. However, it doesn’t have a great deal of functional options, and if you are a Vista Home Basic user, then it doesn’t have automatic scheduling available.
If you find that these draw backs are too much for you, then it would be good to find a backup software system which will meet all of your needs. If you would like some suggestions in finding a backup system, jump into our forum area and tell us your needs. Chances are one of our experts knows exactly which one would best suit you.
