How to Back Up & Restore Programs

Back up your files and programs to avoid losing them.

Whether your computer is new or old, hard drive crashes due to overheating, viruses, manufacturer defects or power surges can occur quite often. If you fail to back up your files and programs, you could be at risk of losing your valuable data with little to no hope in retrieving it. Offsite backup using external storage drives is the best way of insuring that all your information is stored somewhere safe, away from your computer.

Instructions

Back Up Programs

1. Click on the "Start" icon in the bottom-left corner of your desktop menu. Scroll up to "All Programs" and choose the "Accessories" option.

2. Scroll over the "System Tools" option until the "Backup" choice appears; click it.

3. Select each drive and folder you wish to back up. Place a checkmark by your local "C:\" drive to back up all programs.

4. Set the backup destination by clicking "Browse" and choosing the location. If your destination is an external storage drive, go to "My Computer" in the browse window and select your external device.

5. Click "Start Backup" to begin the backup process. It will take several minutes to hours depending on the amount of data that requires backing up.

Restore Programs

1. Go to the "Start" menu and click "All Programs" and then "Accessories."

2. Choose "System Tools" from the slide-out menu and click "Backup."

3. Click the "Restore and Manage Media" tab located in the top portion of the window.

4. Click "Browse" to locate where you stored the backup files and check the box that you wish to restore.

5. Click the "Start Restore" button and a status bar should appear which displays the progress of the restore. A message will appear once the restore is complete.

References

• Microsoft Support: Backup to Protect Data and Restore Files and Folders on Your Computer
• Microsoft Support: Backup Utility Files