It may have been a while since you considered using Windows’ built-in tools for backing up your data, but for the average user with media and crucial file needs, Windows 7′s default backup features look promising.
Windows Vista was the first version of Windows to introduce a consolidated Backup and Restore Center, and Windows 7′s own backup center builds on it.
The strengths of Windows’ own system are its ability to leverage the built-in "Shadow Copy" features to restore previous versions of individual files or folders, and make only iterative backups when necessary—if only part of a massive file has changed, only that part has to be transferred and copied over. It also supports backup to shared network space and external drives, but you’d hope any backup utility worth its salt would do so. In a pretty real way, this backup system is kind of like Leopard’s Time Machine—but without all the eye candy. Let’s take a walk through the basics of Windows 7′s backup system, and highlight the changes since Vista:
The first screen is pretty self-explanatory, but less tech-inclined users get a link to best practices for external backups (how they got to this screen in the first place is somewhat impressive, though):
Hit the "Add Network Location" button below that listing of non-internal drives, and you get a straight-forward directory and user/pass input dialog.
Vista asked backup users whether they wanted to back up "files or your entire computer." To those looking for simplicity, that’s a pretty wide disparity to choose between—the entire barn or your selection of individual hay straws. Windows 7 breaks your options down into whether or not you want a restore-friendly system image, any particular data folders you want to save, and if you want to leave the system stuff to Windows’ discretion or your own box-checking whims:
If you opt for "Let Windows choose," you’re told that every user gets their file backed up, and a system image is thrown in by default:
Either way you roll, you’re asked to set up a regular schedule for your backups—daily, weekly, or monthly, at whatever hour you wish:
That’s the end of the settings-fiddling, at least for now. Now onto the Backup and Restore Center, which is easy to get to from a start menu search or the Control Panel. It shows you the drive you’ve selected to be your backup receptacle, how much space is left on it, how much space is being used by Windows Backup, and, if you’re currently running a backup,
