Windows Backup: How to Back Up Files for Free

Contributed by tipmonkies October 11, 2007  
Tagged: Windows

Everyone touts the importance of antivirus and antispyware software in order to protect your system from damage, but another important application you should have on your system is a good backup utility. There are various pieces of software available to do such a task, but fortunately, Windows comes with its own backup utility built into the operating system. In this guide, we’ll show you how to use it to back up your data and keep it safe from possible corruption or drive failure.

Why back up?
Backing up software is essential. Imagine an unexpected hard drive failure where you lose all your school reports or a list of clients, what do you do!? While everyone will give different recommendations on how often to back up your data, we recommend doing it at least once or twice a week. Multiple backup methods are imporant as well, and you could choose to use either an external or networked hard drive to do your backups, or simply do it through optical media such as CDs or DVDs.

Using Windows Backup
Before we start, please note that you may not have the backup utility installed on your system by default. If you don’t you can find it on your Windows XP installation disc, though. Just pop the disc in and do a search for NTBACKUP.MSI and install it. Once done, keep going with the rest of this guide.

If you need specific directions for installing the backup utility, visit this recipe: XP: Installing the Backup Utility

• Open the Windows Backup utility by going to the Start menu, then going to All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools and selecting Backup.
• When you open the utility, you will see options to backup or restore files. You will, of course, be choosing backup and then clicking Next.

• Next up, you’ll be able to select what kind of files you’d like to back up. For most people, it may be just enough to back up the documents folders, but if you create new important folders in different areas, you may want to select the last choice: Let me choose what to back up. Make your selection and click Next.
• The next window will let you select which folders you chose to back up, if you picked the last option. Just check off all the folders you want to back up, and select Next again.
• Now that you’ve selected your folders, you’ll want to select where to save your backup. If you have an external drive connected to your computer, you should choose that here. Otherwise, select a directory and click Next (your documents folder is probably the best choice).

• Now you’re at the last screen, so we’re almost there! Click on the Advanced button, and when that window comes up, click Next.
• You will now check Verify data after backup to make sure nothing was corrupted in the process and to make sure things went smoothly. Hit Next again.
• The next window gives you the option to either append data to a backup, or replace that data. This is really up to you. Please note that if you choose append though, the file will take up a large amount of drive space so be sure to use an external drive if you use this option. Click Next.
• Ok, we’ve reached the end! Choose to back up either now or at a later date (choose now), and click Next. You’ll see the last window showing you all the relevant information to the backup. Click Finish and after a few minutes, you’ll have a backup of your files on your computer!