9 Handy Inbuilt Backup & Recovery Tools in Windows

If you have developed a good habit of making data backup regularly, then, which tools do you usually utilize in backup or recovery, whether external tools or internal tools? Now, in this article, we will list 9 backup & recovery tools built into Windows.

With more and more data comes in every day, users must have been increasingly conscious of how important data backup is. For example, when your Outlook file becomes corrupt, if you have backups, you can recover Outlook data considerably easily. Therefore, data backup is one of the most cogent data protection tips.

More often than not, multiple users tend to use an external tool for backup. But, in fact, most operating systems come with some built-in backup & recovery tools. For instance, Mac system provides Time Machine. Of course, Windows also offers many such features, such as the following 9 ones.

1. Previous Versions

In Windows Vista or Windows 7, there is a feature called “Previous Versions”. It permits the operating system to record the earlier versions of files. You can easily check it or restore from previous versions as follow:

1. Right click a drive, partition, folder or file.
2. Then choose “Properties”.
3. In the popup dialog box, you can see a “Previous Versions” tab, on which you can see all the earlier versions.
4. To restore, you can select a version and click “Restore” button.

2. File History

In Windows 8 & 10, the “Previous Versions” feature is replaced by “File History”. You can backup via this new feature by taking the steps below:

1. First off, click “Wins” button and type “File History” in the search box.
2. In the menu, click “File History settings”.
3. Then, add and select a drive to back up data.
4. Next, click “More Options” to launch backup.

3. Backup and Restore

Moreover, on Windows 7, you can use the “Backup and Restore” function, which is able to back up data files in system library and any files on your drive.

1. In the first place, access “Start Menu”.
2. There, click ““Control Panel””.
3. Then, choose “Backup and Restore” from the items shown in “icons”.
4. Subsequently, in the new screen, you can click “Back up Now” or “Restore my files” to perform your work.

4. System Image

In addition, Windows also supports users to directly create a system image.

1. Repeat the step 1 to 3 in the above way.
2. On the top of left side in the new screen, there is a “Create a system image”
3. Click it and follow onscreen wizards.

5. System Repair Disc

Maybe in the above means, you have noticed that there is another option called “Create a system repair disc” under the “Create a system image”. It allows you to generate a system repair disc, which will assist you to repair Windows if a severe error occurs to the system.

6. Recovery Drive

The “System Repair Disc” is only available in Windows 7. If you are working in Windows 10, you can use “Recovery Drive” instead.

1. Type “recovery drive” in the “Start Menu”.
2. Then, select the “Create a recovery drive” result.
3. At once, a new window will display, in which just follow the instructions.

7. System Restore Point

When it comes to restoring system in Windows, the first choice must be using the system restore point. A system restore point is exactly a snapshot of Windows system files, program files, registry information, etc. You can create it at any time. Also, you can schedule it to run automatically. Next time when you suffer serious system issues, you can roll back your system to a point with ease.

8. OneDrive

It is good news that Windows 10 is preinstalled with OneDrive online storage service. That is to say, you can back up your computer data to OneDrive easily. What you should do is to turn on this feature and then select folders you want to back up or sync. Of course, you can restore files from OneDrive like a breeze.

9. Sync Settings

Windows 10 also offers you to sync settings to your other Windows 10 devices. But it demands you to log in to every device with the same MS account. To set up this function, take the operations below:

1. In the first place, click “Start”.
2. Next, select “Settings” > “Account”.
3. In the “Accounts” window, click on “Sync your settings” in the left column.
4. Lastly, turn it on.

Author Introduction:

Shirley Zhang is a data recovery expert in DataNumen, Inc., which is the world leader in data recovery technologies, including fix sql and outlook repair software products. For more information visit www.datanumen.com