Using the Backup and Restore Center in Windows Vista

Although the various data recovery tools are available scattered through the Windows Vista user interface, there is a single application, the Backup And Restore Center, that provides a handy front end to all of them. This application helps you both back up and restore files on your PC.

Backing up Data

If you’d like to create a data backup, you can use the Back Up Files Wizard, which is available from the Backup And Restore Center. To do so, launch the Backup And Restore
Center and click the Back Up Files button. (The Backup And Restore Center can be found in the Start Menu under All Programs -> Maintenance).

1. Choose a location to store the backup. The amount of space you’ll need, of course, is based on the amount of data you will be backing up. You can save a backup to an internal or external hard disk or other storage device, a recordable optical disk (typically a writeable CD or DVD), or a network share.
2. Select which disks (or partitions) to include in the backup. If you only have a single disk (or partition), this will be pretty simple, but many people are using multiple disks and partitions, so the wizard gives them the option to include those as well.
3. Select which types of data files you’d like to back up. You can choose between picture, music, videos, e-mail, documents, recorded TV show, compressed files, and other data files.

Restoring Files

To restore files you’ve previously backed up, access the Backup And Restore Center again, and then trigger one of the following two types of data restore operations:

• Basic Restore: Restores all of the files and folders you backed up previously.
• Advance Restore: With this type of restore, you can perform more advanced restoration tasks, such as restoring only files from the latest backup, restoring files from a particular backup, or even restoring files from a different PC.

Follow these steps to trigger a restoration process:

1. Click the Restore Files button in the Backup And Restore Center.
2. The Restore Files Wizard appears, allowing you to choose between files from the latest backup or files from an earlier backup. If you choose the former option, you will restore the files you most recently backed up, whereas the second choice enables you to navigate through a list of the backups that have been performed and choose the one you want. Either way, you can then choose between restoring all backed up files or browsing or searching through the selected backup to find only the file or files you need.
3. Choose where to restore the files. You can restore in the original location, which is the default, or select a different location. If you select a different location, you also have the opportunity to create a unique directory structure that emulates the directory structure of the original backup.
4. Start the restore process.

If restoration will cause files to be overwritten, as it will if you choose to restore the files to their original location, you’ll receive a standard Windows Copy File dialog box. This dialog box enables you to overwrite the existing file, keep the existing file, or keep the existing file and rename the restored version.