How to do a full system backup in Windows 10.Windows 10 rescue media, either a USB or bootable DVD ( For information on using creating and using rescue bootable media, read this article).An external hard drive with enough storage space to fit your system image backup.
A fire might destroy your original data and local copy, but backing up to the cloud means you have a recently updated version that is untouched by the disaster. The 3-2-1 approach ensures you have redundancies built into your data protection strategy. Keep one copy off-site to protect against a physical disasters like theft, fire or flooding.Save those backup files on two different formats, like an external hard drive and in the cloud.Create three copies of your backup so no one event can destroy all your data.After all, if the drive fails, you lose both the original data and the copy you were going to restore your system from.Ī better strategy is to follow the 3-2-1 approach. While you could save your backup file to your hard drive, it’s not a good idea. Storage strategy for your backupīefore we get into how to do a complete Windows 10 backup, let’s talk about where you should store it. Restoring your system from a full image backup is faster and easier that trying to reconstruct your PC. That reconstruction process takes a tremendous amount of time.Ĭompare that to a full image backup, which capture everything on your system, including the OS, apps, settings and hidden files, in addition to all of the important files you want to protect. But if something happens to cripple your computer, you will still need to reinstall your operating system, all of your applications, reconfigure your settings and preferences, and then upload those copies. When people think about backup, they often think they are protected by simply creating copies of important documents, precious photos and videos, media files, etc. We’ll take a look at the importance of creating a complete Windows 10 backup, how to use the tools included in Win10, the areas where they might fall short, and how to improve on the data protection they offer. Reliable backups are the fastest way to recover from a data loss event – and when it comes to machines running Windows 10, full backups and file-level backups can be easy to create.
Smart users protect their digital assets by backing them up.