Chicago
Track Your Order
0
Your PC already has everything you need to back up Windows
Windows built-in backup tools don't really excite users anymore. Microsoft stopped working on improving old backup tools and plans to phase out the Backup and Restore tool. The company introduced Windows Backup as a new cloud-based solution, but it relies on OneDrive. Most users prefer a third-party solution like Macrium Reflect or other popular tools over what Windows has to offer. However, I gave the built-in backup tools a serious try as a primary backup option, and the results showed that they aren’t as bad as some users feel.
Backup and Restore
The oldest backup tool
My oldest memories of the Backup and Restore tool date back to 2011, when I used Windows 7 on my laptop. Back then, there was no Settings app or a dedicated cloud backup tool like Windows Backup with OneDrive integration. All we had was Backup and Restore, and that was sufficient. Despite 15 years, the legacy tool still resides in the Control Panel, waiting for a planned retirement.
Backup and Restore works on a simple concept. You create a system backup of all the user data, with the option of picking other folders or creating a complete system image. It’s the most comprehensive, local backup tool for Windows if you have an external hard disk that has enough storage to save your personal files and OS files. I didn’t have to do much except connect a hard drive formatted in NTFS, and the tool recognized it immediately.
When you try to initiate a system backup, you get two options. You can either let the tools handle everything (folders it should include, creating a system image, settings automated backup time) or pick the custom option that grants control over all these things. I picked the latter and only chose data files that include files from the libraries folders, and the creation of a system image option.
You can pick other drives as well, but my main data resides on the C drive, and I was interested in backing it up rather than other drives. The tool runs for quite a while because copying Windows and user data files takes a lot of time, irrespective of the size. Once the backup completes, I only need to ensure that the external drive remains connected to my system when the backup time arrives. Control Panel also handles the restore process if the need arises. I can either choose to restore the image backup while installing Windows or use the Control Panel page to launch the tool and restore the image.
The tool is quite flexible with what the user wants to restore, whether it's an individual folder, file, or drive. The Backup and Restore tool doesn’t store the image backup in an encrypted format. Since it creates a system image, it can preserve the installed software and system settings, so you won’t need to waste time setting everything up again. Backup and Restore doesn't support versioning like Macrium Reflect, but Windows has a separate tool to bridge the gap.
File History
Useful for version backups
File History takes a different approach from Backup and Restore and doesn’t try to be a comprehensive backup tool. Instead, it's useful only for specific folder backups where you need to preserve different versions of the same file. A good example of this is document files, which might need modification or new entries once in a while, like an Excel sheet for tracking your expenses.
It's like System Restore that keeps creating automatic restore points, and when you encounter a problem or need to go back to an earlier state, there are multiple versions to choose from. I’ve used System Restore to get out of problematic updates and app installs, and it's unwise to keep the feature disabled. File History adopts the same principle for essential folders and files.
I found it faster than Backup and Restore because it doesn't focus on creating huge system image backups along with user files. It simply focuses on what's important and keeps creating backup copies every hour or the time period you specify. The downside is that you can only save files, but cannot save system settings, preferences, and installed apps.
Windows Backup
The modern, cloud backup solution
So, you already have two local backup tools in the OS, and Windows Backup tries to be a modern backup strategy. Rather than using an external backup drive or only saving the essential files (with or without multiple versions), Windows Backup combines your Microsoft Account and OneDrive. An earlier version of this idea existed in the Settings app, but rather than splitting everything into options, Microsoft consolidated everything into the Windows Backup tool for convenience.
Windows Backup can preserve your system settings, preferences, network details, and app list to your Microsoft account. All these settings are restorable while setting up a new Windows PC. You'll get the option to pick from preserved systems, and Windows will preconfigure everything before you boot to the desktop. I use Windows Backup for my virtual machines, which keeps my system settings and preferences consistent across multiple systems.
I'm not a fan of using OneDrive for personal files and folders backup, and this option is entirely avoidable in Windows Backup. If you want to use it, the 5 GB free storage limit is enough for only personal or work documents. Windows Backup also doesn't support using other cloud backup tools, which is a bummer. Still, you get the option to recreate the same system with all the settings and Microsoft apps by logging in to your Microsoft account.
Multiple backup options
Windows 11 has multiple backup options, but the older tools are slowly fading away from the limelight. If I were to use a backup strategy on Windows, I would use File History to back up personal data from multiple locations to an external USB hard disk. If I need to do a clean install, I can restore my settings and preferences using Windows backup, while file history can bring my files back. I would still need to reinstall third-party software, but that's a small problem compared to losing everything. Creating backup images sounds cumbersome, and unless you hate reinstalling software or need full-system recovery, I wouldn’t use the Backup and Restore tool.
