When backing up your hard drive, we recommend you backup your entire computer as this is more convenient and you will not have to reinstall all your programs and then change all the settings back to the way you had them. When doing a full backup, you should clean out your computer first (Temp folder, Temporary Internet files, ect.) as all these files will just make the backup file larger than it needs to be. The steps below will guide you through a full system backup and restore for your operating system.
Backup/Restore Your Hard Drive In Windows 7/8/10
To back up your computer, follow these steps: 1. Click on the Start button and search for the backup utility Windows 7/8: Backup And Restore Windows 8.1/10: System Image Backup 2. Click on 'Create A System Image' in the left pane 3. Select a location to save the backup to, then click 'Next' 4. Select which hard drives to include if you have more than 1 Note: You cannot include the drive that you are saving the backup to 5. Click on 'Start Backup'
To restore your hard drive, follow these steps: 1. Insert your System Repair Disc into the CD-Rom drive 2. press any key on the keyboard to boot from CD or DVD 3. Select the options for Language, Time and keyboard then click 'Next' 4. Click on 'Repair Your Computer' Note: DO NOT click on the Install Now botton 5. In Windows 7, select 'Restore Your computer using a system image that you created earlier' then click 'Next' In Windows 8/10, select 'Troubleshoot' then click 'Advanced Options' then click 'System Image Recovery' 6. Select 'Use lastest available system image' then click 'Next' 7. Select 'Format and repartition disks' ONLY if you need to completely reinstall Windows, otherwise click 'Next' 8. Click on the 'Fiinish' botton 9. click 'Yes' on the Comfirmation box
Backup/Restore Your Hard Drive In Windows 95/98/Me/XP/Vista
To back up your computer, follow these steps: 1. Click on the Start button and navigate to 'Programs->Accessories->System Tools->Backup 2. Click on the 'Next' button 3. Select 'Back Up Files And Settings' then click 'Next' 4. Select 'Let Me Choose What To Back Up' then click 'Next' 5. Select the files/folders you want to back up then click 'Next' NOTE: Selecting 'System State' under My Computer will back up all system files needed to do a recovery. Be sure not to exceed the size limit of your removable media disk (i.e. 700-800 megabytes for a CD-R) 6. Choose a location and name for the backup then click 'Next' 7. Click 'Finish' to start the backup 8. Once the backup has completed, simply copy the backup file to your removable storage device using your normal software
If you computer will boot up in safe mode, restore using these steps: 1. Start your computer and press the 'F8' key when the 'Please Select Your Operating System' message appears or right before the the Welcome screen appears 2. Highlight the 'Safe Mode' option then press 'Enter' 3. Click on the Start button and navigate to 'Programs->Accessories->System Tools->Backup 4. Insert the removable media disk that contains your backup 5. Click on the 'Next' button 6. Select 'Restore Files And Settings' then click 'Next' 7. Select the appropiate backup and items to restore then click 'Next' NOTE: Be sure to select 'System State' to restore your system files 8. Click on the 'Finish' button 9. Once the restore has completed restart your computer in normal mode
If you must do a reinstall, follow these steps after you have reinstalled your OS: 1. Click on the Start button and navigate to 'Programs->Accessories->System Tools->Backup 2. Insert the removable media disk that contains your backup 3. Click on the 'Next' button 4. Select 'Restore Files And Settings' then click 'Next' 5. Select the appropiate backup and items to restore then click 'Next' 6. Click on the 'Finish button' 7. Once the restore has completed you may need to reboot your computer for any changes to take affect