Backing up your data should be a high priority; it is far too easy for computer failure to result in the loss of data. All hard drives will eventually fail, and (at the minimum) you should be prepared for that eventuality. In this publication we will discuss backing up to an external drive, or to another computer. If you would like to look into other backup options, please contact your Extension Technology Support Specialist. If the external drive is on another machine, we need to be sure it is shared and accessible from the machine we are going to be backing up. If you need your backup to be secure from other people in your office or on your network, please contact your Extension Technology Support Specialist before continuing. To share the drive that you are going to be using for backups, go to the machine on which the backups will be stored, open My Computer and then right click on the external drive, highlight Share With, and select Advanced Settings.
1 Microsoft This will open the Properties for the external drive. Click on the Advanced Sharing button. This will open the Advanced Sharing window. Place an x in the Share this folder box and then click on the Permissions button. In the Permissions window, place a check in the Full Control, Change, and Read boxes. Click OK on the open windows and then check to see if you can access the drive from the computer you are backing up. 2 3
If you are not able to see the shared external drive, please contact your support specialist. If you are using an external drive on the computer you are backing up, simply plug it in and you are ready to begin backing up your computer. Backup setup To setup your backup, click the start button and type Backup into the search menu. Then click or press enter to start the backup setup. In the new backup window select the Set up backup button on the right side of the screen. If your drive is connected to the computer that you are backing up, select the drive and hit the Next button. If the backup drive is saved on the network, click the Save on a network button. If you are backing up multiple computers, it is a good idea to create a folder for each computer and to name each folder for the position (FCS, 4-H.) In the username and password fields place the information for the current computer.
After choosing your backup location, you will be asked What do you want to back up? Windows can choose which files to back up for you, but it is better to make the choices yourself. The Windows backup will back up many files that are not necessary and will take up important space. Also it can sometimes miss files in certain locations for instance quicken files that are stored in the QuickenW folder. Select Let Me Choose and click Next. Note It is not important to backup Windows files, only important files and documents. This will open the What do you want to backup window. Make sure to check [User] s libraries. This will include anything in your libraries (by default your My Documents, My Pictures, My Music, Favorites, and your desktop.) If you scroll through the list you can select any additional files that are not included (such as Quicken, 4-H database), and any other very important files. Click next.
After clicking next the Review your backup settings window will open. This is a good time to make sure everything you wanted is included in the backup. Now click on the Change schedule button below the backup summary. This will allow you to choose when you want your backup to run. It is a good idea to have the backup run at a time while you are not on the computer, but the computer is still turned on. If you have several different computers backing up to one drive, it is a good idea to pick different days or times for the computers to backup. When you have picked a time, click Ok and then Save settings and run backup. Your backup will begin running and you can close the backup window at any time. If there is a problem with your backup, your action center will display a warning (the flag in the task manager.) If you have any questions, concerns, or if you need help please contact your your Extension Technology Support Specialist.