Backup and Restore

Backup and Restore supports two different types of backup: File and folder backup, and system image. File and folder backup The Backup and Restore app can create backup copies of individual files and folders. These backups are saved to ZIP files. Two methods of file backup are supported. The first, normal backup, stores everything selected for backup. The second, incremental backup stores only files that are changed after a previous backup. File backup in Windows Vista does not allow users to choose specific files, locations, or users to back up; instead, it backs up content from all users based on categories: audio tracks, compressed files, documents, email, photos, recorded television shows, videos, and additional user files. Users can only choose whether to perform a backup of a certain category. Microsoft hoped that this simplistic approach would prove appealing to users who were easily appalled by "a long tree of checkboxes." System image The other method of backup, called Complete PC Backup in Windows Vista or system image in Windows 7, is a block-by-block disk image of the system, saved in a VHD file. The block-based backup is more efficient at performing subsequent differential backups, as only the blocks that have changed need to be backed up. However, Backup and Restore can also only create system images of disks formatted with the NTFS file system. Alternatively, one could mount the VHD image as a virtual disk, allowing extraction of individual files. The mounted virtual disk has all the features of an actual volume, meaning that the Previous Versions feature of Windows 7 is available on it. In Windows 7 Enterprise and Ultimate, it also possible to boot from the VHD file. Finally, hypervisors such as Hyper-V, VMware Workstation, and Oracle VirtualBox support VHD as their disk format, so it is possible to use these backups in virtual machines. == Backup targets ==

Backups could be stored on the root of any storage device other than the one being backed up or on a network share. However, Backup and Restore does not support backing up to a subfolder of a volume. It also supports CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs as backup destinations, but does not support tape drives. == Operation ==

Backup and Restore is only a frontend for interfacing with the user. The backend component is a Windows service called Windows Backup. This service runs independent of user sessions and can perform scheduled backups even when no users have logged onto the system. Scheduled backups, by default, run every Sunday at 7 P.M. VSS ensures both file system-level consistency and app-level consistency for apps registered as VSS writers. In Windows Vista and Windows 7, another Windows component called System Restore also uses VSS. As such, System Restore can use shadow copies that Backup and Restore created during a full system backup. As mentioned above, Backup and Restore is merely a frontend. Windows ships with an alternative frontend for Windows Backup, the WBAdmin command-line utility. Only a member of the Administrators groups or the Backup Operators group can run WBAdmin. == Edition comparison ==

The Home Basic edition of Windows can perform manual file backups. The Home Premium and later editions can automate file backups, create file backups on network locations, create backup schedules, and perform incremental backups of files. The Professional, Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions support both the system image and Shadow Copy. The user interface of Complete PC Backup in Windows Vista does not support creating a system image to a network location; however, the WBAdmin command can perform this operation. Unlike Windows Vista Home Premium, Windows 7 provides a user interface option to create a system image to a network location. ==Deprecation==

With the release of Windows 8, Microsoft deprecated Backup and Restore in favor the new File History feature. Microsoft cited low use as the contributing factor for its deprecation, though the company retained all of its functionality for users who relied on it; the feature was moved to a Windows 7 File Recovery Control Panel applet and all previous points of access were removed. In Windows 8.1, all interface functionality—with the exception of system image creation, which is in a System Image Backup option in File History—were removed. Scheduling system image backups is not supported either. WBAdmin, however, remained available. (As mentioned above, both Backup and Restore, and WBAdmin are merely frontends for the Windows Backup service.) With the release of Windows 10, the Backup and Restore (Windows 7) Control Panel applet was made available again. All editions of Windows 10 are able to store backups on a network location. File History remains the default and preferred method to back up local content in Windows 10. For the system image functionality, Microsoft recommends using third-party software. ==References==