Backup and Restore in Windows Vista

With Windows Vista (specifically the Business, Enterprise and Ultimate editions), Microsoft took a different (and long overdue, in my opinion) approach to backups with the inclusion of the ability to create a complete, restorable image of the system drive along with all programs and files. This works similarly to any of the currently available third party imaging tools like Norton Ghost or -my favourite- Acronis TrueImage. I say 'similarly' because the Windows Vista tools are not as robust as the aforementioned ones. For example, Acronis TrueImage allows individual files within an image to be restored, whereas Vista's Backup does not. The entire image must be restored. At any rate, it's still better than nothing and easy to use for the home user.

To test this out, I recently performed a 'clean' install of Vista Ultimate on my Dell laptop. This used about 11GB of space on my hard drive. Prior to doing this, I had used Acronis Disk Director v10 to create a small 12GB D: partition after the larger C: partition into which I would install Vista. The purpose of this small partition was to hold a backup image of Vista that could be restored in a few minutes as opposed to reinstalling the operating system. Many, if not all, PC vendors do the same thing, so that the user can run a 'recovery CD' (or press a particular key at start-up) to initiate the restore process.

Here is the initial Backup screen, which, when run for the first time, prompts the user to choose backup settings:

 So, using Vista's Backup, I created a complete image of my new installation to my D: drive. The compressed image took about 6GB of drive space. Interestingly, I also ran Acronis TrueImage Home v10 and created an image to the same D: drive. This image was slightly over 3GB in size.

Next, after installing all my programs and copying over my needed data files, I used Acronis TrueImage to create an image so that I could test Vista's complete restore process. After ensuring the integrity of the backup, I restarted my PC with the bootable Vista DVD in the laptop's drive so I could run the restore process.

The restore process is best demonstrated in the series of screen captures I took. Click on the individual thumbnail to enlarge. 

The entire process took a little over five minutes to restore the initial image of Vista that I had created post-install. Not Bad!

Backing up individual files

Now, what about backing up and restoring individual files with Vista's Backup utility? Interestingly, PC World listed Vista Backup as one of five things they hate about Vista, referring to it as a 'brain dead' application primarily because a user cannot select files and folders to be backed up; Vista has already selected groups of files:

No matter, since Microsoft's focus is clearly on the home user here. The average home user rarely backs up, so anything that can make it easier for them is a plus, in my opinion. Of course, MS has included a scheduling feature as well.

Conclusion

I applaud the fact that Microsoft has finally included basic disk imaging software in Windows. I had often wondered why they didn't do this before. While I will continue to use Acronis TrueImage (which not only creates disk images as well backups of individual files and folders), Vista's Backup will surely benefit the home user (especially those with the Ultimate edition) when used regularly. Pin the shortcut to your Start menu, or better yet, create a shortcut to it on your desktop.

More on Vista Backup and related tools here. Notes from fellow MVP Donna Buenaventura here.

© 2007 James M. Fisher, author, All Rights Reserved