Archiving is a fundamental part of using a personal OS. Alas, the vast majority of “users” often forget about this (or do not know at all). The OS allows you to archive data in such a way that no user should have any difficulties performing this operation. Data archiving in Windows 7 will help keep important documents, reports and photos safe and sound, even if the OS crashes.
Archiving files in Windows 7
For this you will need standard program, which is equipped with the Windows 7 operating system.
All! The operation is completed. Now you can start archiving, change its parameters, and also manage backup copies of your “OS”.
How to recover files?
Previous operations presented us with a question regarding the recovery of archived files.
- Go to “Backup and Restore” again, and then select “Recover Files”.
- Specify the required files and press “Enter”.
- Using the “Browse” command, select where exactly to restore specified files and click “Restore”.
We are proud of the result! We look through the files after completing the operation. Also, to restore changed or deleted files, you may need the standard System Restore utility.
How to create an operating system image
To return the OS to a given state, you need to create an image of it. This is possible using specialized programs, as well as the already familiar Windows 7 OS utility.
Upon completion of the work, Windows will notify us with a message about the likely creation of a recovery disk. Click "No". 
The image that the program created has a .VHD extension, which will be located in the WindowsImageBackup folder.
In the settings, select the “Disk Management” column and connect virtual hard disk.
To access this or that information, we use Windows Explorer, as well as any of the numerous file managers.
How to restore the Windows 7 operating system using an image
In a situation where conventional recovery does not help a personal computer, a previously created image will help.
- First of all, turn on the PC and frantically click on the F8 key. In the menu that appears, select the “Troubleshoot computer problems” column.
- After loading the environment, decide on the choice of language and press “Enter”.
- If there are several “users”, indicate the name and password.
Important! The account must be "Administrator".
- In the window that appears, select a recovery tool. To do this, you can use “Startup or System Recovery” (maybe you’ll be lucky with a stable point of operation personal computer). In the case when nothing can help, we reluctantly restore the image of the “OS”. For a successful launch, the installation wizard will help you; following its prompts, you can easily restore the OS from a previously recorded image.
Conclusion
As can be seen from the above article, archiving data in operating system Windows is not such a difficult task that even a beginner can easily handle without resorting to the services of a specialist.
Data archiving computer should be done in case of a rainy day. There was a sad case in my practice. There was a fire at one enterprise, and naturally the computer burned down along with hard drive, programs and databases were gone, it was clear to the naked eye that nothing could be restored. When the director of the company realized that all the data from this computer was hopelessly lost, he felt bad. Naturally, no archiving was carried out, no one even knew such a word, System Administrator quit a month ago due to low salary, the bosses didn’t remember his name. This is the day, my friends, that you need to regularly archive data.
Creating an image of Windows 7 using the "Data Archiving" tool built into the operating system
In my article I will tell you how system administrators use such tools as Backing up computer data and Creating a recovery disk, and what unfamiliar nuances there may be. to a simple user, without relevant experience. I want to say that such an incident would not have had any negative effect on a good admin; he would not have batted an eyelid, and would have restored everything in an hour. How, you ask?
- In our articles, we analyzed what it is in general, how to use it, as well as the product. But unfortunately, all these means will not help us, if the same catastrophe happens to us, they will all be useless without the means: Archiving computer data or Creating a system image.
Windows 7 was installed on the burned computer, let's imagine that the unpleasant events have not yet occurred, but the system administrator has already ordered a long life, how would you and I act, knowing that we cannot neglect such a useful tool as Data Archiving. By the way, do you know what’s different? Data archiving computer from Creating a system image? Read on.
Data archiving backs up our files, that is, photos, documents, drawings, music, etc. It is very important where it is produced, since we have a lot of personal data, it is better if it is portable USB hard drive, where our entire household will probably fit, but you need to be careful with it, such disks are afraid of strong impacts. If we have few files, we can even use DVDs.
- Very many users Windows installation 7 split the hard drive into several partitions, install the operating system on one, store personal data on others, and this is correct, but it is not correct to store backup copies of your data on the same hard drive, even on a separately created partition, believe my sad experience and store everything on portable media or another hard drive.
Personally, I always use a simple and normal SATA or IDE hard drive; such a drive can even be dropped and there is unlikely to be any damage to it. Inexperienced people, of course, may have problems connecting an additional hard drive to a computer. But excuse me, for whom I wrote so many articles, for example: or Connecting hard SATA drive and How to connect HDD IDE.
Now the most important thing is how we will act, now we will do it with the help of the tool Data archiving backup copy all our files on the computer onto a portable hard drive, let’s imagine what happened to our system unit something happened or it was stolen, so all our data was lost. But we have another computer and you and I can install the Windows 7 operating system there, then we will connect a USB hard drive with our archive and restore our data.
Start -> Control Panel->Archiving computer data era -> Recover files for all users lei, then we will indicate our archive and the process of restoring everything that you had on this computer will begin. If you don't need everything, restore only the files you need. But first things first.
- Unfortunately, Data Archiving does not restore the entire operating system. Windows systems 7, but only your personal data included in the archive. If you want to make an archive of the entire Windows 7 OS, along with settings, programs and, of course, your files, then you need to use the tool. You can also deploy the created image on another computer and even with a different hardware configuration. Knowing certain subtleties, you can even get out of the image separate files, read our article Creating a system image.
We create a backup copy of our files using Computer Data Backup.
Start->Control Panel->Backup computer data->take your time to click the Archive button, first we’ll choose where.
Click the Change settings button
Next, select which hard drive (I have two of them, one is divided into two partitions (E:) and (C:), the second Local disk(N:) with a capacity of 465.76 GB, used specifically for storing archives) select it and click next.
We can also store our data on a special paid server on the Internet, but there is a risk of theft of confidential data.
What should be archived? Provide Windows selection 7 or choose yourself, a good question, if you give the choice to Windows 7, the archive will include the files of your personal libraries, all your programs and files used by the operating system for work. Archiving will take quite a long time and remember, there is no guarantee that all the data you need will be included in the backup. Microsoft Help is available in this window. How to select files for Reserve copy?
So we check the box Give me a choice and continue.
In this window, you and I can select the files for archiving that we need. My advice is to select only personal data (folders with documents, music, photos, etc.), do not select files in system folders; to archive program settings, it is better to use not Data Archiving, but the System Image Creation tool (read System Image Creation).
Include a system image of disks, (E:) and (C:). Data archiving can additionally create entire disk images (E:) and (C:) on my computer along with the data archive.
Welcome visitors to the blog site!
I would like to bring some clarity to this concept, what is the difference between a created system image and archiving using Windows from using third-party programs for these purposes.
Can the resulting archive or image be subsequently installed on another computer?
For beginners, it can be quite difficult to understand these images, archives, ISOs, backups and other not very clear ones. Windows tools, which I often get asked questions about.
I remember when I was just starting to learn about computers, I was specifically confused about this topic. Each answer found only confuses me even more; my brain simply “boiled” from all the contradictory information received.
Then, after some time, I gradually figured it all out myself, mastered the PC quite well in general, and even created my own blog to help “dummies,” which is where you are now.
About 1.5 years ago I wrote two articles: and so I advise you to read them.
1. Difference between archiving and system image
The Backup tool does not have Windows OS recovery capabilities and is intended solely for recreating user data.
But the System Image is capable of creating a backup of the Windows operating system with all its settings, as well as user programs and files for subsequent recovery.
2. ISO or backup
In simple words, iso is an image of the system with all the settings and drivers; backup is a copy of the full OS plus user files.
But if you use the capabilities of the standard Windows utilities, then you will know (who doesn’t know) they are designed only for recovery on the same computer on another hardware; installing a copy will not work.
This leads to the conclusion that this is not an ISO, but simply a copy or, in other words, a backup (as you like) and the built-in tools of Windows are simply incapable of anything more!
3. Advantage of third-party software
Does it exist? Let's try to figure it out.
The popular backup program Acronis has a lot of functionality compared to systemic means recovery.
It has the option of recreating the partitions you need, combining the archiving and restoration described above, and also has many other useful, necessary things.
Thanks to Acronis or other similar utilities, it is quite possible to install a backup on another PC, provided that the configuration of the two computers is identical.
As you can see, the superiority is obvious, but I still have enough standard tools and third party software in this particular case there is no need here.
By the way, look at the articles
Archiving is the process of placing files and folders into a special “compressed” file, which typically takes up significantly less space on your hard drive.
Thanks to this, much more information can be recorded on any medium, this information can be transferred faster over the Internet, which means archiving will always be in demand!
In this article we will look at how you can archive a file or folder on your computer; We will also touch on the most popular archiving programs.
Archiving using Windows
If you have a modern version of Windows OS (Vista, 7, 8), then its explorer has the ability to work directly with compressed zip folders. This is very convenient and allows you to compress many types of files quickly and without problems. Let's take a step-by-step look at how to do this.
Let's say we have a document file (Word). Its actual size is 553 KB.
1) To archive such a file, click on it right click mouse, then select the “send/compressed zip folder” tab in the Explorer context menu. See screenshot below.
2) That's it! The archive should be ready. If you go to its properties, you will notice that the size of such a file has decreased by about 100 KB. Not much, but if you compress megabytes or gigabytes of information, the savings can be very significant!
By the way, the compression of this file was 22%. The built-in Windows Explorer makes it easy to work with such compressed zip folders. Many users don't even realize that they are dealing with archived files!
Archiving by programs
Zip folders alone are not enough for archiving. Firstly, it has already been stated that there are more advanced formats that allow you to compress the file even more (in this regard, an interesting article about comparing archivers:). Secondly, not all operating systems directly support working with archives. Thirdly, the operating speed of the OS with archives may not always suit you. Fourthly, no one will be disturbed additional functions when working with archives.
Some of the most popular programs for archiving files and folders - these are WinRar, 7Z and the file commander - Total Commander.
WinRar
After installing the program, the context menu will allow you to add files to archives. To do this, right-click on the files and select the function as shown in the screenshot below.
The created Rar archive compressed the file even more strongly than Zip. True, the program spends more time working with this type...
7z
A very popular archiver with high degree file compression. Its new "7Z" format allows you to compress some file types stronger than WinRar! Working with the program is very simple.
After installation, in Explorer there will be context menu with 7z, all you have to do is select the option to add a file to the archive.
By the way, as mentioned, 7z did not compress much, but it compressed more than all previous formats.
Total Commander
One of the most popular commanders for working in Windows OS. It is considered the main competitor of Explorer, which is built into Windows by default.
1. Select the files and folders that you want to archive (they are highlighted in red). Then on the control panel, click the “pack files” function.
2. A window with compression settings should open in front of you. The most popular compression methods and formats are present here: zip, rar, 7z, ace, tar, etc. You need to select a format, set a name, paths, etc. Next, click on the “OK” button and the archive is ready.
3. What makes the program convenient is its focus on the user. Beginners may not even notice that they are working with archives: you can easily enter, exit, and add other files just by dragging them from one program panel to another! And there is no need to have dozens of archivers installed on your computer in order to archive files in various formats.
Conclusion
By archiving files and folders, you can significantly reduce the size of files and, accordingly, place more information on your disk.
But remember that not all file types should be compressed. For example, it is almost useless to compress video, audio, pictures*. There are other methods and formats for them.
* By the way, the “bmp” image format can be compressed quite well. Other formats, for example, such a popular one as “jpg”, will not give any benefit...
Archiving is the most effective and the best tool ensuring data safety. Timely backup of information can not only protect you from loss important files, but will also allow you to restore your computer after serious failures.
Introduction
Purely theoretically, modern Windows operating systems should be able to run on computers without failures for a very long time. To do this, the OS integrates many software mechanisms that are responsible for the security and reliability of the system, designed to independently resolve various problems that arise during the operation of a PC. The same applies to the hardware component of the computer, the components of which, under normal operating conditions, should serve the user for at least several years.
But in practice everything looks a little different. In some situations, the stability of Windows is not as flawless as the developers claim, and PC parts can fail after only a few days of operation. At the same time, all this can happen, as always, at the most inopportune moment. So sooner or later, an unpleasant situation may happen to any of you, as a result of which the operating system will become inoperable or important data will be lost. It is possible that both will happen at the same time.
In order to help users avoid serious troubles associated with the loss of information and failures in the OS, there are several tools in Windows that allow you to archive the necessary data, as well as create system restore checkpoints, a system image or a system recovery disk. In the future, the created copies can be used to resuscitate certain information or the entire system as a whole.
All recovery and archiving mechanisms can be found in Control panels system.
If in the computer settings window you have set browsing by category (by default), then you need to find the link Backing up computer data In chapter system and safety. If you have set to view all panel elements, then look for the option Archive or restore.
After launching it, a window will open in front of you containing links to various tools for archiving and restoring data.
Data archiving
Data archiving is the periodic creation of copies of files and folders that you work with most often, as well as your settings account. If at point Archiving you will see the inscription Data archiving is not configured, this means that archiving was not previously performed in this system and if data is damaged, you risk losing it once and for all.
To correct this situation, click on the link Set up backup, after which the Archiving Setup Wizard will launch.
At the first stage, the utility will scan and identify all storage devices that are connected to your computer and display a list of them (except system disk) in a new window. From this list, you should select the disk on which you plan to store the created archives.
The most optimal storage for backups is an external (removable) hard drive, which can be stored separately from the computer. At the same time, portable magnetic drives, essentially being ordinary HDDs housed in a housing with a controller, can store the same large volumes of information as their internal storage. This means that, if necessary, in many cases you can make a complete copy of your disk and transfer all its contents, for example, to another computer. In cases where the data being archived is small in size, you can select USB flash drives, memory cards or recordable optical discs (CD, DVD) as storage objects.
In addition to external drives, you can store archived copies of files on any non-system internal partitions hard drives. For example, this is advisable in the case when several hard drives are installed in the computer at once. If, however, a logical partition physically located on it is selected as the location for storing a backup copy of data from the disk, then if the hard drive fails, you will still say goodbye to all your information. So it is better to store data and their backups on different physical media.
Windows also provides the ability to save archived files in local network on remote computers.
Having selected the location to save the archive copy, press the button Further, after which a window will open in front of you.
Here we are asked to choose between automatic and manual selection of archiving objects. In the first case, the system itself will archive files from key user libraries and folders. In the second, you can make the choice yourself.
- Data files saved in folders and libraries: Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos, AppData, Contacts, Desktop, Downloads, Favorites, Links, Saved Games and Searches.
- A system image that is an exact copy system partition disk and includes the system itself and all its parameters, custom settings and files, as well as installed programs.
Of course, many users (especially beginners) will find this type of backup simpler, but it still has its drawbacks. First of all, this concerns the automatic creation of a system image archive, which can be very voluminous and lead to rapid overflow of the drive intended for storing backup copies. At the same time, it is impossible to select individual elements from the system image during data recovery, for example, only a library with documents, and therefore it is not suitable for restoring individual files or folders. So it is better to take the process of preparing a planned archive under your own control, and create an image of the system partition manually, as needed.
After selecting the item Give me a choice A window will open in front of you where you can independently mark the necessary objects for archiving using checkboxes.
Particular attention should be paid to the fact that the system separates data from different accounts, as well as data from hard drives. That is, you can choose to archive the libraries of all computer users at once, or individually. Each user also has the opportunity to select the desired components to be archived. In addition, you can add the necessary files and folders located on hard drive partitions to the backup copy. To do this, simply expand the desired section (click on the triangle on the left) and select the necessary objects. If you want to create a complete copy of any logical drive, check the box next to it without opening it.
Under the list of libraries and components for archiving, at the bottom of the window there is a separate item for creating a system disk image. At the same time, if several operating systems are installed on your computer in different partitions, then Windows will include all of them in the created image. This can be clearly seen from our screenshot, which was taken on a computer with two operating systems installed.
True, we agreed that in this example we will not create an image of the system, but will leave this matter for later. So for now, let’s uncheck the box Include a disk system image.
After you select the required components and click the button Further, a control window will open in which you will be asked to check all the main archiving parameters again.
Here you can change archiving schedule by clicking on the link with the self-explanatory title.
In the schedule settings window, you can select the frequency, days of the week and time of archiving in automatic mode. When choosing a time, do not forget that the computer should be turned on at that moment and it is better not to be used by you, since the archiving procedure can seriously slow down the work process. In addition, in this window you can completely disable automatic creation of scheduled backups and subsequently do it only manually.
Finally, when all the parameters are specified and the settings are completed, to start the archiving procedure of the selected objects, click the button Save settings and start archiving. Windows will immediately begin the backup process according to the created rules. At this moment, you will be able to clearly monitor the progress of archiving using the indicator located in the window.
To view more detailed information You can click the View details button, after which an additional window will open in front of you, which will reflect the progress of the running procedure.
The duration of the archiving process directly depends on the number of objects you specified, as well as their total volume, and can take from several minutes to several hours.
After the backup is created, information about the size of the created archive and its contents, the time of creation of the next copy, as well as the date of the last archiving will appear in the already familiar archiving window.
Here you can also change or disable the schedule, perform unscheduled archiving (Archive button), create a system image or optical boot disk system recovery, as well as manage archiving disk space.
From the same window you can access the general list of backup copies by clicking on the button View archives, as well as change the system image parameters.
In order to free disk space if it is full, in the archive list display window you can delete unnecessary (irrelevant) copies by highlighting the required entry and pressing the button Delete.
So, we have just looked at planned and manual archiving of information, which allows you to systematically save the necessary data, including personal files and folders, on selected media, thereby ensuring the possibility of their quick recovery. But we should not forget about the operating system, which is the main and most important tool for the user when working with a computer.
There are often cases when, under the influence of various external factors, normal operation the system is disrupted. For example, this can happen when the computer becomes infected with a virus or there is a sudden power outage. In certain situations, in the event of serious failures, restoring Windows functionality can be very difficult, and sometimes it is completely impossible to do. In this case, users have to not only completely reinstall the system, but also configure its settings, reinstall device drivers, as well as all programs and applications.
To avoid such unpleasant troubles and make your life easier in the event of an OS crash, Windows has a standard tool that allows you to create exact copies of the partitions in which the system is installed. By creating an image of the system partition, in the future you will be able to restore from it the entire operating system with already configured settings, personal libraries and applications you have installed in a matter of minutes.
As you probably already guessed, the same tool is used to create a disk image in Windows Backup and recovery, which we discussed above when studying the data archiving procedure. Having opened this component, in the left column of the window, you can see a link with a self-explanatory name, clicking on which will launch the mechanism for creating a copy of the system disk.
First, as in the case of regular data archiving, you will be asked to select a location to store the created image. The most preferable option here is On hard drive. In this case, it is better to store the system image on a separate internal or external storage, and not on another logical partition of the hard drive with installed system. Only then will you be able to restore the OS in the event of a mechanical failure of the HDD.
The option of storing the image on DVDs is also not bad. But here everything will depend on how much space your backup copy of the system partition takes up. For example, in our case, archiving two system partitions may require about 145 GB. This means that to record such an image you will need 31 regular (single-layer) DVD discs.
If the system image does not exceed 30-40 GB, then optical disks can be used to store the system. Although fiddling with 8-10 media will also seem like a burden to many users.
The last alternative option for storing system images is network storage. To be honest, this option cannot be called optimal. After all, in order to pull a backup copy from a remote resource, it is necessary to connect the computer to the network, which without a fully installed operating system can be very problematic or simply impossible.
After selecting the location of the system image, a window will open in front of you in which you will need to select the disks to be included in the backup.
In fact, the figure clearly shows that in addition to system partitions, images of other logical drives can also be included in the backup. However, there is one condition here - you cannot include a disk image in the archive if it is selected as the system copy storage.
Having selected the sections required for archiving, click Further. Finally, a control window appears before us confirming the archiving parameters. The most important thing here is to pay attention to the size of the required archive space. If the forecast volume is even slightly higher than the quantity free space on the media or almost equal to it, then it’s better not to start archiving. Otherwise, you risk wasting a lot of time.
After making sure that the selected parameters are correct, click on the button Archive, to directly launch the procedure for creating a system image. If something doesn’t suit you during the archiving process, you can click the button Cancel and configure all settings again.
After completing the backup of the system partition, the wizard will prompt you to create system recovery disk. This disc will be very useful in cases where you need to restore the system from an image, but at the same time launch a previously installed copies of Windows will be impossible, and therefore it will be impossible to launch the built-in standard recovery tool. Please note that when crashes or virus infections occur, it is often the boot area of the system or the components responsible for starting the OS that are damaged. So the likelihood that you will encounter just such a situation is very high.
What is a recovery disk? Essentially, this is a boot disk (you can boot your computer from it) containing basic diagnostic tools and Windows recovery, with the help of which you can reanimate a computer after serious failures, including from a previously created system image.
If, after completing the system image creation procedure, you do not have a blank optical disk, then creating a recovery disk can be postponed until later. Subsequently, this can be done from a component of the system already familiar to us - Backup and recovery by clicking on the link in the left column Create a system repair disk.
The process of creating this disc is very simple. In the window that opens, you select the desired drive (if you have several of them), insert a blank DVD into it and press the button Create disk. The system will do the rest automatically for you.
Conclusion
Remember that regular archiving of data that is very important to you is the key to the fact that one day you will not have to mourn the irretrievably lost personal documents, photographs, family videos and other unique files.
Also, do not forget about your main working tool - the operating system. After all, having a backup copy of the system partition, in case of critical Windows failures or even breakdown hard drive, you can always quickly restore not only the working state of your computer, but also all your personal libraries, installed applications and system settings.