backup and recovery options in Windows 10.
oilman
Posts: 4,529 Forum Member
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There have been several changes in recovery options on W10.
1. System Restore is off by default. Turn it back on for C drive in Settings.
2. Windows Backup to make system images is now more visible (due to insider demand). Use this regularly. Also recommend using 3rd party app e.g Macrium Reflect Free or similar as extra insurance.
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3. you should make a windows recovery usb immediately.
4. Windows 10 no longer needs recovery partitions. If you want to set pc back to its initial state, it does this by deleting all non OS files, and puts default registry in place. This method is clever it keeps all OS updates as well i.e you do not have to reinstall then.
You still need the recovery usb as above in case the C drive gets corrupted. I wonder if the recovery usb should be recreated periodically so it contains latest updates - I might give this try.
For those who have done an W10 upgrade, this is possibly a way to get back to a fresh install state without a complete reinstall and avoids any activation issues?
1. System Restore is off by default. Turn it back on for C drive in Settings.
2. Windows Backup to make system images is now more visible (due to insider demand). Use this regularly. Also recommend using 3rd party app e.g Macrium Reflect Free or similar as extra insurance.
)
3. you should make a windows recovery usb immediately.
4. Windows 10 no longer needs recovery partitions. If you want to set pc back to its initial state, it does this by deleting all non OS files, and puts default registry in place. This method is clever it keeps all OS updates as well i.e you do not have to reinstall then.
You still need the recovery usb as above in case the C drive gets corrupted. I wonder if the recovery usb should be recreated periodically so it contains latest updates - I might give this try.
For those who have done an W10 upgrade, this is possibly a way to get back to a fresh install state without a complete reinstall and avoids any activation issues?
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What was the rationale behind that? That MS now produces bug-free, non-BSOD patches?
I actually tried it out and recovered in around 40 mins, whereas using the media creational tool took me over two hours (slow downloads).
It may be a silly question.
If I created a recovery USB from my Laptop, could I use that to boot into Windows on another computer running Windows 10, if that machine was unable to start for some reason, or is the recovery disc locked to just one machine like the OS?
If that is possible it would save having to purchase separate USB sticks for each computer.and making separate recovery discs
That would not work. First of all the Windows licence would not match. And....you would be restoring a set of drivers which do not match the second machine. If would be a horrible mess.
You must have a seperate backup for each individual pc.
I did wonder.
I thought that as I was only repairing the OS and not a installing a complete OS or system image, that may have been possible. I understand that each copy of Windows is locked to one particular machine.
The reason I asked the question was that I seem to remember reading somewhere that to repair a corrupt OS on a particular machine you only needed a copy, any copy, of the relevant OS disc to repair missing or corrupt files. I could be be mistaken though.
I will not try it, I will make a separate recovery DVD for each machine.
I have just realised that you said recovery USB and I responded by discussing the incompatibility of restored back-ups ( via USB or otherwise). My apologies.
It is not yet clear if a recovery drive made on one PC can be used on another PC. We think it is possible. So making one for each pc is prudent just in case.
You should also consider making a full system image backup of each pc, using Macrium Reflect Free or similar. This is fastest and easiest way of recovering, and reinstalls all apps etc as well.
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Does that mean that drive
I thought the process was reversible for 30 days?
I mus confess I haven't changed to Windows 10 yet : I'll probably wait for 10.1 at least.
You are confusing several things here.
File History has nothing to do with backup/recovery. It is however, turned off in Windows 10.
If you have a partition with factory recovery data installed by your PC manufacturer, Windows 10 won't touch it, but there is no guarantee it will still work after an upgrade as the boot files will be changed. Best to have a separate recovery boot disk if your manufacturer allows you to make one.
The Windows 10 upgrade is reversible in 30 days, but this has nothing to do with recovery partitions etc.
I hope that helps.
I did this in case Windows 10 caused problems, as it did the first time I installed it.
I will create both a recovery disc of 10 on DVD and a custom recovery image of my system and put it on my external HDD.
BIB - what else could you say it concerns? The FH entry in Control Panel even uses the words 'Backup' and 'Recover'.
I should have made it clearer that my question about the 30 days applied only if the factory recover partition was deleted.
It is a backup and recovery system but only of data. You still have to reinstate OS and apps.
see
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows-8/what-happened-to-backup-restore
File History is only a fancy way of copying stuff including previous versions that you could do yourself manually with file explorer.
BiB - For data I've never used anything other than copying manually, ...albeit with the help of a batch file, and a folder of "not yet backed up". For home purposes I don't see the point of tying yourself to software.
I have never used it for much the same reasons.
BTW, WTF is BiB. Why do people use TLAs?
BiB = Bit in BOLD !!
That's enough for me. Though immediately after running FH I also make copies of my Documents, current Photos and new Music to an external drive.
No problem. Though I'd have thought that, since there are many different backup programmes, each one is a "type".
Because 'bit in bold' is a TLP?
Cheers - Three Letter Acronyms are not always obvious (See TLP earlier - in my business it means Tension Leg Platform but I think it a rather more base one (I am pretty sure what it means but I would not repeat it on a public forum).