Free Tool to Backup and Restore Windows 10

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I have explained how to Install Veeam Agent for Windows, How to Create Recovery Media for Windows 10, and How to install Veeam Agent license in the previous post. I would recommend reading that post to get more details about the product.  In this post, you will see how to take backup of Windows 10 machine and How to Restore Windows 10 Backup.

Define What Data to Backup and Configure the Backup Job

Before you configure backup Windows 10 job, you should decide the following:

  1. Windows 10 Backup Scope – Entire Computer Image, Specific Windows 10 Volume (C drive, D Drive, etc.), or Specific Folder  (Restore Windows 10 Backup)
  2. Windows 10 Backup Destination – Where you want to store Windows 10 created backup 
  3. Windows 10 Backup Schedule – How often you want to take backup of Windows 10 device

What is the Windows 10 Backup Destination Location

Windows 10 backups created with Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows free tool. Installation of Windows 10 free backup tool is explained in the previous post here. The Windows 10 backup can be saved to one of the following locations:

  1. Removable storage device
  2. Local computer drive
  3. Network shared folder
  4. Backup repository managed by a Veeam backup server
  5. Cloud repository managed by a Veeam Cloud Connect service provider
  6. Microsoft OneDrive (Recommended option in my point of view)

You can backup Windows 10 device to Microsoft OneDrive, and that is best and recommended option for me.  You cannot save the backup of entire Window s10 computer on the local computer disk.  Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows does not back up data to which symbolic links are targeted. Restore Windows 10 Backup options are explained in the below section.

Types of Windows 10 Backup Options with Veeam Agent for Windows

In this section, you will explore the types of Windows 10 backup options. As I explained in the above video, I have used an entire computer image option to take Windows 10 backup.

  1. Volume-Level Backup
  2. File-Level Backup (Slowest)
  3. System State Data Backup (Fastest)

The entire Windows 10 image backup will back up your entire computer image for a fast recovery on any level. Deleted, temporary and Windows 10 page files are automatically excluded from the image to reduce the backup size. Restore Windows 10 Backup options are explained in the below section.

Launch Configure Veeam Agent for Windows Backup Wizard

In this section, you will see how to configure a Windows 10 backup task. The following steps will help you to launch a Veeam agent for Windows:

  1. From the main menu, select All Programs > Veeam > Configure Backup
  2. Or use the Microsoft Windows search to find the Configure Backup option on your Windows 10 computer

I would recommend completing the Veeam backup configuration wizard as I explained the above video.  Select the check mark “Run the job when I click finish” to start the Windows 10 backup process. The restore Windows 10 Backup options are explained in the below section.

Processes Involved in Windows 10 Backup Process – Veeam Agent Microsoft Windows

Veeam agent home page will provide you with the process of the Windows 10 backup process. The backup or restore point creation took 2:40 hours to backup 980 GB SSD Windows 10 device.  Veeam agent for Windows created 480 GB backup.  The Windows 10 restore points are created on external hard disk.

The following processes are completed during the Windows 10 backup task:

  1. Initializing
  2. Preparing for backup
  3. Creating VSS snapshot
  4. Calculating digests
  5. Getting a list of local users
  6. EFI system partition (disk 0) (260.0 MB) 260.0 MB read at 247 MB/s
  7. Local Disk (C:) (952.6 GB) 30.6 GB read at 94 MB/s
  8. Local Disk (C:) (952.6 GB) 730.6 GB read at 82 MB/s
  9. Windows RE tools (disk 0) (860.0 MB) 860.0 MB read at 125 MB/s
  10. Saving GuestMembers.xml
  11. Finalizing
  12. Truncating transaction logs
  13. Truncating SQL server transaction logs
  14. Processing finished at 24-11-2018 19:29:45 

Restore Windows 10 Backup options – Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows

The restore Windows 10 Backup options are explained in this section. Once you finish the backup task for Windows 10 device, you can restore files or volumes from restore points. When you stored the backup in the external hard disk, ensure that the hard disk with a valid backup of your Windows 10 machine is connected and accessible.

The following steps will help you restore files as I shown in the above video:

  1. In Windows 10 Explorer, browse to the backup target and find a VBK or VBM file in the backup chain.
    Double-click the VBK or VBM file
  2. In the displayed window, select a restore point from which you want to restore the file
  3. Click Open
  4. Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows will display the backup file content in the Veeam Backup browser
  5. Locate the file you want to restore, right-click it and select Restore >
  6. Select Overwrite or keep the option
  7. The file will be restored to its original location on your Windows 10 device

Resources:

Veeam Agent for Windows Restore Process – https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/agentforwindows/userguide/howto_restore_files.html?

Veeam Agent for Windows Backup Configuration Process –  https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/agentforwindows/userguide/backup_job_create.html?

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