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25 March 2019  John Weaver  Senior Program Developer
 

Summary
Computer may have some issues after used for a long time. It would be better if you could backup Windows in advance to prevent data loss. Read this article and you will learn about how to backup and restore Windows 7.



The Importance of Backing up Windows 7

Microsoft has stopped maintaining Windows 7 now and it could be attacked easily. When bugs occur, they can cause Windows 7 system crashing. In addition, the latest software may not be compatible with Windows 7. In this case, it is necessary to perform a system backup for Windows 7 in advance.

Tips and Suggestions for Backing up and Restoring Windows 7

If there are problems with the system, the created system image will also have the same issues. So it’s suggested to backup Windows 7 in a normal system environment. And you could perform a scan Windows 7 before backing up it, such as scanning for and removing the viruses from the PC, scheduling defragment for hard disk drive only and checking/repairing the disk.

If you want to backup Windows 7 and also hope that the disk space will not be taken up by the backup, it is recommended that you save the Windows 7 system image and files to an external hard drive. Besides, if you are using Windows 7 Home Advanced Edition, it is recommended to use a third-party backup and recovery tool to backup and restore Windows 7. Because backup and restore program is not available in it. But you could use the built-in Backup and Restore if you are using Windows 7 Professional or Windows 7 Ultimate.

Here are 3 step-by-step solutions to backup and restore Windows 7.

Solutions to Backup and Restore Windows 7

Solution 1: Use a Reliable Backup and Recovery Tool

The built-in Backup and Restore on Windows 7 is very useful, but it’s complicated and time-consuming to perform a backup or restore. If you want to backup and restore Windows 7 as soon as possible, it’s suggested to use a reliable and professional tool - Renee Becca. It just takes a few simple steps to backup and restore Windows 7 quickly.
Reminder:Provides different backup schemes, Renee Becca can automatically find the differences between source and backup files; and only back up incremental files without duplicated backup and save disk space. Renee Becca supports not only system backup, but also partition backup, disk backup, file backup and disk clone, satisfying your different needs.
download

Here’s how to backup and restore Windows 7 using Renee Becca.
Step 1: Open Renee Becca and enter the main interface.
open Renee Becca in PC
Step 2: Click “Backup” and “System Backup”.
select system backup function
Step 3: Select the folder for saving system backup files and select backup solutions, as well as set up your backup. Then click “Backup”.
select backup destination to back the data up
There are 5 backup solutions, including:

Version chain mode: Only save the 5 latest versions, delete the useless old version automatically when the backup is done.

Single version mode: only save the latest version, delete the last old version automatically when the backup is done.

Full mode: create full backup.

Incremental mode: Only create incremental backup after the initial full backup.

Differential mode: Only create differential backup after the initial full backup.

set the specific backup schemes
You can also set up a backup plan. Renee Becca will create the backup at specific time.
set the backup scheduler in Renee Becca
When Windows 7 crashes, you could create a rescue disc to restore the system with the backup files which was created by Renee Becca.
Step 1: Launch Renee Becca. Then please go to “Rescue CD” in Task tab.
create rescue disc
Step 2: Select the type of the rescue CD you need according to your system and disk.
select type of rescue disc
Step 3: Connect the Rescue CD to your target computer. Enter the BIOS settings and select USB/CD as the first boot option. Then boot the computer from the Rescue USB/CD.
BIOS menu
Step 4: Please select the target backup version and the target disk where you want to restore the backup. Then please click “Restore” to process it.
recover system from backup files

Solution 2: Create Image and Restore with Built-in Backup and Restore on Windows 7

If you want to backup Windows 7 and also hope that the disk space will not be taken up by the backup, you could save the created Windows 7 system image to external hard drive. Please connect the hard drive to the PC before you perform a system backup of Windows 7.
Step 1: Click start menu and then click “Control Panel”.
open control panel in Windows 7
Step 2: When you go into the Control Panel, click “Backup your computer”.
backup your computer
Step 3: Click “Create a system image” in the left pane. When the new window pops up, click “On a hard drive” and select the target disk. Then click “Next”.
create system image
Step 4: Click the system disk and then click “Next”.
backup system disk
Step 5: Click “Start backup”. Windows will start the backup.

After the backup is completes, Windows will ask whether you want to create a system repair disc. Just select “No”.

start backup Windows 7
When there’s problem with Windows 7, you could directly restore the backup of system image. If the backup is stored at the external hard drive, please connect it to the hard drive in advance. Here is the way to restore Windows 7.
Step 1: Click start menu and then click “Control Panel”.
open control panel in Windows 7
Step 2: When you go into the Control Panel, click “Backup your computer”.
backup your computer
Step 3: Click “Restore my files”. In the “Restore Files” window, click “Browse for folders”.
Restore Windows 7 files
Browse Windows 7 backup
Step 4: Select the backup and click “Add folder”. Then go on to next step.
Step 5: Select the location where you restore the files. Then click “Restore”.
restore Windows 7

Solution 3: Set up and Restore the Backup Using Built-in Backup and Restore on Windows 7

The above solution 2 “Creating system image” is helpful for restoring system and boot information while the solution 3 “Backup and Restore files” aims at the personal library and specified files or folders on the partition. In this solution, all data of multiple partitions can be backed up, but the boot information is not included. In brief, the entire operating system will not be restored properly via “Backup and Restore files” function.

Tips: If you want to backup Windows 7 and also hope that the disk space will not be taken up by the backup, you could save the created Windows 7 system image to the external hard drive. Please connect the hard drive to the PC before you perform a system backup of Windows 7.

Step 1: In “my computer”, right click the system disk and then select “Properties”.
disk c properties
Step 2: In the “Properties” window, switch to “Tools” tab. Then click “Back up now”.
back up now
Step 3: In the “Backup and Restore” window, click “Set up backup”.
set backup
Step 4: Save backup to the target location and click “Next”.
save backup to target disk
Step 5: You can let Windows choose the files that need to be backed up or choose them by yourselves. Now we select the “Let me choose” option.
backup Windows 7
Step 6: Select the check box of the items that you want to include in the backup and check the box of “Include a system image of drives: (C:)”. Then click “Next”.
backup Windows 7
Step 7: You could also choose to run backup on a schedule. After you set it up, just click “Save settings and run backup”.
run backup
run backup on a schedule
Step 8: Click “Backup now”. You can see the backup process via “View Details”.
backup Windows 7
When there’s problem with Windows 7, you could directly restore the backup of files and system image. Please refer to the detailed guide for restoring Windows 7.

Conclusions

Solution to Backup and Restore Windows 7Files BackupSystem BackupRun Backup on a ScheduleWhether the program supports all versions of Windows 7
Use Renee Becca  √√√√
Create Image and Restore with Built-in Backup and Restore on Windows 7√
Set up and Restore the Backup Using Built-in Backup and Restore on Windows 7√√√

As you can see, Renee Becca is a better choice. If you use the built-in Backup and Restore in Windows 7, it’s very complicated because it takes 10 or more steps to perform a backup and recovery for Windows 7. Compared with it, Renee Becca takes only a few steps to backup and restore Windows 7, which will save a lot of time. Besides, Renee Becca also supports all versions of Windows 7.