Page 839 - Windows 10 May 2019 Update The Missing Manual: The Book That Should Have Been in the Box

What’s confusing is that there are three different backup mechanisms in

Windows these days, some of which Microsoft is trying to de-emphasize by
hiding them. Here’s a quick overview:

System images. A complete clone of your entire hard drive,
including all your files, all your apps, and Windows itself.
Strangely buried in Windows 10, but useful—the only option that

will get you back up and running if your entire drive dies (or gets
stolen).

System Restore. A “snapshot” of your copy of Windows, as it was

when it was last working well. You can rewind to a snapshot when,
for example, a new app or upgrade seems to foul things up.

File History. For rewinding individual documents to earlier drafts
—or recovering them if they’ve gotten deleted or damaged.

Note

Of course, these are only the backup features of Windows 10 itself. You can also buy non-
Microsoft backup programs, many of which have more features.

This chapter covers these three systems in order.

System Images

When your hard disk crashes, you lose more than just your personal files.
You also lose your operating system—and all the programs you’ve

installed, and all their updates and patches, and all your settings and
tweaks. It can take you a very long time to restore your PC to that state.

A system image solves the problem easily. This feature (called Complete

PC Backup in the Windows Vista days), creates a perfect snapshot of your
entire hard drive at this moment: documents, email, pictures, and so on,

plus Windows, and all your programs and settings. Someone could steal