Win7 Backup

This may sound strange but I've never really figure how to use the Windows backup feature. Generally I get a massive thumb drive, about 32 gigs or so and save the entire hard drive on it. I think of the data package as a ball that has all my important files on it My lifers work (my lifers work if you will). That I can use to set my new install up when I move into the new machine/ I'm wondering how to set this up and just as important move the backup back into the newly configured computer?

Could a mod please fix my thread title? THX

 

I.select all the files and move them into the large thumb drive. When I move the data mass to either the new hard drive or new computer. It is wasteful and inefficient, but with Terabit hard drives and larger on the horizon who cares?

Backup might be a better approach, so I'm asking the question.

 

Copy and paste works just fine. Win98 had problems with large files(video usually) XP and on not so much. Win98 I used DOS techniques. It ain't Rocket science, just wasteful.

 

I may not understand backup at all.

Can you restore a freshly installed OS to where you were w/ backup?

 

Yes you can, but not using the method you are using. Restoring the OS from a backup requires you to have previously created an image of your system. It simply cannot be done by copy and paste. Here's a tutorial on imaging with Win 7 Backup in Win 10.

I image all the systems here once a month. If problems develop I rarely spend any time trying to correct them as restoring an image only takes about 15 minutes. The method also caters for restoring the system to a new hard disk (or SSD)

 

I have several concerns,I would like to keep my Desktop during a transfer to either a new OS or a fresh install. Most of my files are .png, I do a lot of art in M/$ Paint, mostly schematics with some mechanical layout. That and I write a lot. I use Libra writer because I can't afford Word. I am not a fan of Libra, it is sloowww to load, but better than nothing. That and I would like to keep my file layout so I can find things later.

This stroke has affected my ability to learn, anything I learned before the stroke is mine to keep and use. Short term memory is shot. I will be seeing a neurologist later this month, but I' not putting a lot of hope in what he can do.

 

I agree with plodr in that learning imaging now might be asking a bit too much of you after your stroke. However there are much better solutions for backing up your files than copying the entire hard disk. I use a program that just keeps a folder of your choice in sync with a copy, so the backup is always a mirror of your chosen folder. You can set up as many of these pairs as you want and set them to run automatically if you want. It's quick and just backs up the stuff you need. How does that sound?

 

Not sure I've been lackadaisical about backup at the best of times.Fighting the aftermath of this stroke puts this firmly outside that description.So what is involved with this technique?

 

If you really want to give it a try you will need to follow the link I gave you in #8.

 

Thank you. I always thought imaging would limit you size to the original HD size. I still have a lot to learn