Windows Vista Backup

Choosing What to Back Up

coming soon

 

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Backup Processes Using Windows Tools

We fell that Microsoft System Restore is one of the most valuable tools ever created by Microsoft. Become familiar with it.

Microsoft has developed some new drive cloning tools that are free to use. ImageX was created as a tool for computer vendors deploying large numbers of computers. ImageX can be used to create drive and partition image of your Windows Vista installation. It is mentioned here because it is a Microsoft tool. It will be discussed more in depth in the drive imaging section.

Export Copy of the Registry

1. Press the Windows Key + R, the "Run" dialog box will appear
2. Type in "regedit" and click OK
3. Make sure you are at the root of the registry hive list. Do this by pressing the HOME key so that you see "My Computer" highlighted in the list.
4. With "My Computer" highlighted in the registry hive, press the left arrow key once to close the tree.
5. From the Registry Editor menu choose File, Export
6. Navigate to the place were you wish to save your registry backup
7. Enter a filename for your registry backup. Example (using date code+): 2008072901
8. Be patient, this may take 30 seconds to a minute.
9. done! close registry editor

Typical registry file backup size 50mb to 100mb

Drive Clone / Ghost / Image Backup

Acronis True Image

Acronis True Image comes highly recommended for Windows Vista and has been described as the most reliable way to create a drive image or partition image for Windows Vista. Acronis is said to create smaller more efficient images than Microsoft ImageX.

ImageX

This is part of Vista's Complete PC Backup and Restore utility. Windows Vista Business, Ultimate, and Enterprise come with a more advanced backup and restore utility called Windows Complete PC Backup and Restore.

Clonezilla

A free, open-source project. Clonezilla is for Windows/Mac/Linux.