How to make a full backup of your Windows 10 PC

Source: Windows Central

As part of your recovery plan, a full backup should be at the top of your list since it is the best strategy against hardware failure, and apps and upgrade problems, as well as malware attacks that can corrupt your files and damage your Windows 10 installation. If you are not proactively creating full backups, you will be putting at risk documents, priceless pictures, and configurations you have spent long hours setting up.

If you use Windows 10, you have many different methods to create a backup. For example, you can use third-party solutions to backup the entire system or copy files to an external drive manually or upload them to a cloud storage service like OneDrive. However, if you do not want to use manual methods or third-party tools, you can always create a full backup using the legacy built-in System Image Backup tool.

A system image is another way to say «full backup,» as it contains a copy of everything on the computer, including the installation, settings, apps, and files. Usually, you will find this tool better suited to restore the entire system from critical hardware or software problems, such as hard drive failure or when trying to roll back to a previous version of Windows 10.

In this Windows 10 guide, we will walk you through the steps to create a full backup with all your custom settings, apps, files, and installation using the system image tool.

Quick note: The System Image Backup tool for Windows 10 is no longer a maintained feature, but you can still use it for the foreseeable future. The instructions outlined in this guide are meant to create a temporary full backup while the feature is still available. You can also read this guide with alternative ways to back up your computer.

How to create a backup with system image tool on Windows 10

The system image tool allows you to create a full backup to an external drive or network shared folder. However, it is best to use removable storage, which you can then disconnect and store in a different physical location.

To create a full backup of Windows 10 with the system image tool, use these steps:

1. Open Settings.
2. Click on Update & Security.
3. Click on Backup.

Under the «Looking for an older backup?» section, click the Go to Backup and Restore (Windows 7) option.

Source: Windows Central

Click the Create a system image option from the left pane.

Source: Windows Central

Use the «On a hard disk» drop-down menu and select the location to export the Windows 10 full backup.

Source: Windows Central

(Optional) Select any additional hard drives to include them in the backup.

Source: Windows Central

Click the Start backup button.

Source: Windows Central

Click the No button.

Quick note: You’ll also receive a prompt to create a system repair disc, but because most devices no longer include an optical drive, you can skip it. If you have to restore the machine, you can use a USB installation media to access the recovery enviroment.

Click the Close button.

Once you complete the steps, the tool will create an image of the entire system that includes everything on the primary hard drive and other drives you may have selected.

While the backup is in progress, you can continue working on the device since it uses the «Shadow Copy» feature to backup files even if files are open and apps are running.

After the process is complete, you can disconnect and store the external drive in a safe place. If you have valuable data, you may want to consider keeping the backup in a different physical location.

How to restore a backup with system image tool on Windows 10

If you need to replace the hard drive or hardware failure occurs, you can use one of the backups to recover the device and files.

To restore a backup on Windows 10, use these steps:

1. Connect the drive with the full backup to the device.
2. Connect the Windows 10 USB bootable drive to the computer.
3. Start the computer.

On the USB bootable drive startup prompt, press any key to continue.

Quick tip: If the device does not start in the Windows Setup wizard, you will need to access the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) or Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) to change the boot order settings. You can use this guide to access the BIOS/UEFI, but the steps are usually different per manufacturer and device model. It is recommended to check your manufacturer support website for more specific details.

On the «Windows Setup» page, click the Next button.

Source: Windows Central

Click the Repair your computer option from the bottom-left corner of the screen.

Source: Windows Central

Click the Troubleshoot option.

Source: Windows Central

Click the System Image Recovery option.

Source: Windows Central

Select the Windows 10 option as the target OS.

Source: Windows Central

On the «Re-image your computer» page, select the Use the latest available system image option.

Source: Windows Central

Quick tip: You can use the «Select a system image» option if you have multiple backups and you are trying to restore an older version of the system and files.

(Optional) Carefully select the Format and repartition disks option before restoring the backup (if you are restoring the backup on a new drive).

Quick tip: If you choose this option, use the Exclude disks option to prevent formatting secondary drives that may contain data.

(Optional) Check the** Only restore system drivers** option (if the backup contains a copy of multiple drives and you only want to restore the OS).

Source: Windows Central

Click the Finish button.

Source: Windows Central

Click the Yes button.

After you complete the steps, the recovery process will start on the computer. The time to finish the restoration will depend on the amount of data and hardware configuration.

If you are about to restore a device, do not interrupt the process as it can cause the backup to fail, making the device unbootable. It is always recommended to have the laptop connected to a power source and a desktop computer to an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) to avoid problems.

Once the backup has been restored, open Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update, and click the Check for Updates button to quickly install any missing security updates.

Wrapping things up

Although there many other solutions to create a full backup of the entire system and files, there are still many reasons to choose the System Image Backup tool. For instance, when you do not have another solution, and you are about to upgrade to a new version of Windows 10. You can use the built-in tool to create a temporary full backup in case you need to rollback.

Or when you are about to replace the main hard drive, or you need a quick way to transfer the installation and files without the need for reinstallation. It is also always recommended to periodically backup your computer if the unexpected happens, and you need to recover from system or hardware failure, malware, ransomware, or hacker attacks.

One thing to keep in mind with this tool is that it is meant to recover the entire system, not files and settings individually. If you want to keep updated copies of your files, you should be using other solutions, such as OneDrive or File History. Also, you need to be proactive about creating backups because you can only recover a system since the last backup. Anything after the full backup, such as apps, settings, and files, won’t be available during recovery.

More Windows 10 resources

For more helpful articles, coverage, and answers to common questions about Windows 10, visit the following resources:

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3 Methods to Backup/Copy User Profile in Windows 10

Don’t want to spend hours customizing the new Windows 10 computer? This guide will tell you how to backup and restore user profile in Windows 10.

By AOMEI / Last Updated April 19, 2021

The need to backup user profile Windows 10

The user profile is a record of user-specific data that define the user’s working environment. It stores various settings and information related to the user account, such as the display settings, application settings, network connections, etc. Since the user profile has all your important documents and configurations, it’s necessary to make a backup.

◉ On the one hand, when you perform a Windows 10 update, there are chances that some folder will get re-written abnormally. Besides, some unexpected issues like ransomware virus may prevent you from accessing the user profile. Therefore, in any matters, you should have your users’ data backed up.

в—‰ On the other hand, when you buy a new computer or fresh install Windows on a new hard disk drive (HDD) or solid state drive (SSD). It may take considerable time to customize a new Windows 10 computer to exactly the way you want it. To avoid that, you can choose to backup and restore user profile in Windows 10.

To help you finish the job, we will introduce 3 methods in this post toВ help you backup user profile in Windows 10, and also the approach toВ copy user profile in Windows 10 to another computer/user.

Way 1. Backup user profile Windows 10 via Windows backup utility

In Windows 10, you can use the old Backup and Restore (Windows 7) tool to backup your data including user profile. It is recommended to backup to network drive, external hard drive or other offsite location. If you want to directly migrate user profile in Windows 10 to another user or computer, please move to method 2.

To backup user profile in Windows 10 with Backup and Restore utility:

1. Navigate to Control PanelВ > System and Security > Backup and Restore (Windows 7).

2. In the Backup and Restore (Windows 7) window, click Set up backup on the right.

Note: If you’ve already set up a backup schedule, you will see a different window. In that case, click the Options button and choose Change backup settings to make it.

3. Select the location to save the Windows 10 user profile backup and click Next to continue. If you want to backup computer to external hard drive in Windows 10, select the external drive at this step.

4. In the next screen, select Let me choose and click Next.

5. By default, it has selected all the of created users profiles and system drive(s). If you only want to backup user profile, uncheck the option “Include a System Image ”.

6. In the next screen, it will give you a summary of this backup operation. If no issues, click Save settings and run backup.

Restore the user profile in Windows 10:

1.В Plug in the storage device with the user profile.

2.В Go to Control Panel> System and Security> Backup and Restore (Windows 7).

3.В Click Select another backup to restore files fromВ > choose the right backup > click Next.

4.В Click Browse for foldersВ to select your user profile folder.

5. Finally, choose the location to restore the user profile. Please make sure to tick “In the original location” and click Restore to make it.

Way 2. Copy user profile Windows 10 with advanced system properties

Windows provides a built-in tool copy, delete or move a user profile. If you do not need an image file and just want to copy user profile in Windows 10 to another hard drive,В to another computer or to another user, you can try this method, which is much simpler.

Steps to copy user profile Windows 10 to another computer/user:

1. Right click on This PC and select Properties, and then select Advanced system settings.

2. Click the Settings button under User Profiles.

3. In a popup window, all the user profiles will be listed. You can select any user profile to copy to another location by clicking Copy To.

Way 3. Backup user profile in Windows 10 with free backup software

If you want to continuously backup user profile without taking much disk space, you can use free backup software AOMEI Backupper Standard. It allows you to backup Windows 10 user profile daily/weekly/daily. In addition, you can also performВ incremental and differential backups, get notified by email when a backup is completed,В and more.

To backup user profile in Windows 10 with AOMEI Backupper:

1. Download and install this free backup software.

2. In the main interface, click Backup and select File Backup.

3. Click Add Folder to include the user profile folders into the backup.

4. Click to specify where you want to save the image backup.

5. Click Schedule to configure fequency or intervals if you want it to run automatically. Under the Advanced tab, you can also specify how the backup to be performed, incremental, differential, or full backup.В

6. Click Start Backup and choose a way («Add the schedule and start backup now» or «Only add the schedule») to run the backup.

After the first full backup, all the continuous scheduled backup will be performed as incremental backups by default to save disk space.

Notes:

If you want to restore the backup, please go to Home > find the backup task > click more options tab and click Restore to make it.

If you need to move the entire hard drive including the operating system and everything to another hard drive or SSD, you can use its Disk Clone feature. It allows you to clone large disk to smaller disk as well as clone MBR disk to GPT disk.

If you need to move customized system including user data to another computer, you can create a full system backup of the current computer and then restore to your new computer withВ AOMEI Backupper Professional.

To save storage space, you can also set up a SchemeВ (supported by Pro edition) to auto delete old backups.

If you want to use this software to backup multiple computers, you can also create a portable version (supported by Tech or Tech plus version) of AOMEI BackupperВ on removable device, then insert it to any target computer to perform backup and restore without installing.

Conclusion

That’s all for how to backup/copy user profile in Windows 10. You can choose one solution according to your situation.

If you want to backup and restore user profile in Windows 10, please let Windows backup utility to help you.

If you prefer to copy user profile to another computer/user, just go to Advanced System Properties to make it.

If you want a continual backup for the user profile, then AOMEI Backupper is the way to go. In addition, it can also help you transfer any file from one computerВ to another one.