Mid-Atlantic Regional Group

Blinded Veterans Association

Computer Corner

Back Up Your Files

Back up your Files.

As our world becomes more digitized, the files we store on our computers are becoming increasingly more important. Instead of keeping handwritten letters in a shoebox, we correspond with family members using e-mail. If we use digital cameras, we often keep our photo albums on our computers.

Unfortunately, computers (and particularly the hard disk drives that hold your files) can fail. Your computer might run for years with no problems, or it could fail tomorrow—of course there is no way to tell. To make sure you don't lose important files if your computer stops working, you should back up your computer on a regular basis. The backup process copies your files to a safe place so that even if your computer fails, you won't lose them.

It doesn't make sense to back up your files to the hard disk drive inside your computer, because if your computer were to fail, you would also lose your backup. Instead, you should back up your files to an external hard disk drive or removable disk drive, such as a CD. If your computer does fail, you can then connect the external hard disk drive or use the CDs to restore your files to your new or repaired computer. (This article describes how to back up your files to an external hard disk drive, which is the easiest way to do a full backup of all your files. If you decide to use CDs, you'll need to choose which files to back up and then manually insert and remove CDs as they are filled.) Note: Veterans-back-up should be done on your DVD-CD Drive.  If you are unsure how to do a backup or create DVD or CD's please take the time to get with experienced help to ensure it is done safely.

Manually back up your files.

To back up your files to an external hard disk drive

  1. Click Start, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Backup. If backup does not appear on your menu, the backup program needs to be installed on your computer.  Please get assistance.
  2. The Backup or Restore Wizard appears. Click Next.
  3. On the Backup or Restore page, click Next.
  4. On the What to Back Up page, click All information on this computer, and then click Next.
  5. On the Backup Type, Destination, and Name page, click Choose a place to save your backup, and select your external hard disk drive. Then click Next.
  6. On the Completing the Backup or Restore Wizard page, click Finish.
  7. Windows Backup saves a copy of your files to your external hard disk drive. When the backup is complete, click Close.

If your computer stops responding, you will be able to restore your files to the state they were in when you completed the backup. However, any new files you have created and any changes you have made to existing files since the backup occurred will not be saved unless you back up your files again. For best results, back up your files every week or immediately after creating important files, such as after you copy pictures from your digital camera.

End of Document

Back to How To.

Back to Home.