SAVING THE SYSTEM STATE WITH BACKUP

Let's look at one more backup possibility for the system state. You can use the Backup utility. Remember from earlier in the lesson that the Backup utility is primarily for data backup; however, it also has an option for backing up the system state. You can save the system state backup to any location (which makes it more flexible than System Restore), and there's no danger of introducing Registry errors with this method (which makes it safer than the Registry Editor).

To back up the system state with Backup, follow these steps:

  1. Start the Backup utility. The Backup or Restore Wizard runs.
  2. Click the Advanced Mode hyperlink on the Welcome screen. The Backup Utility window appears.
  3. Click the Backup tab. A list of drives appears in the left pane, like a folder tree in a file management window.

This Backup tab is also where you go to back up specific files with the Backup utility.

  1. Check the System State checkbox in the left pane.
  2. In the Backup media or file name box (at the bottom), enter a path and file name to back up to, as shown in Figure 1-5.
Figure 1-5: Backup Utility Backup tab.
Figure 1-5: Backup Utility Backup tab.

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  1. Click Start Backup. A Backup Job Information dialog box appears.
  2. (Optional) Edit the text in the Backup Description box to mention that this is a system state backup.
  3. Click Start Backup, and then wait for the backup to complete.
  4. When the message appears that the backup is complete, click Close.

You restore a system state backup the same way you restore a data backup with the Backup utility.