Disk for data archiving. Methods and means of ensuring data integrity. Recovering data from an archive

A Russian proverb says that until thunder strikes, a man will not cross himself. It’s the same with our documents, photos, passwords, etc., which are stored on the hard drive. home computer. But we don’t even have the thought that HDD may break down and “say” goodbye, and all our data will go with him.

To protect yourself from such surprises, you must at least occasionally do a full backup copy our system. For these purposes, you should select a separate folder on your computer’s hard drive in which the image of our system will be stored. Moreover, the disk must be divided into at least two partitions, since creating an archive of the system image in the partition with installed system will not work.

In addition to this, you should allocate space on your external hard drive and periodically upload backups there. You can also use a flash card with a capacity of 32-64 GB for these purposes, but first format the external hard drive and flash drive as a file one NTFS system, otherwise the image will not be able to be copied onto them.

A copy of the archive is needed in case the original is somehow damaged on the computer’s hard drive, and having a copy of it, you can always restore the Windows 7 system without any problems. But there is one point: if a copy of the archive is stored on a flash drive, then before During recovery, the archive will have to be copied to an external hard drive, since the recovery utility does not see it on the flash drive.

1. Creating a system image archive.

To create a system image archive, we will use the standard Windows tool “ Archiving" This utility allows you to create an accurate snapshot of all content hard drive or a copy of individual files and folders. And she can do this more than once, but according to the schedule we set. More on this below.

Let's go to " Control Panel» -> « Backup and recovery" and run the command " Creating a system image».

In the next window, the program will prompt you to select hard section The disk on which you want to save the system backup archive. Select the desired section and click " Further».

By default, the archiving program itself will select the partition with the operating system, and if you want to add another partition for archiving, then check the box next to it. Click " Further».

After finishing the utility archiving and recovery A folder with the system archive will appear on your hard drive, which you can immediately copy to a flash card or external hard drive.

However, once created, the system image archive has its own underwater rock. If after six months or a year Windows “dies”, then when restoring the system from the archive, the utility will destroy all files located on the hard drive in this moment time, and replace them with your own files from the archive. That is, we will get the system rolled back a year or six months ago.

On the one hand, there is nothing terrible, because a full-fledged working system from six months or a year ago has been restored, but on the other hand, you can lose important files or documents if they were not backed up in time.

Of course, before restoring, you can use a special boot disk Live CD and download a simplified version from it Windows version, and with its help find and copy all the necessary data to an external drive. What if there is no such disk? What if you don’t know how to use it?

To avoid all this, you can configure the archiving program so that it will automatically make backup copies according to the schedule you specify and save them to the specified location. In this case, the entire archive will not be rewritten, but only modified files will be added.

2. Setting up automatic archiving of a Windows 7 system backup.

Let's go to " Control Panel» -> « Backup and recovery" and run the command " Set up backup" This procedure is performed once, and in the future Windows will create a backup copy according to the scheme you choose automatically.

In the next window, the backup program will prompt you to select the disk on which the system backup will be stored.

It’s better to let her update the files on the computer’s hard drive and copy them to a flash card or external drive you can always. The main thing is not to forget this matter.

Select the hard drive partition to store the archive and click “ Further».

The window that opens will offer two archiving options. Select " Give me a choice" and click " Further».

In this window, check the boxes as shown in the screenshot and click “ Further».

Before starting archiving, we are offered to check the settings made again and, if necessary, change the schedule according to which the utility will work. By default, the program will update the archive every Sunday at 19.00. If this gap is large or small for you, then select the command “ Change schedule"and customize the schedule for yourself, and then changes made press " OK».

After archiving is complete, an archive file with the name of your computer will appear next to the previously created system image file. Moreover, the previously created file will be automatically updated by the archiving program at the current time.

3. Restoring Windows 7 using a previously created system image.

Now imagine a situation where our Windows 7 does not start and displays a black screen.

Insert into the drive system recovery disk, reboot and, following the instructions of the system, we reach the window “ System Recovery Options", in which we select the utility " Restoring a system image».

If you have any difficulties at this stage, the article describes it in detail.

In the window that opens, we will be asked to select the latest available system image. Here we fully agree with the choice of program and click “ Further».

Once again, make sure that the image archive is selected correctly and click “Finish”.

And before the recovery process itself, we are warned that all data on the disk will be replaced with data from the archived system image. If everything suits us, click “ Yes"and start recovery Windows systems 7 from the image.

Now, if your system is severely damaged and cannot boot on its own, then having system recovery disk And archived system image, You can easily restore Windows 7.
Good luck!

Archiving andrecoverydata, recoverysystemsAndautomaticrecoverysystems

Data archiving

If you are responsible for the security of your information, you should

1 backup your files so you can restore them if they are accidentally deleted or if something goes wrong hard drives, as well as on

1 case if your computer is lost or stolen. To meet these needs, Windows XP Professional includes a Backup utility. (If this utility does not meet your needs, use third-party protection.) In this section, you will find information about the Data Archive utility, its limitations, and how to work around those limitations.

Note. If you have a relatively small number of files stored on your computer, then when reinstalling system files and applications, instead of |archiving, you can use the usual copying of the files you need to a recordable CD. In a domain environment, the administrator is required to centrally archive the files of most domain clients. To simplify the archiving process, your administrator may require you to store your files on a server rather than on your computer's local drive. Chapter 8 stated that an administrator can configure Windows XP Professional to store your configuration files on a server rather than on local computer. Therefore, the administrator will also be able to archive configuration files. Once all the necessary files are stored and archived centrally, an administrator can replace the system volume containing the standard Windows XP Professional configuration and applications remotely using Remote Installation Services (RIS) and IntelliMirror if your Windows XP configuration experiences problems. In such a situation, you do not need to worry because your data is stored in trusted places on the network.

Note. With Administrator and Backup Operator rights, you can archive and restore any files yourself - even if you do not have access to these files (personal user files). If you have a Limited account, you will only be able to archive and restore your own files.

Archiving media

Using the Backup utility, you can archive your data to local hard disks, network drives, film media, and removable media such as ZIP or JAZ. However, Backup cannot back up directly to a recordable CD. To do this, you need to install special software, such as Roxio's DirectCD. However, you can archive your data to a file located on your hard drive, and then burn this file to a CD. (Some archiving utilities can archive files directly to a CD This may be one of the reasons why you might prefer a different archiving program.)

Archiving your system

To archive the system, follow these steps.

us/Standard/Service/Data Archiving).

2. Default when first launched Backup program opens in ma mode
stera; in this case you will see the Welcome to the Backup or Restore Wizard page
(Backup and Restore Wizard).

■ An alternative to the Wizard is Advanced mode, which
we'll tell you later. (This section assumes that you are using
Backup or Restore Wizard To display
To run the Backup utility in advanced mode, click on the Advanced link
Mode.

■ To ensure that Backup always opens in advanced mode, clear
Always Start in Wizard Mode check box,

3. On the Backup or Restore page, select the option
Back Up Files and Settings.

4. On the What To Back Up page, highlight the appropriate option (see Table 1 for a list of options). If you select the Let Me Choose What to Back Up option, use the Items to Back Up page to select the drives, folders, and files that you want to back up.

Table. 1. ElementsForarchiving

Option

Explanation

My Documents and Settings

Everyone's Documents and Settings of this computer)

All Information on This Computer

Let Me Choose What to Back Up Archives all folders and files in your user profile: your configuration information, the contents of the My Documents folder and its subfolders. Archives the user profile for each account user of this computer. Full archiving, including ASR disk. Using ASR, you can then completely restore your system. For this to work, the backup file must be on the external hard drive as ASR will delete it. Allows you to independently select the files and folders that need to be archived.

On the Completing the Backup or Restore Wizard page, review the options you selected. If necessary, click the Back button to change the archiving settings. For To perform a Normal backup type using the parameters specified in the wizard, click Finish. You can also select other archiving types by clicking the Advanced button.

Selecting additional archiving options

To access the four pages containing recovery options on the Completing the Backup or Restore Wizard page, click the Advanced button. The following sections provide information about the options offered by these pages.

Selectoparchiving type

On Type page of Backup In the Backup and Restore Wizard, select the type of backup you want to perform. Archiving types differ in the parameters that will be archived and the state of the archive bit, a tag on the file or folder indicating whether archiving is required (archive bit enabled or set) or not (archive bit disabled or cleared). Table 2 provides information explaining that Various types Archiving is done with an archive bit and files marked for archiving.

Archiving types	Description	Archive bit
Normal	Archives every file or folder
Copy	Copies (does not archive) each selected file or folder
Differential	Archives selected folders and files that have changed since the last archive	Not reset
Incremental	Archives selected folders and files that have changed since the last backup or differential backup
Daily	Archives selected folders and files changed on the day archiving was started

There are differences between incremental and differential archiving. Incremental archives grow in size daily (so they require more disk space) because they include every file that has changed since the last full archive was performed. As a result, you can restore your computer using the last full backup and the last incremental backup. A differential backup only includes files that have changed since the last full or differential backup—it is not cumulative. Therefore, to restore your computer, you will need the most recent full backup and every differential backup created since that full backup.

Examinationdata, hardwarecompressionAndshadowcopying

On the How to Back Up page of the Backup and Restore Wizard, you can select the following options: Verify the Data After Backup (recommended); Use Hardware Compression (only available on some film media and other custom archiving devices); Disable Volume Shadow Copy. Volume shadow copy creates a copy of the volume and then archives the copy instead of the volume itself. Advantage this method is that while archiving you can continue to work with your applications and files. The disadvantage of this method is that it only works on NTFS volumes and does not work with FAT volumes. Volume Shadow Copy is enabled by default.

ReplacementexistingarchiveoradditiondataTohim

On the Backup Options page of the Backup and Restore Wizard, you can select the following options: Append the Backup To An Existing Backup and Replace the Existing Backup. These options only apply if the archiving location already contains an existing archive. If you choose to replace an existing archive, you will be able to select the Allow Only the Owner and the Administrator Access to the Backup Data and to Any Backups Appended to This Medium option. and administrator). This option allows you to restrict access to archives to everyone except the archive owner and administrator.

Creating an archiving run schedule

On the When to Back Up page of the Backup and Restore Wizard, you can choose when to run the backup: Backup Now or Create a Schedule for the Backup to Run Later. To create a schedule, you need to specify an account, which must have a password.

Recovering files from an archive

Whenever you need to restore files from an archive, follow these steps.

1. Select Start/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Backup
us/Standard/Service/Data Archiving) to launch the Backup utility. How
and before, the Backup program will open in wizard mode by default, so
you will see the Welcome to the Backup or Restore Wizard page again.
tation and restoration).

2. On the Backup or Restore page, select the option
Restore Files and Options.

3. On the What to Restore page, open the archive file from which you want to restore files. Specify files and folders to be restored by highlighting the appropriate checkboxes

4. On the Completing the Backup or Restore Wizard page, you can click the Finish button to perform a standard restore (restores files to their original locations, but does not replace existing files that have the same names as the ones being restored files) or click the Advanced button ( Additional selection parameters).

Change advanced recovery options

By clicking the Advanced button located on the Completing the Backup or Restore Wizard page, you can open the next three pages containing additional options.

Selecting a recovery location

On the Where to Restore page of the Backup and Restore Wizard, specify where to place the files and folders to be restored. Use the Original Location option when you need to stop one or more folders or drives, and you are ready to replace the current files and folders with the recoverable ones. Use the Alternate Location option to restore files or folders to another folder without replacing the current files. Then you can replace the current files manually. Use the Altern Location text box to specify the folder in which to place the recovered files. Use the Single Location option to restore files to another single folder location without overwriting the current files. Placing all files in one folder can be useful if restoring several files from different folders and keeping them in one folder is more convenient than placing them in separate folders. To specify the folder in which to place the recovered files, use the Folder Nan text box.

Recovery method

On the How to Restore page, you can choose how to restore files if files with the same name already exist in the specified location on your computer. You can select the following options: Leave Existing File; (Leave existing file), Replace Existing Files if They Are Older than the Backup Files, Replace Existing Files.

Extra options recovery

The Advanced Restore Options page allows you to select the following options.

■ The Restore Security Settings option determines whether Backup will reapply permissions and audit settings
to the recovered files. This option is available only when restoring an archive made on disk in NTFS format. If the option is available, it is selected
default.

■ Option Restore Junction Points, but Not the Folders and File Data They Reference
(Recovering connection points, not the folders and files they refer to). When you select this option, Data Backup restores junction points without restoring the folders and files they point to.) A restore point is a physical cluster on your hard drive that points to data stored elsewhere. Typically, you create a connection point when you attach a drive to an NTFS folder. You probably won't need to use this option.

■ Preserve Existing Volume Mount Points option. This option determines whether the Data Archive utility allows you to retain any existing volume mount points or replace them with archive data. This option highlighted by default.

UsageutilitiesBackupVexpandedmode

Instead of using the Backup and Restore Wizard, you can open the Backup utility in Advanced mode. The following sections provide information about the options offered in Advanced mode.

Using the four Power Mode tabs

Advanced mode contains four tabs that provide direct access to the archiving options of the Backup utility.

Recoverysystems

System Restore is a semi-automatic recovery tool designed to recover a system from problems such as configuration problems, system instability, or the installation of an application that is not working as it should. System Restore automatically creates snapshots of the configuration of your system files, allowing you to later restore your computer to its pre-crash configuration. These snapshots are called restore points or system checkpoints. They are located on your hard drive, and space for them is automatically reserved by the System Restore utility. By default, System Restore stores restore points for up to 90 days, after which they are automatically deleted. When System Restore doesn't have enough space, it overwrites the oldest points, freeing it up for new restore points.

LaunchRecoverysystems

To run System Restore, you must be an administrator. If you try to run Restore as a non-administrator, Windows XP Professional will display a dialog box informing you that you do not have sufficient security privileges to restore the system. To open System Restore, select Start/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools/System Restore. You can also start System Restore by running / / csystemroot%\system32\Restore\rstrui.exe Since you have to specify the path, using the Start menu is usually faster and easier.Figure 23.6 shows the System Restore page.Administrators have tight control over System Restore.An administrator can do the following.

1. Disable the System Restore program and prevent you from using it. Disable System Restore and prevent you from configuring it. Disable System Restore, but allow you to customize it (if you are an administrator).

WhatprotectsRecoverysystems

System Restore protects your system files, application files, shortcuts and links from your Start menu. System Restore doesn't protect your favorites. To protect your data files, use the Data Backup utility or another backup utility. System Restore does not protect archived files created using the Data Backup utility. To view information about the files, folders, and file types that System Restore excludes, run %systemroot%\system32\Restore\filelist.xml.

Creationpointsrecoverysystems automaticallyAndmanually

In the default configuration, Windows XP Professional automatically creates the following restore points:

■ at the first booting Windows XP Professional after installation is complete;

■ every 24 hours of calendar time. If the computer does not work, Windows XP
Professional will create a restore point as soon as it works. You can
change the automatic recovery point creation interval based on
on calendar time, by editing the RPGloballnteral parameter
DWORD under HKLM\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\
SystemRestore. The value of this parameter is the interval in seconds. By request
This is 86400 seconds or 24 hours.

Advice. You can also force Windows XP to create restore points at intervals while your computer is running. This feature may be useful for computers that work most of the time. To create such session-interval recovery points, change the values ​​of the RPSessionlnterval parameter located in the HKLM\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\SystemRestore section. By default, the value is set to zero (no restore points are created). Set the number of seconds as the interval. For example, you could specify 7200 seconds to create a session-interval recovery point every two hours. You can also create session-interval recovery points in addition to or instead of recovery points at an interval based on calendar time.

■ When you restore your system to an earlier or later recovery point
updates using System Restore. (You can restore to more
later point, if restoration to the earlier point does not give the expected result
result.)

■ When you use the Data Backup utility to restore your
stems.

■ When installing or uninstalling applications such as Installshield and Windows Installer.

■ When installing some device drivers—especially device drivers that
not digitally signed.

As an administrator, you can create restore points manually at any time convenient for you. For ease of identification, you can assign each recovery point its own individual name. The best times to create restore points are before you make configuration changes, before installing an application that may not use a System Restore-compatible installer, or before installing a driver that you don't fully trust.

To create a restore point, follow these instructions.

1.Select Start/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools/System Restore
grams/Standard/Utilities/System Restore) to launch the utility
System Restore.

2.Highlight the Restore My Computer to an Earlier Time option.
computer status) and click Next to open the window
Select a Restore Point (See Figure 23.7).

3.Select a restore point by clicking on a date in the calendar, and then select
restore point in the list.

Warning. The calendar displays available restore points only for the currently displayed month. Any days from the previous or subsequent month are not shown. To see the restore points available for a different month, display that month using the calendar control buttons.

5.Check the options you have selected, close any other running
attachment and click Next to perform the restore.

6.After rebooting, make sure that the system is working correctly. If that's not the case,
Use System Restore to restore your previous computer.
Windows XP (that is, cancel the restore), or restore the system
mu at an earlier recovery point.

\Setting up and disabling System Restore

You have the option to change the amount of hard drive space allocated by: System Restore. You can also disable System Restore for any drives where it is not needed. You can even disable System Restore for all drives, however, this is not the smartest solution. (Unless you are desperately short of disk space and cannot allow System Restore to use the required 200MB or more.)

Note. Your administrator may not allow you to configure System Restore. If this is the case, the System Restore Settings link will not appear on the System Restore page; You also won't see a System Restore tab in the System Properties dialog box.

By default, System Restore allocates 12 percent of the disk space for each hard drive larger than 4GB and 400MB for each drive smaller than 4GB. For large drives this space is more than enough, so you can reduce it. However, the less space you allocate to System Restore, the fewer restore points you will have, so you will have to experiment with this value to determine the optimal settings for your computer. System Restore is recommended only for disks that contain system and application files; For other drives it is better to disable it. For most configurations, this means that System Restore will only be used to system disk. However, if the application files are not stored on the system drive (for example, the system drive does not accommodate both), you should enable System Restore for the drive containing those applications.

To change the amount of disk space allocated for System Restore, follow these instructions.

1. Press WINDOWS-BREAK to display the System Properties dialog box, then click the System Restore tab to display it (see Figure 23.8). Alternatively, open System Restore and on the System Restore home page, click the System Restore Settings link to display the System Restore tab of the System Properties dialog box.

Note. The controls on the System Restore tab of the System Properties dialog box vary depending on the number of volumes. The computer shown in Figure 23.8 has two volumes, so Windows XP displays an Available Drives list and a Settings button. If your computer only has one volume, on the System Restore tab, instead of the Available Disks list and Options button, you will see a Disk Space Usage slider. Using this slider, you can change the amount of disk space reserved for system recovery.

2. To completely disable System Restore, select the Turn Off option
System Restore on All Drives or Turn Off System Restore option. (The latter is used for computers that have only one volume.) As mentioned earlier, a complete shutdown is not recommended except in rare cases.

3. To configure System Restore for a disk, highlight the disk in the list
Available Drives and click the Settings button. Windows XP will then display the Settings dialog box for that drive.

■ The controls in the Options dialog box vary depending on whether the drive is a system drive.

■ The right screen of Figure 23.8 shows an example of the Options dialog box
for the system disk. Non-System Disk Options Dialog Box
also contains an option to Turn Off System Restore on This Drive.

4. Use the Disk Space to Use slider to specify
the amount of disk space reserved for system recovery
We. Or, if necessary, select the Turn Off System Restore on This option
Drive (Disable system recovery on this drive). If your computer
has only one disk, use the appropriate controls on
System Restore tab of the System dialog box
Properties.

5. If you have multiple drives on your computer, configure the recovery settings for them.
formation of the system.

Deleting restore points

System Restore automatically deletes restore points after 90 days. If System Restore detects that there is not enough disk space before this point, it will delete the oldest restore points to make room for new ones. You cannot delete restore points directly through Windows Explorer, but you can do so using one of the following methods.

■ To delete all restore points except the last one, run
Disk Cleanup and select the System Restore option
system) (for more information on disk cleanup, see Chapter 39).

■ To delete all restore points, turn off System Restore,
This is not recommended because after disabling System Restore)
you may have difficulty restoring your computer after
failures.

■ To reduce the amount of time during which System Recovery
themes stores recovery points, reduce the value of the RPLifeInterval parameter
in the registry key HKLM\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\
SystemRestore. By default, this value is 7776000 seconds or 90 days.

Automatic system recovery

Automated System Recovery (ASR) is a tool for automatically recovering your system in the event of a failure. ASR is the last hope to restore the system if it was not possible using other recovery methods. ASR is the last step before reinstalling Windows XP Professional manually. You can also use ASR to solve less serious problems, however this is not recommended and may lead to unintended consequences.

Note. The next chapter contains an overview of the tools Windows recovery XP Professional. In it you will find descriptions of other Windows XP Professional recovery tools, and also learn when to use each of them.

ASR is included in Windows XP Professional - Microsoft did not include this tool in the Windows XP Home Edition. It is believed that this was done to prevent users from trying to use this tool when it is not necessary, and also because the company wanted to differentiate between Windows XP Professional and Windows XP Home Edition.

Note. In a domain environment, your data files and configuration files can be stored online because they can be easily archived by an administrator. In this situation, you won't have to use ASR. If the Windows XP Professional configuration becomes corrupted, the administrator can restore the system volume using the standard configuration using Remote Installation Services (RIS) and IntelliMirror.

How does it workASR

ASR archives the contents of your system volume into a large archive file and saves a small amount of important configuration information to a floppy disk. If a problem occurs that cannot be resolved by conventional recovery tools, you should boot from your Windows disk XP Professional CD in special ASR mode. You will then provide your floppy disk and point Windows XP Professional to the location of the ASR archive. The archive file can be stored on removable media or a hard drive. Since this archive contains all the files of the system volume, it will take up a lot of space - from 1 to several tens of gigabytes. Therefore, the archive medium must be of sufficient size to accommodate the archive file. A recordable D drive, tape media, or external hard drive will work fine. If you plan to store your ASR archive file on your hard drive, pay attention to the following points. The archive file must be stored on a volume other than the system volume. If the archive file is saved to a non-system volume, it will be overwritten when ASR attempts to restore your system volume to its previous state. ASR will format the partition and then create junction points and directory structures using the information from the ASR floppy disk.

■ Although you can store the ASR archive file on a different volume on the same internal drive that contains your system volume, storing the file on a different hard drive is preferable. There are two reasons for this. First, any hardware problem that affects a system volume (for example, a bad sector or a broken partition table) can also affect other volumes on that disk. This may prevent recovery from an ASR archive. Secondly, it is safer to store the archive file off the computer. External hard disk or network drive provide the required flexibility and a large amount of disk space, sufficient to fully archive your system's system volume.

Warning. ASR is not a panacea for system failures and data loss. ASR does not provide a complete backup of your entire system. ASR cannot help you if data is lost, corrupted, or accidentally deleted unless it is stored on a system volume. Use ASR to protect your system files, but don't forget to archive your data files regularly as well

Creating a disaster recovery setsystems using...

Hello, friends! Today we’ll look at what it is archiving Windows data 7 and how it can make life easier for users without having to resort to . Data recovery is a topic that is more relevant for new computer users. Seasoned users and those who have already experienced the loss of data in connection with and those who saw how their friends tried in vain to bring it back to life know that backup is the first thing to do to minimize moral and material losses. There are a lot of programs on the Internet, both paid and freely distributed, for performing automatic data archiving or backup. And there is a powerful tool - Archiving and Restoring Files, which we will consider in this article.

In order to open the Backup and Restore Files utility, you can use. Open it and write archiving in the search field. Select Backup and Restore

If you do not have archiving configured, you will see the picture below. Click Configure backup

In the next window, select the location of the archive. The system tells us that it is better to store your backups on . I don’t have a free hard drive yet, so we’ll select another partition of the existing HDD. Select Local drive E, which is recommended and click next

Choosing what to archive. Can be given a choice operating system, or you can make your own choice. It will copy files located in libraries, on the desktop and in standard folders - “AppData”, “Contacts”, “Downloads”, “Favorites”, “Links”, “Saved Games” and “Searches”.

If you changed part of the document, for example, deleted part of the file. To restore, click on the file right click mouse and select Restore previous version

In the File versions section, select the one you need. If you select from, you will not have the option to save a current copy of the document. Save it if necessary before restoring

When restoring from an archive, you will have the option to either replace the file or save the file being restored under a different name.

Everything about file recovery.

In order to be able to return or completely restore the system, you need to make an image of it. This can be done using , and can be done using built-in tools. Let's look at the latter in more detail.

Open the Archive and Restore window. On the left select Create a system image

Select a location to save the archive. You can choose on (there is no option yet to try saving on), on DVDs or in a network location. In a network location this is a bit far, but on a DVD it’s not realistic, since you need a lot of disks and don’t have a drive.

Open the Action menu and select Attach virtual hard disk

In the window that opens, use the Browse... button to select a file with the VHD extension. Click OK

The attached virtual disk looks like this

Information can be accessed using Windows Explorer or any file manager. You can copy any file or folder to your main .

Space management is also carried out from the Archiving and Restore window. To do this, click Manage space. In the window that opens, the Change settings button becomes active... and click it

We have two options. Either delete all system images or keep the last one

And we continue to frantically press F8.

A window appears with a choice of download options. Here you can get to. We are interested in the topmost point Troubleshooting your computer

The recovery environment is loading. Select the desired language and click Next.

If you have many users, enter the administrator's name and password. I have one user and one without a password, so I just clicked Next. (How to reset the Administrator password - )

A window opens asking you to select a recovery tool. You can try Startup Recovery, then (maybe you can still find a point at which the computer is stable). If all else fails, select System Image Restore

The wizard will start following the instructions and you will successfully restore the system from the image.

Conclusion

In this article, we figured out a little bit about what Windows 7 data archiving is and how to use it. I’ll give you a few important points about archiving capabilities that I spied on Vadim Sterkin’s website

Important! It will not be possible to archive files located on the same disk where the archive will be located. That is, if your libraries (like mine) include folders that are located on the same disk where the archive is stored, then they will not be copied.

If you have any questions, ask us, we’ll sort it out.

Topic 1.3: System Software

Topic 1.4: Service software and algorithmic basics

Introduction to Economic Informatics

1.4. PC service software and algorithmic basics

1.4.1. Service software (standard and utility programs, data archiving, anti-virus programs)

1.4.1.2. Data archiving programs

Archiving is the compression of one or more files to save memory and placing the compressed data in a single archive file. Data archiving is a reduction in the physical size of files in which data is stored, without significant information loss.

Archiving is carried out in the following cases:

• when you need to back up your most valuable files;
• when you need to free up disk space;
• when you need to transfer files by E-mail.

  An archive file is a set of several files (one file), compressed into a single file, from which they can be extracted in their original form, if necessary. The archive file contains a table of contents that allows you to find out what files are contained in the archive.

  • file name;
  • file size on disk and in archive;
  • information about the location of the file on disk;
  • date and time of the last modification of the file;
  • file round-robin code used to check the integrity of the archive;
  • compression ratio.

  Each of the archives has its own compression ratio scale. Most often you can find the following gradation of compression methods:

  1. Without compression (corresponds to normal copying of files to an archive without compression).
  2. Express.
  3. Fast (characterized by the fastest but least dense compression).
  4. Ordinary.
  5. Good.
  6. Maximum (the maximum possible compression is also the slowest compression method).

  Best archived graphic files in .bmp format, MS Office documents and Web pages.

  What are archivers?

  Archivers are programs (a set of programs) that perform compression and recovery compressed files in its original form. The process of compressing files is called archiving. The process of recovering compressed files is by unzipping. Modern archivers differ in the algorithms they use, speed, and compression ratio (WinZip 9.0, WinAce 2.5, PowerArchiver 2003 v.8.70, 7Zip 3.13, WinRAR 3.30, WinRAR 3.70 RU).

  Other names for archivers: utilities - packers, programs - packers, utilities that allow you to place copies of files in compressed form into an archive file.

  There are archivers in MS DOS, but they only work in command line mode. These are the PKZIP and PKUNZIP programs, the ARJ archiver program. Modern archivers provide a graphical user interface and saved command line. Currently, the best archiver for Windows is WinRAR.

  WinRAR archiver

  WinRAR is a 32-bit version of the RAR archiver for Windows. It is a powerful tool for creating and managing archives. There are several versions of RAR, for different operating systems: Windows, Linux, UNIX, DOS, OS/2, etc.

  There are two versions of RAR for Windows:
  

  • version with graphical user interface - WinRAR.EXE;
  • Console version RAR.EXE console command line (text mode) version - Rar.exe.

  
  Rice. 1.

  WinRAR features:

  1. Allows you to unpack archives CAB, ARJ, LZH, TAR, GZ, ACE, UUE, BZ2, JAR, ISO, and provides archiving of data in ZIP and RAR formats.
  2. Provides full support for ZIP and RAR archives.
  3. It has special algorithms optimized for text and graphics. For multimedia, compression can only be used with RAR formats.
  4. Supports drag & drop technology.
  5. Has a command line interface.
  6. Can perform continuous archiving, which provides a higher compression ratio than conventional compression methods, especially when packaging large numbers of small files of the same content.
  7. Provides support multi-volume archives, that is, it splits the archive into several volumes (for example, to write a large archive to disks). Volume expansion: RAR, R01, R02, etc. With a self-extracting archive, the first volume has the EXE extension.
  8. Creates self-extracting archives (SFX), regular and multi-volume archives, and protects them with passwords.
  9. Provides recovery of physically damaged archives.
  10. It has recovery tools that allow you to restore missing parts of a multi-volume archive.
  11. Supports UNICODE in file names.
  12. For beginners, the Wizard mode is intended, with which you can easily carry out all operations on archives.

  WinRAR has other additional features. WinRAR is capable of creating an archive in two different formats: RAR and ZIP.

  Let's look at the advantages of each format.

  Archive in ZIP format

  The main advantage of the ZIP format is its popularity. For example, most archives on the Internet are ZIP archives. Therefore, the application to e-mail It is best sent in ZIP format. You can also send a self-extracting archive. Such an archive is a little large, but can be extracted without external programs. Another advantage of ZIP is speed. ZIP archive usually created faster than RAR.

  Archive in RAR format

  The RAR format provides significantly better compression than ZIP in most cases. In addition, the RAR format provides support for multi-volume archives and has recovery tools damaged files, archives files of virtually unlimited sizes. It should be noted that when working in file system FAT32 archives can only reach 4 gigabytes. Working with large archive sizes is only supported in the NTFS file system.

  Microsoft Backup archiving program (backup)

  The program is launched: Start – Programs – Standard – Utilities – Data Archiving. The Backup and Restore Wizard opens as usual. From this mode, you can switch to the advanced mode to work with the Backup Wizard, Restore Wizard, and OS Disaster Recovery Wizard.

  
  Rice. 2.

  The archiving program allows you to protect data from accidental loss if the system experiences a hardware or storage failure. WITH using Backup You can back up your data to your hard drive and then create an archive on another storage medium. The archive medium can be a logical disk or a separate device (removable disk).

  The backup program creates a snapshot of the volume, which is an exact copy of the contents of the disk at a specific point in time, including open files, used by the system. While the backup program is running, the user can continue to work with the OS without the risk of data loss.

  The archiving program provides the following features:

  1. Archiving of selected files and folders in case of hard drive failure or accidental deletion of files (you can archive to a hard drive or removable drive, etc.). Backup restores archived files and folders to your hard drive.
  2. Archiving system state data. The program allows you to archive copies of important system components such as the registry, boot files and directory service database. The backup program allows you to restore copies of important system components, such as the registry, boot files, and directory service database.

Archiving is the most effective and the best tool ensuring data safety. Timely backup of information can not only protect you from losing important files, but also allow you to restore your computer after serious failures.

Introduction

Purely theoretically, modern Windows operating systems should be able to run on computers without failures for a very long time. To do this, the OS integrates many software mechanisms that are responsible for the security and reliability of the system, designed to independently resolve various problems that arise during the operation of a PC. The same applies to the hardware component of the computer, the components of which, under normal operating conditions, should serve the user for at least several years.

But in practice everything looks a little different. In some situations, Windows stability is not as impeccable as the developers claim, and PC parts can fail after only a few days of operation. At the same time, all this can happen, as always, at the most inopportune moment. So sooner or later, an unpleasant situation may happen to any of you, as a result of which the operating system will become inoperable or important data will be lost. It is possible that both will happen at the same time.

In order to help users avoid serious troubles associated with the loss of information and failures in the OS, there are several tools in Windows that allow you to archive the necessary data, as well as create system restore checkpoints, a system image or a system recovery disk. In the future, the created copies can be used to resuscitate certain information or the entire system as a whole.

All recovery and archiving mechanisms can be found in Control panels system.

If in the computer settings window you have set browsing by category (by default), then you need to find the link Backing up computer data In chapter system and safety. If you have set to view all panel elements, then look for the option Archive or restore.

After launching it, a window will open in front of you containing links to various tools for archiving and restoring data.

Data archiving

Data archiving is the periodic creation of copies of the files and folders that you work with most often, as well as your account settings. If at point Archiving you will see the inscription Data archiving is not configured, this means that archiving was not previously performed in this system and if data is damaged, you risk losing it once and for all.

To correct this situation, click on the link Set up backup, after which the Archiving Setup Wizard will launch.

At the first stage, the utility will scan and identify all storage devices that are connected to your computer and display a list of them (except for the system drive) in a new window. From this list, you should select the disk on which you plan to store the created archives.

The most optimal storage for backups is an external (removable) hard drive, which can be stored separately from the computer. At the same time, portable magnetic drives, essentially being ordinary HDDs housed in a housing with a controller, can store the same large volumes of information as their internal storage. This means that, if necessary, in many cases you can make a complete copy of your disk and transfer all its contents, for example, to another computer. In cases where the data being archived is small in size, you can select USB flash drives, memory cards or recordable optical discs (CD, DVD) as storage objects.

In addition to external drives, you can store archived copies of files on any non-system partitions of internal hard drives. For example, this is advisable in the case when several hard drives are installed in the computer at once. If, however, a logical partition physically located on it is selected as the location for storing a backup copy of data from the disk, then if the hard drive fails, you will still say goodbye to all your information. So it is better to store data and their backups on different physical media.

Windows also provides the ability to save archived files in local network on remote computers.

Having selected the location to save the archive copy, press the button Further, after which a window will open in front of you.

Here we are asked to choose between automatic and manual selection archiving objects. In the first case, the system itself will archive files from key user libraries and folders. In the second, you can make the choice yourself.

• Data files saved in folders and libraries: Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos, AppData, Contacts, Desktop, Downloads, Favorites, Links, Saved Games and Searches.
• A system image, which is an exact copy of the system disk partition and includes the system itself and all its parameters, custom settings and files, as well as installed programs.

Of course, many users (especially beginners) will find this type of backup simpler, but it still has its drawbacks. First of all, this concerns the automatic creation of a system image archive, which can be very voluminous and lead to rapid overflow of the drive intended for storing backup copies. At the same time, it is impossible to select individual elements from the system image during data recovery, for example, only a library with documents, and therefore it is not suitable for restoring individual files or folders. So it is better to take the process of preparing a planned archive under your own control, and create an image of the system partition manually, as needed.

After selecting the item Give me a choice A window will open in front of you where you can independently mark the necessary objects for archiving using checkboxes.

Particular attention should be paid to the fact that the system separates data from different accounts, as well as data on hard drives. That is, you can choose to archive the libraries of all computer users at once, or individually. Each user also has the opportunity to select the desired components to be archived. In addition, you can add the necessary files and folders located on hard drive partitions to the backup copy. To do this, simply expand the desired section (click on the triangle on the left) and select the necessary objects. If you want to create a complete copy of a logical drive, check the box next to it without opening it.

Under the list of libraries and components for archiving, at the bottom of the window there is a separate item for creating a system disk image. At the same time, if several operating systems are installed on your computer in different partitions, then Windows will include all of them in the created image. This can be clearly seen from our screenshot, which was taken on a computer with two operating systems installed.

True, we agreed that in in this example We will not create an image of the system, but will leave this matter for later. So for now, let’s uncheck the box Include a disk system image.

After you make your choice necessary components and press the button Further, a control window will open in which you will be asked to check all the main archiving parameters again.

Here you can change archiving schedule by clicking on the link with the self-explanatory title.

In the schedule settings window, you can select the frequency, days of the week and time of archiving in automatic mode. When choosing a time, do not forget that the computer should be turned on at that moment and it is better not to be used by you, since the archiving procedure can seriously slow down the work process. In addition, in this window you can completely disable automatic creation backups on a schedule and subsequently do it only manually.

Finally, when all the parameters are specified and the settings are completed, to start the archiving procedure of the selected objects, click the button Save settings and start archiving. Windows will immediately begin the backup process according to the created rules. At this moment, you will be able to clearly monitor the progress of archiving using the indicator located in the window.

To view more detailed information, you can click on the View information button, after which an additional window will open in front of you, which will reflect the progress of the running procedure.

The duration of the archiving process directly depends on the number of objects you specified, as well as their total volume, and can take from several minutes to several hours.

After the backup is created, information about the size of the created archive and its contents, the time of creation of the next copy, as well as the date of the last archiving will appear in the already familiar archiving window.

Here you can also change or disable the schedule, perform unscheduled archiving (Archive button), create a system image or optical boot disk system recovery, as well as manage archiving disk space.

From the same window you can access the general list of backup copies by clicking on the button View archives, as well as change the system image parameters.

In order to free up disk space if it is full, in the archive list display window you can delete unnecessary (irrelevant) copies by highlighting the required entry and pressing the button Delete.

So, we have just looked at planned and manual archiving of information, which allows you to systematically save the necessary data, including personal files and folders, on selected media, thereby ensuring the possibility of their quick recovery. But we should not forget about the operating system, which is the main and most important tool for the user when working with a computer.

There are often cases when, under the influence of various external factors, normal operation the system is disrupted. For example, this can happen when the computer becomes infected with a virus or there is a sudden power outage. In certain situations, in the event of serious failures, restoring Windows functionality can be very difficult, and sometimes it is completely impossible to do. In this case, users have to not only completely reinstall the system, but also configure its settings, reinstall device drivers, as well as all programs and applications.

To avoid such unpleasant troubles and make your life easier in the event of an OS crash, Windows has a standard tool that allows you to create exact copies of the partitions in which the system is installed. By creating an image of the system partition, in the future you will be able to restore from it the entire operating system with already configured settings, personal libraries and applications you have installed in a matter of minutes.

As you probably already guessed, the same tool is used to create a disk image in Windows Backup and recovery, which we discussed above when studying the data archiving procedure. Having opened this component, in the left column of the window, you can see a link with a self-explanatory name, clicking on which will launch the mechanism for creating a copy of the system disk.

First, as in the case of regular data archiving, you will be asked to select a location to store the created image. The most preferable option here is On hard drive. In this case, it is better to store the system image on a separate internal or external storage, and not on another logical partition of the hard drive with the system installed. Only then will you be able to restore the OS in the event of a mechanical failure of the HDD.

The option of storing the image on DVDs is also not bad. But here everything will depend on how much space your backup copy of the system partition takes up. For example, in our case, archiving two system partitions may require about 145 GB. This means that to record such an image you will need 31 regular (single-layer) DVD discs.

If the system image does not exceed 30-40 GB, then optical disks can be used to store the system. Although fiddling with 8-10 media will also seem like a burden to many users.

Last alternative option Storage of system images is network location. To be honest, this option cannot be called optimal. After all, in order to pull a backup copy from a remote resource, it is necessary to connect the computer to the network, which without a fully installed operating system can be very problematic or simply impossible.

After selecting the location of the system image, a window will open in front of you in which you will need to select the disks to be included in the backup.

In fact, the figure clearly shows that in addition to system partitions, images of other logical drives can also be included in the backup. However, there is one condition here - you cannot include a disk image in the archive if it is selected as the system copy storage.

Having selected the sections required for archiving, click Further. Finally, a control window appears before us confirming the archiving parameters. The most important thing here is to pay attention to the size of the required archive space. If the predicted volume is at least slightly higher than the amount of free space on the media or almost equal to it, then it is better not to start archiving. Otherwise, you risk wasting a lot of time.

After making sure that the selected parameters are correct, click on the button Archive, to directly launch the procedure for creating a system image. If something doesn’t suit you during the archiving process, you can click the button Cancel and configure all settings again.

After completing the backup of the system partition, the wizard will prompt you to create system recovery disk. This disc will be very useful in cases where you need to restore the system from an image, but at the same time launch a previously installed copies of Windows will be impossible, and therefore it will be impossible to launch the built-in standard recovery tool. Please note that when crashes or virus infections occur, it is often the boot area of ​​the system or the components responsible for starting the OS that are damaged. So the likelihood that you will encounter just such a situation is very high.

What is a recovery disk? Essentially, this is a boot disk (you can boot your computer from it) containing basic Windows diagnostic and recovery tools that can be used to revive your computer after serious failures, including from a previously created system image.

If, after completing the system image creation procedure, you do not have a blank optical disk, then creating a recovery disk can be postponed until later. Subsequently, this can be done from a component of the system already familiar to us - Backup and recovery by clicking on the link in the left column Create a system repair disk.

The process of creating this disc is very simple. In the window that opens, you select the desired drive (if you have several of them), insert a blank DVD into it and press the button Create disk. The system will do the rest automatically for you.

Conclusion

Remember that regular archiving of data that is very important to you is the key to the fact that one day you will not have to mourn the irretrievably lost personal documents, photographs, family videos and other unique files.

Also, do not forget about your main working tool - the operating system. After all, having a backup copy of the system partition, in the event of critical Windows failures or even a hard drive failure, you can always quickly restore not only the working state of the computer, but also all your personal libraries, installed applications and system settings.