Talking about the backup and restore mechanism of Windows 7 system

The recent discussion about the feasibility of Win 7 single partition scheme is very hot, and the backup and restore of data has been mentioned many times. It seems that there is a need to write something.

Why are we backing up? From a small point of view, it is convenient for us to quickly return to normal working conditions in an emergency; from a big point of view, data is invaluable—especially today as computers become more and more containers for our personal life. This is especially important.

What should we use to back up? I believe that many people will say without thinking: "GHOST." Indeed, GHOST is very successful as a partitioned data migration software. In China's software application environment, it also gets the end user's pole under the combined effect of many factors. Great acceptance and even deification, widely used in system deployment, system backup and other fields. But GHOST is based on the hard disk partitioning scheme, which means that it is just a part of the backup and restore system. From the current popular version of GHOST, the lack of online backup, incremental or differential backup, backup plans and other shortcomings make it practically compromised. I had to interrupt the existing work for GHOST backup, I had to restore the system state to a point in time (unless you keep multiple GHO files), I had to mark a lot of "Today GHOST" on the calendar. For the unskilled people, even if they are trying to simplify the operation of the "one-click GHOST", they can not effectively create a backup file that suits their own usage (and the backup from the user's usage is equal to nothing), while the misoperation is larger. The risk of data loss can be greatly increased. Therefore, in the past few years, I did not give them a "one-button GHOST" for the computers used by parents. Because I understand that GHOST is not effective for them to achieve emergency recovery, but will become a bomb to destroy data. For fathers with many press releases, this is an unimaginable disaster.

Backup is not only GHOST can be completed, many software is fighting in the field of backup and restore. The operating system we are using also provides us with a wealth of backup and restore functions. Why not take a look at what the system can do before making a decision?

Overview of the history of backup and restore functions of recent generations of Windows operating systems, it is not difficult to see that Microsoft has made considerable efforts in this regard. From the simple file backup based on shadow copy and the less reliable restore point under XP, to the restore point of Vista with greatly improved usability (I used the restore point of a machine several months ago to successfully take the system from the 瘫痪The state has been quickly restored, of course, the use of old restore points is not recommended.) The successful completion of the CompletePC system image backup and the introduction of the WIN RE environment, and the further improvement of the backup management and backup plan under 7 Introduced, users who have experienced this change process will certainly sigh: Windows backup function is more and more usable, and it is getting better and better.

This article will introduce, that is, the backup and restore mechanism of Windows7. In fact, the core of this backup and restore mechanism has been laid in the era of Vista, and I still pay tribute to Vista.

Overview, the backup and restore mechanism of Windows7 consists of three parts: system and file backup based on shadow copy (short shadow copy), file backup and restore, system image backup and restore.

First, the system based on shadow copy and file backup and restore

This function is what we often say "system restore" or "restore point". It uses shadow copy technology to create a shadow copy of a file in a partition that turns this feature on.

(1) How to backup?

By default, the shadow copy function is enabled in the partition where the system is located. Restore points are automatically created before a major system event occurs. Every seven days, if no restore points are created in the previous seven days, restore points are automatically created, but you can manually create restore points at any time. The entire backup process will be completed quickly without affecting the user's work. The maximum space occupied by shadow copy defaults to 3% of the partition size. After the limit is exceeded, the old restore points will be automatically cleaned up. This is one of the reasons why we see that the system partition space is floating in an interval. ). Under the System Protection tab of System Properties, we can manage and configure the shadow copy function.

(2) How to restore?

The benefits of shadow copying are three. One is to use the restore point to quickly recover the system files and settings. The other is to recover the files that were accidentally deleted and changed in the partition to the point where the restore point was created. State; third is to facilitate the rollback of the driver.

1. For the operation of restoring the system, you can either enter "Restore" in the start menu, enter the system restore interface and follow the wizard. You can also use the system installation CD to boot into WIN RE. Select Repair the computer and follow the wizard. This action does not affect the user's personal files.

2, for the operation of restoring any file to the previous version, you can view the properties of the file or its parent (grandfather, great-grandfather...) folder, select the "previous version" tab, open Copy the file after the corresponding time point.

3. For the operation of the driver to be rolled back, you can enter the device manager to view the properties of the corresponding device, and select "rollback driver" under the "Driver" tab.