Defining a drive-based backup

Define a drive-based backup to take a shapshot of your entire hard drive.

To define a drive-based backup

  1. On the Home or Tasks page, click Run or Manage Backups.

  2. In the Run or Manage Backups window, click Define New.

    If you have not yet defined a backup, the Easy Setup dialog appears instead.

  3. Click Back up my computer, and then click Next.

  4. Select one or more drives to back up, and then click Next.

    Press and hold Ctrl to select multiple drives.

    If you do not see a drive that you expected to see, select Show Hidden Drives.

  5. If the Related Drives dialog box is displayed, set the appropriate option, and then click Next. Otherwise, skip to the next step.

    See Related Drives options.

  6. Select the recovery point type that you want the backup to create.

    See Recovery point type options.

  7. Click Next.

  8. On the Backup Destination panel, select the desired options.

    You cannot use an encrypted folder as your backup destination. You can choose to encrypt your backup data to prevent another user from accessing it.

  9. (Optional) If you want to make copies of your recovery points to store at a remote location for added backup protection, do the following:

    • Click Add and then select Enable Offsite Copy.

    • Select the Prompt me to start a copy when I attach an external Offsite Copy destination drive option if you want recovery points automatically copied to external Offsite Copy destination drives whenever you plug one in to your computer.

    • Click Browse to locate an Offsite Copy destination.

    • Click Add an additional Offsite Copy destination if you want to add a second destination, and then specify the path (a local folder, network path, or FTP address) to that destination.

    • Click OK.

  10. Click Next.

  11. On the Options panel, set the recovery point options you want.

    See Recovery point options.

  12. (Optional) Click Advanced, set the advanced options you want, and then click OK to return to the Options panel.

    See Advanced options for drive-based backups.

  13. (Optional) If you want to run command files during the recovery point creation process, click Command Files, set the command file options, and then click OK to return to the Options panel.

    If appropriate, in the lists, you can select the command file (.exe, .cmd, .bat) that you want to run during a particular stage in the recovery point creation process, and then specify the amount of time (in seconds) that you want the command to run before it is stopped.

    See About running command files during a backup.

  14. Click Next.

  15. Do one of the following:

    • If you chose a recovery point set as your recovery point type earlier in step 6 above, skip to the next step.

    • If you chose an independent recovery point as your recovery point type, select one of the following options in the Automatically create a recovery pointlist, click Next, review the options you have selected, then click Finish.


      No Schedule

      Runs the backup only when you run it yourself, manually.

      Weekly

      Runs the backup at the time and on the days of the week that you specify.

      When you select this option, the Select the days of the week to protect box appears.

      Monthl
      y

      Runs the backup at the time and on the days of the month that you specify.

      When you select this option, the Select the days of the month to protect box appears.

      Only run once

      Runs the backup one time on the date and at the time you specify.

      When you select this option, the Create a single recovery point box appears.

  16. If you want the backup to run automatically according to a schedule, select Schedule, enter a start time, and select the days of the week when the backup should run.

    If you only want to run the backup when you start it manually, uncheck Schedule and skip to the next step.

  17. (Optional) Click the Custom button and specify how frequently a new recovery point set should be started.

    For example, if you select Monthly, a new base recovery point is created the first time the backup runs during each new month.

  18. For advanced scheduling options, such as setting up event triggers that start the backup in response to specific events, click Advanced and configure the desired options.

    See Advanced scheduling options.

  19. Click OK, and then click Next.

  20. (Optional) If you want to run the new backup immediately, click Run backup now.

    This option is not available if you configured an independent recovery point with the option to run it only once.

  21. Review the options you have selected, then click Finish.

More Information

Backup destination options

About Offsite Copy

Defining a drive-based backup