Restore Files From Windows Backup

How to Restore Files from Backup

What good is a backup of your files if you can't restore them? In this section we'll look at how to restore the files from your backup.

Just as you did to backup your files, we need to go back to the Windows Backup and Restore Center to restore them. Just in case you have forgotten how to get there:

• Click on the Start button.
• Click on Control Panel from the right-side menu. Once you get to the Control Panel, click on "Classic View" from the left pane.
• Then click on the "Backup and Restore Center" icon.

To get the restoration started, click on the "Restore Files" button from the main Windows Backup window. That will bring up the window shown below which will ask you what you want to restore. The default choice is "Files From the Latest Backup", but you can also choose "Files From an Older Backup" (if you have the room on your backup media to store them). Click Next when you have made your choice.

The next window will ask you to select the files or folders that you want to restore. Click on the appropriate button, "Add Files", "Add Folders", or Browse to locate the items that you need to restore. Click Next when ready.

This window shows how it would look to search for your files or folders. Click on the Add button when you have located the files.

Once you have made your choices, they will be listed in the Add Files window shown below. Click Next when ready.

The next window will ask you where do you want to place your restored files. The default setting is "In the original location", which means where the file was located at the time of backup. This is fine if you don't mind overwriting any files with same name that are in that location now. If you would rather not overwrite the existing file, then choose "In the following location", which will allow you to browse to a location of your choosing. Click the "Start Restore" button when ready.

The final window will inform you that the restore was successful.

I think it is always a good idea to try a test backup and restore just to make sure that you are actually backing up data. You don't want to wait until you really need something restored to find out that you don't have anything to restore.

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