Backing Up your Hard Drive

When backing up your hard drive, I recommend you to backup your entire computer as this is more convenient and you will not have to reinstall all your programs and then change all the settings back to the way you had them. When doing a full backup, you should clean out your computer first (Temp folder, Temporary Internet files, ect.) as all these files will just make the backup file larger than it needs to be.
The steps below will guide you through a full system backup and restore for your operating system.
Note: This procedure works with Windows Me/XP.

Backing Up Your Hard Drive:

1. Click on the Start button and navigate to
'Programs->Accessories->System Tools->Backup'
2. Click on the Next button.
3. Select 'Back Up Files And Settings', then click Next.
4. Select 'Let Me Choose What To Back Up', then click Next.
5. Select the files/folders you want to back up and click on Next.
Note: Selecting 'System State' under My Computer will back up all system files
needed to do a recovery
Note: Be sure not to exceed the size limit of your removable media disk (i.e. 700-800 megabytes for a CD-R)
6. Choose a location and name for the backup and click Next.
7. Click Finish to start the backup.
8. Once the backup has completed, simply copy the backup file to your removable storage
device using your normal software.

Restoring your hard drive from a backup:

If you computer does not start, but will boot up in safe mode, follow these steps.
1. Start your computer and press the F8 key when the 'Please Select Your Operating System' message appears or right before the the Welcome screen appears.
2. Highlight the 'Safe Mode' option then press Enter.
3. Click on the Start button and navigate to
'Programs->Accessories->System Tools->Backup'.
4. Insert the removable media disk that contains your backup.
5. Click on the Next button.
6. Select 'Restore Files And Settings' then click Next.
7. Select the appropiate backup and items to restore then click Next.
Note: Be sure to select 'System State' to restore your system files.
8. Click on the Finish button.
9. Once the restore has completed, restart your computer in normal mode.

If you must do a reinstall, follow these steps after you have reinstalled your OS:

1. Click on the Start button and navigate to
'Programs->Accessories->System Tools->Backup'
2. Insert the removable media disk that contains your backup.
3. Click on the Next button.
4. Select 'Restore Files And Settings' and then click Next.
5. Select the appropiate backup and items to restore then click Next.
6. Click on the Finish button.
7. Once the restore has completed you may need to reboot your computer for any changes to take affect.