Maximum PC - USA (2019-10)

BUILDING BETTER BACKUPS

Reinstalling is, or should be,

a last resort—and if you ever

come to the point where you

absolutely have to reinstall

Windows and don’t have copies

of your files, it might be too

late. A hardware failure, a

cryptographic malware attack,

whatever the case may be, you

don’t want to be left stranded.

We’ve talked about using

Windows’ File History tools

elsewhere, which is a good

way to keep regular copies

of your personal files, but

Windows also includes a more

thorough backup procedure

in the form of Backup and

Restore (Windows 7). Now, we

can’t be entirely sure how long

this is going to last, given its

archaic name, but for now, it

works, and we’d wager that

Microsoft will supply a tool

to restore its backups even

if the facility gets removed

from future versions of the

operating system. If you have

a backup on an external drive,

you can reinstall Windows

from scratch and restore it

using the same tool—aim to

make one every week or so, so

you don’t lose too much time.

EaseUS Todo Backup 11 Free

(www.easeus.com) is a decent

option for automating backups;

make sure, if you do this, that

you don’t leave your backup

drive permanently connected

to your machine, because a

hardware failure passed down

the line is a double whammy

of disappointment.

Do not discount the power

of system restore points,

either. While they’re not kind

to storage—we’d put them on

your mechanical long-term

storage drive, rather than an

SSD, if you have the choice—

making a system restore point

regularly is good practice.

Taking the overkill position of

making one before installing

anything even slightly

questionable is an even better

thing to do, although we don’t

really expect you to do that.

Make sure you clean up when

you’re sure your machine is

running fine, because a huge

hoard of system restore points

does nobody any good.

It’s an older tool, sir, but it checks out.

2 REFRESH, RESTART, RECYCLE

IF YOU’ V E GONE TO THE TROUBLE of creating new installation media

for any version of Windows 10 past the Creators Update, you’ll

probably feel a bit silly when you discover that Microsoft tucked a

“fresh start” option into its later Win 10 editions. Using it takes any

Windows 10 installation back to the basics of a Windows install, even

removing any preinstalled software your manufacturer might have

included, and stripping away all your drivers—and it doesn’t require

any special media. It’s basically a clean install without you having to

directly perform the actions of reinstallation. You’ll find it in a corner

of Windows Defender Security Center, aka Windows Security—

select “Device performance and & health,” then “Additional info,”

before clicking “Get started” to begin. Again, make sure you’re

backed up, as this is only slightly less destructive than formatting

your hard drive. Handily, the fresh start procedure leaves a little

note of all the things you’ve destroyed on your desktop, just so you

can kick yourself for reinstalling after we told you it was a bad idea.

PRESS RESET
A better option might be to take advantage of Windows 10’s
“reset” feature, which strips out all of your installed applications
and drivers while giving you the option of leaving your personal
files unmolested. This doesn’t mean you can get away with not
using proper backup procedures, but if there’s a particular
software component causing you problems, this will very likely
get rid of it. Basically, it rolls your machine back to the state in
which it came to you: preinstalled software, drivers, and all. You
might remember that earlier editions included two options, the
confusingly different “reset” and “refresh”—they’re squashed
together into this le s s baf fl ing new procedure. It doe s , technic ally,
create a fresh installation of Windows, rather than uninstalling
anything, as while it’s running through, it uses the Windows
Recovery Environment and sections off your personal files,
putting them back where they were if you choose to keep them.
If you’re insistent on reinstalling, perhaps you’d like to consider
©^ M an upgrade? Not a version upgrade as such, but an in-place

ICR

OS

OF

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Aaah, a fresh start. What could be better? Not losing all the

sof t ware you’ve installed over the years, that’s what.

maximumpc.com OCT 2019 MAXIMUM PC 27