Win 7 does not need to use Ghost for backup

The official version of Windows 7 (hereafter referred to as Win 7) has finally been released. Before we can experience the many improvements it brings, one thing that must be done is the backup of the system. In the era of Vista, Windows backup and restore function is still very weak, then in Win 7, whether this feature has improved, compared with the famous Ghost? Is it still necessary to use Ghost for backup in Win 7?

Have to mention the history of

When it comes to system restoration, the first thing we think of is the famous Ghost. In addition to being a basic system backup, Ghost can also be used directly for system clone installation. This also makes it the most widely used system recovery and installation tool in recent years. However, you may not know that since the Windows ME era, the Windows system has been added to the system restore function, but there are very few real use of this feature.

The reason is that the system restore function takes up a certain amount of disk space, which is "luxury" for the relatively precious disk space at that time, and more importantly, if For some reason, the computer can't be started, which means that the system restore you set will be completely set.

In the Windows Vista era, the system image recovery function was introduced, but compared with Ghost, it is not worthy of praise - the backup time is longer; the image file compression ratio is too low, resulting in Image file volume is "unacceptable"; there are too many backup restrictions, and free custom backup of files cannot be achieved, and the restore speed is slow. All of this has led to its new "chicken rib" function, which has not been widely used and recognized.

However, in Win 7, all of this has changed, especially the latest enhanced system image recovery function, compared with Ghost is evener, and even some features are more intimate.

Creating images is more flexible than Ghost

Creating a system image in Win 7 has become very convenient, just click "All Programs → Maintenance → Backup and Restore" in the Start menu. You can see the "Create System Image" link on the left and click to open the Create System Image window. The whole process of the creation process, the user needs to do is to select according to the prompts, and click "Next", it is not an exaggeration to say, as long as you know Chinese, you can create an image.

In addition, when specifying the location where the backup file is stored, in addition to the local hard disk, mobile hard disk or DVD burning disc, you can also choose to save it in the network location, although only the network location setting is added, Give us more choices and provide more solutions.

The important thing is that compared to Ghost, Win 7's imaging function has a big advantage, that is, you can freely add other partitions and directories to the image list, and complete the backup work in one go.

When we create the image file, Win 7's system partition is automatically included in the list of images to be imaged. If you want to add another directory, you can click the "Backup" option in the "Backup and Restore" panel. The "Setup Backup (S)" link, select the location where the backup file is saved in the pop-up settings window, and then click "Next" to customize the addition of other directories. As a result, the data backup work is very simple, you can back up all the files at once, without having to repeat the operation.

Plan to do Ghost can not do

We all know that the use of Ghost to backup the system, basically only after the computer has just been installed, it does not seem after How many people have re-created an image file again, even though we have installed numerous upgrade patches and updated a lot of software, maybe because no one knows when their system will crash, so they are too lazy to do a backup again. Let's go. The web-based teaching network reminds everyone that the problem has followed. When the system really collapses and needs to be restored, we can only blame ourselves for being lazy. But in Win 7, this problem has been effectively solved.

In the "Backup and Restore" panel, click on the "Enable Plan (U)" link to open the scheduled task for creating a system image, so that the system will back up at the time you choose and follow you. The requirement to save the backup file.

Tip: We can also set the space occupied by the backup file and choose how to keep the older system image by clicking the Manage Space (M) link in the Backup and Restore panel. The latter option can be selected to "keep the latest system image and minimize the space used for backup" option. However, we recommend that you make a clean image file after the system is installed and save it separately, and then select this option in the backup space management to avoid system problems after the automatic backup image file.

Image Recovery Slightly better than Ghost

Similar to Ghost, in Win 7, image recovery can be achieved by CD-ROM, or in the Win 7 desktop environment. If your system has crashed, you can boot from the recovery disc and select "System Image Recovery" in the options to search for the image file and restore the system.

However, it is necessary to specify that when you back up the system in Win 7, you will be prompted whether the backup file storage disk and the backed up partition are on the same physical disk. If yes, a warning will be issued. This is because if the disk fails on the same physical disk, the backup will be invalid. Although this situation is very rare, it is not unreasonable. Therefore, in combination with the above-mentioned production of pure image files and separate storage, we recommend that you save this pure image file in the form of burning CD, so that you can be truly foolproof!

In addition, in the Win 7 desktop environment for recovery, you can also freely choose any file and directory in the backup file to restore. At the same time, after selecting the file, we can continue to choose where to restore the file. This feature is more practical for users than Ghost, because we can extract the content needed in the image file at any time without having to restore or overwrite the current file.

Conclusion:

Due to space limitations, we did not compare the image recovery in Win 7 with Ghost specific backup time, recovery time and image file size, but I personally test These two items are almost the same. I have done all the disk backups, but it took about 8 minutes (this time has a lot to do with the files stored in your disk). However, the image backup and restore of Win 7 is simpler and more flexible in operation, and is more suitable for ordinary users. In terms of functionality, it can completely replace or even exceed Ghost. In addition, because the extraction of image file content is very convenient, it is also very suitable for the protection and recovery of important personal files.