You're obviously here because you care about your data. We also care about your data, so we wrote this to guide as step by step instructions on how to setup your backup schedule in Windows.

Included in your copy of Windows 10 is a very easy to use applications for setting up scheduled backups. Although there are two types of backup programs that come built into Windows, we will  cover File History first.

As you're not limited to using one or the other, we strongly suggest you use both to safeguard yourself.

If you're ready to begin, grab a cup of tea and let's get to work.

Items you will need: 

1 x External USB drive 

File History

This tool is perfect in that it saves multiple versions of any files and folder that you configure. What this allows you to do is quickly and effortlessly restore a changed or deleted a file from a previous revision. This feature works great with documents such as Word or Excel where they are changed on a regular basis.

 
Attaching Your Drive

Firstly, connect your USB drive.

• Open the Settings app from your Start menu. Navigate to Update & Security > Backup.
• Click on Add a drive option and select the USB external drive you connected earlier. This is the location of your backed up file.
• By default, the Automatically back up my files option will appear and be turned on. Windows will now continuously back up your files when changes are detected.

Detailed File History Configuration

The next step is optional

If you would like to configure individual files and folders, how long the to keep the changed files, and how often you want the backup to run. You can do so quite easily.

• Select More options. The default options for Backup my files is Every hour and Keep my backups your files Forever. You can change these to suit your needs. Please note, although it would be great to keep files forever you will be limited by the size of your external USB drive. We recommend 6 months.
• To add or remove folders from your backup schedule, either click Add folder or by highlighting an existing folder you will see an option to remove it. 
• You can also exclude certain folders from the backup too. This is especially useful if have to back up a large folder and would like to exclude subfolders from that schedule
• If you need to change the drive you're using, simply click on Stop using drive.  This will reset all current backup settings and you will need to complete all steps again.

That's it, your files and folders are how  backing up.

But what about restoring them you ask? Let's guide you through the simple steps of retrieving your files.

Using The Interface 

At the very bottom of the same backup screen, you fill find Restore files from current backup

• Using the arrow buttons on the screen select the data of the files you wish to restore, and click on the green circle icon to begin the restoration.
• After you've selected a folder and decide to restore it, a popup box will appear asking whether you want to Replace the destination file, Skip the file, or Compare the files before proceeding.

Using Windows Explorer Context Menu 

Find the file you want to restore, right click on the file and select Restore previous version

When the file window opens, you should then select Previous Versions from the tabs. In this view, you will then see a list of older versions.

Select the version you want to restore and press either Open or Restore using the buttons on the bottom right.

And that's a wrap. 

We hope you found this guide useful, and wish you every success in implementing your first backup schedule. At least you will be able to sleep easy at night knowing those precious photos are safely backed up. If you would still prefer technical support from Techaroo, we will be more than happy to visit you on-site or we can do it over the internet. We will talk you through the process as well as set it up a personalised schedule of your choice.  Good luck!