Protect your data files with Windows 10's enhanced File History tool

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For folks just getting into Windows 10 but who have no idea of how easy it makes backing up and working with your files can be, here is the article you want to read.

 

It is several pages long because it is written for the average user and techies not into it yet. It has all the screen shots you need so that no matter your level of experience with Windows 10 or backing up, you will be able to use this easy to use tool once you study the article and try it out. It is from Tech Republic which I subscribe to and participate in.

 

Excerpt:

 

"Windows 10 offers an improved version of the File History tool. Here's a rundown of how it works, configuration tips, and a walk-through of the new features.

 

Everyone knows it's important to regularly back up the data on their computer's hard disk. But knowing it is one thing; doing it is another. Fortunately, Windows 10 comes with a tool called File History that makes backing up and restoring files as easy as 1-2-3.

 

File History isn't new to Windows 10; it was included in Windows 8.x as well. However, this version comes with an enhanced user interface and several new capabilities that offer definite improvements over its predecessor.

 

In this article, I'll show you how to enable File History from the new user interface and how to configure it. As I do, I'll explain how File History works and tell you about the new features in Windows 10.

 

How it works

Before I show you how to set up and configure File History, let me describe how it works. When you have everything in place, File History will back up all the files and folders you choose. Once the initial backup operation is complete, File History will go into a stealth monitoring mode, where it looks for changes to files. When a file is changed, File History records those changes while keeping track of the original version of the file.

 

This means that in addition to being able to restore the whole file in the event of corruption or accidental deletion, you can revert a file to a previous state after making changes to it. More specifically, if you make changes to a document and then later regret it, File History will allow you to roll back to an earlier version of the file.

 

To perform this feat, File History takes advantage of a feature built into the NTFS file system called the change journal. Essentially, when any change is made to a file or folder on your hard disk, the change journal is updated with a description of the change and the name of the file or folder. So to determine which files need to be backed up, File History simply consults the NTFS change journal. Using the change journal is fast and efficient and won't suck up tons of system resources like running a conventional backup routine does.

 

File History has some other cool efficiency features up its sleeve as well. If the device configured as the backup location becomes unavailable, such as when a USB cable is disconnected or the network goes down for maintenance, File History will continue to do its job by saving the copies to a cache on the local drive. Once the backup location becomes available again, the cached contents are transferred to that location and removed from the local drive.

 

In addition, File History is sensitive to resource utilization. In other words, if File History is running and some other task needs the same system resources, File History will automatically back off and go into an idle state as it waits for the other task to finish before it resumes.

File History is also aware of activity related to mobile computing, such as whether a device is running on AC or battery power and whether the system has gone into Sleep mode, and it will adjust accordingly so as not to interfere with power-saving features.

 

A backup drive

To begin with, you're going to need a place for File History to back up your data. File History can work with an external hard disk or a specially configured share on a network."

 

The article goes on to be an easy to learn "Dummies Guide" if you will, to using the new improved file history tool. I'm learning it too. The rest is here with pictures and everything here: http://www.techrepublic.com/article/protect-your-data-files-with-windows-10s-enhanced-file-history-tool/?tag=nl.e101&s_cid=e101&ttag=e101&ftag=TRE684d531