Although it is not something we do every day, or even every month, every so often we change our computer or at least upgrade a good part of its hardware. We have been working with the current one for months or even years, so it is best to make a backup of everything stored here.
This way we can reload the backup we mentioned on the new computer and start working almost from the first minute. The truth is that we have a multitude of software solutions focused on these backup-related tasks. Also, the Windows operating system itself makes things easy for us in this regard, including its own integrated functionality.
Basically, this means that the Microsoft system offers us its own backup tool to avoid installing third-party solutions. From there, we recommend that you take a look at the different alternatives to see which one best suits your needs or requirements. But before we get down to work to save all that information and transfer it to the new computer, there are certain sections that we should keep in mind.
And although it may not seem like it, this is a more delicate process than we might initially think. Here we are going to save years of work and some of the applications that are an important part of our lives. Therefore, the better we carry out the backup, the less risk we will have of losing anything along the way.
That is why we are going to talk about a series of sections that you should not forget before getting down to work with the backup copy.
Don’t lose data when backing up and changing PCs
Due to the huge amount of information we are currently working with, we must keep in mind that these backups are sometimes extremely large, and that is a risk. These are the aspects that you should take into consideration before starting the process itself.
Have enough space to store the backup. Sometimes, and depending on our needs, we will use an external hard drive to store this backup we are talking about. But nowadays we can also use a cloud storage service, for example. Whatever our choice, first of all we must make sure that the available space is more than enough, and if there is any left over, even better. Sometimes we are talking about a good amount of gigabytes.
Make a preselection of contents. Before starting the process, we must also be very clear about the folders and files on the PC drives that we want to add to the backup. If we start to improvise in this regard, we will most likely end up losing important information.
Start the backup when you are not using your PC. It is important to note that this process that we are talking about in these lines sometimes takes several hours. It is recommended that you leave it running while you do not need to use the computer to avoid problems when creating the backup. It is also important to know that this is a process that usually consumes a lot of computer resources.
Protect your files. There are some programs of this type that, once the backup has finished, allow us to set a password. This security method is recommended in most cases in case we have a problem with the external storage device, for example if it is stolen or lost.
