Backing up your Windows computer is essential to protect important data from loss due to hardware failure, malware attacks, or accidental deletion. Regular backups ensure that you can recover your data if something goes wrong, and make restoring your system faster and easier in case of a corrupted or unstable operating system.
You can backup specific files, and the whole server of Windows to various external destinations such as external hard drive, Google Drive, NAS, Linux, and more to reduce risk. This article is meant to give Windows users multiple choices for effective and safe Window backup.
D1: Backup Windows to External Hard Drive/USB
Windows 10 Backup:
1. Enter Control Panel in the search bar and press enter> click Save backup copies of your files with File History in System and Security> System Image Backup at the bottom.
2. Click Create a system image, then choose your external hard drive/USB and click Next.
3. Click Start backup.
See how to backup Windows 11 to external hard drives in 3 ways.
D2: Backup Windows to Google Drive
Google Drive Web App:
1. Sign in to your Google Drive web account and click + New at the top.
2. Upload files/folders to backup.
3. You can also drag and drop the Windows files/folders to Google Drive.
Note: This method needs a stable network connection and can be hard to restore when data in the drive and your PC is gone since it’s a copy task.
Drive Backup and Sync:
1. Sign in to your Google Drive account on the web and click the gear icon in the top right to Get Drive for desktop. Or install it from the Google website directly.
2. Launch the application on your system and click the Backup and Sync icon gear icon on the right to choose Preferences.
3. Click My Computer and choose the folders to backup on Windows.
4. Click Advanced settings> Change> OK.
D3: Backup Windows to iCloud
iCloud Web App:
1. Log in to the iCloud web with your Apple ID.
2. Click iCloud Drive on the window and click the upload icon at the top to choose the backup files/folder on your Windows.
3. You can also drag and drop those files to the interface.
iCloud Desktop App:
1. Install iCloud for Windows on your computer.
2. Start iCloud and sign in with your Apple ID.
3. Choose the objects to backup and hit Apply.
4. Find the iCloud Drive folder generated in the Windows File Explorer and drag and drop the Windows files.
D4: Backup Windows to Dropbox
Dropbox Desktop App:
1. Install Dropbox and launch it.
2. Tap the Dropbox icon> click the profile> Preferences> Backups> Set up.
3. Choose the folders to backup and click Set up. Hit Add folders to select other files.
4. If you are using the Basic Plan, optionally Continue with Basic> Yes, continue or get the Dropbox Plus free trial.
Move the Folder to Dropbox:
Only available for Desktop, Documents, Download, Pictures, Music, and Videos.
1. Create a new folder in Dropbox and then create folders in that file for the backups, like Pictures, Documents, etc.
2. Enter %HOMEPATH% in the Windows search box.
3. Right-click the target folder and choose Properties> Location> Move… to a Dropbox location> OK.
D5: Backup Windows to OneDrive
OneDrive Desktop Application:
1. Create a OneDrive account on the website.
2. Download OneDrive from the website and start it.
3. Click the gear button and click Settings> Sync and backup> Manage backup.
4. Toggle on the Documents, Pictures, Desktop, Music, and Videos folders to sync and backup as needed.
5. Click Save changes.
Windows Settings:
In Windows 10:
1. Go to Start> Settings> Update & Security> Backup> Backup and Restore (Windows 7).
2. Under Back up files to OneDrive, click the Back up files.
3. Select the folders to backup.
4. Click Start backup.
In Windows 11:
1. Press Windows key + I and enter Settings.
2. Click System> Storage> Advanced storage settings> Backup options.
Alternatively, click Settings > Accounts > Windows Backup to get the next step.
3. Click Manage sync settings under OneDrive folder syncing.
4. Select the folders to synch to OneDrive and click Start backup.
D6: Backup Windows to Synology/QNAP NAS
See backup Windows 10/11 to NAS in 3 ways.
D7: Backup Windows to Linux
1. Download cwRsync, unzip the package, and copy it to C:cwRsync.
2. Then add C:cwRsyncin to PATH.
3. Create directories C:cwRsynchome and C:cwRsynchomeUSER_name
4. Generate public/private key.
ssh-keygen -t rsa
The folders that we established in C:cwRsync correspond to paths with /home/USER/. Leave the password unfilled.
5. Install openssh-server and rsync on Linux.
6. Supply data to a partition.
7. Put the public key in /home/USER/.ssh/ and change its name to authorized_keys.
8. Test the connection on Windows.
ssh USER@BackupServerIP
9. Test Rsync.
rsync -v -rlt -z --delete "/myfiles/" "USER@BackupServerIP:/backups/"
10. Test other ports.
rsync -e "ssh -p 14000" -arv "--exclude=.svn/" /myfilesUSER@BackupServerIP:/backups/
11. Use the rsync command to create a bat file, then put it to C:cwRsyncbin.
12. Schedule execution.
D8: Backup Windows to Vinchin Backup & Recovery
Those backup methods mentioned above are accessible to Windows users who can backup certain individual files or folders to multiple destinations. However, note that the backup could fail if you sync your Windows data to multiple cloud destinations, in that case, you must disable the backup to enable the other one. And the normal backup types are not available in those ways.
Vinchin Backup & Recovery can help you backup Windows & Linux servers and files/folders on schedule automatically and restore them to the original/new destination/NAS via multithread.
You can turn on data deduplication and compression and valid data extraction to decrease 50% of data and secure those data through the AES-256 bank-level encryption algorithm.
Send an offsite backup copy as a plan B in case of system failure and data loss, or archive data to the public clouds for accessibility and stability.
Download the 60-day free trial and get started with the backup software that is compatible with 12 virtualizations including VMware, Hyper-V, Xen, 6 databases, NAS, and more.
Windows Files/Folders Backup
1. Click Physical Backup> File Backup> Backup, choose an installed file backup agent, and customize the backup source here with a wildcard filter.
2. Select the target node and storage on that node or NAS if you’ve added it to the software.
3. Set up backup strategies such as schedules, backup options, data reduction, retention, transmission, etc. 
4. Check and submit. The job runs according to the timetable.
Windows Server Backup
1. Click Physical Backup> Server Backup> Backup, choose the Windows host and the specific partitions under the host optionally.
2. Select the target node and storage on that node or NAS if you’ve added it to the software.
3. Configure backup strategies.
4. Check and submit. The job runs based on the schedules.
Final Thoughts
This article gives users 8 destinations for Windows 10/11 backup and one can choose as he likes. When you backup Windows data to clouds or external drives, you must know that those methods are mostly applied to small-scale or personal uses for the lack of advanced backup techniques. When it comes to large-scale and enterprise-level environments, it’s best to employ a professional backup solution like Vinchin Backup & Recovery with different backup and recovery tactics.
