HP Backup and Recovery Manager: backup and restore data

Welcome to this demonstration of HP Backup and Recovery Manager. We'll teach you how to create a backup for the first time, schedule backups, and recover files and data. HP Backup and Recovery Manager comes free with all HP business desktop and notebook computers. The software provides an easy-to-use and reliable backup solution as part of your company's data disaster recovery plan. This demonstration discusses the software's options and teaches you how to schedule backups.

Let's begin by opening the HP Backup and Recovery Manager software from the Start menu.

After you click on it, the initial screen welcomes you to the manager. The software allows you to create a set of recovery discs that would allow you to reinstall the system if necessary. You can also back up the entire system or individual files and folders, and recover files or folders or even the entire system.

To continue with the manager click Next to advance past the welcome screen.

Three options are displayed; select the option that best suits your needs.

If this is the first time that you're using the HP Backup and Recovery Manager, select the first option: Create a set of recovery discs. Recovery disks allow you to return the computer to the factory defaults.

Once you've made your selection, click Next.

A welcome screen appears with some instructions. You should also be sure your computer is connected to AC power during the recovery disc creation and during any backup or recovery operations.

To continue past the welcome screen, click Next.

The default option is Create recovery discs; leave this option selected. Notice that there is a description at the bottom of what this option entails.

Click Next to continue.

You will need to insert blank discs to create the backup. The wizard calculates how many you will need, depending on the type of media. Gather the appropriate number of blank, writable CDs or DVDs so that you can create the set of recovery discs.

Once you've inserted a disc, click Next. The system detects what type of disc was inserted and reminds you how many you will need to complete the backup process. If you want to use a different type of media, click back. Otherwise, click Next to continue.

A progress bar appears while HP Backup and Recovery Manager gathers the files, writes the files to disc and verifies the media. When prompted, insert new discs.

The process of creating a recovery disc set can range from several minutes to an hour. To prevent confusion later, label and number each disc before inserting it into the optical drive.

Now that we've seen how to create backup discs, let's return to the initial HP Backup and Recovery Manager screen to view other backup options.

This time let's select Create or manage backups and then…

Click Next. Notice that a brief description of the selected option again appears at the bottom of the screen.

Several options appear on the initial Backup Action screen. The first option lets you select specific files and folders to back up using the wizard. You can also use the Advanced mode for greater control over backup options.

You can back up data to your hard disk, a CD or DVD, a flash drive or a network drive.

The second option lets you back up the entire hard drive, including the Windows operating system, all software programs and all personal files or folders.

When you select this option, you can back up to another hard disk, a network drive or a set of CDs or DVDs.

The third option lets you create a system recovery point, which is like a snapshot of your entire system at a point in time.

You should create a recovery point the first time you perform a backup. HP also recommends creating subsequent recovery points. You should do this periodically when your system is running at an optimal level as well as before you extensively change your system, such as when you add new software or modify the registry.

Scheduling an automated backup is fairly simple using the backup wizard. See HP Backup and Recovery Manager application help for further assistance scheduling a backup.

Next, we'll show you how to restore data from a backup you've previously created.

When accessing the HP Backup and Recovery manager to restore files, the first screen you will see is the Welcome page.

Click Next at the bottom right of the wizard…

… and a list of options will appear. Select Perform a recovery and you'll notice that a summary of what you can accomplish will appear at the bottom. To continue…click Next again.

Now you have some options to perform a recovery. The first option lets you select the specific files and folders to restore.

The second option lets you back up your personal data before running the recovery process.

And the third option lets you perform PC Recovery, which helps you restore your system to its factory defaults or another point in time by selecting a recovery point. This is the option you would select in the event of a severe crash or other disaster.

For this demonstration, let's select the first option so we can learn how to restore files and folders. Notice that a description again appears at the bottom of the screen.

Then click Next.

A welcome screen lets you know you're using the File Recovery Wizard. To continue, click Next again.

Now that you're in the File Recovery wizard, you can choose one of two options. The first choice is recommended for most users and the second is more advanced and best for experienced users. The first option will let the recovery wizard lead you through the process step by step. This is usually the easiest method. The wizard is straightforward and pretty self-explanatory.

For this demonstration, let's review the second option, because it will allow us to delve into the choices you might face. Select the Go to Advanced Backup and Recovery Manager option for experienced users.

And then click Next.

The Advanced Recovery Manager lets you choose precise options for recovering your data.

To get started, click Open backup at the far left. The other options are grayed out for now.

A file folder list will appear. Expand the folders as necessary to select the location of your backup file. It can be on your hard disk, a CD or DVD, a flash drive or a network drive.

Once you've located the backup file, click on it to select it and then…

Click the Add button to the right of the folder pane.

You'll see the backup file now appears in the List of scheduled backups to recover. Click OK.

If you protected your backup file with a password, the Password dialog box appears.

Enter the password if necessary.

And then click OK to continue.

Now that you've selected a backup file to recover, several of the icons are now selectable. Click Select files to go on to the next step.

An expanded file folder list appears. To select all the files in the backup file, select the checkbox at the top.

You can also select individual files and folders from the list. Only the items you select will be restored from the backup file. Remember to use the scroll bar to ensure you find all necessary files if you use this option.

If you want to restore all the files in a particular folder, just click the checkbox next to that folder. For example, select the Documents checkbox to restore all the files and folders in the Documents folder.

Note that all the files and folders within the Documents folder now have a checkmark next to them. For this demonstration, we want to restore only three files from the Documents folder. This would be useful if files were accidentally deleted from the hard disk and they can no longer be restored from the Recycle Bin.

To specify the files, first click the Documents checkbox again to deselect all the files and folders within the Documents folder.

Now you can choose specific files. For this demonstration, we'll restore the three documents near the top.

When you're finished selecting files and folders click OK.

Now none of the icons are grayed out and the info at the bottom of the wizard reflects the three files selected to recover. To continue with the demonstration, click Select Location.

You have two options for recovering files. You can recover them to the original location, in this instance to the Documents folder on your hard drive…

Or you can select a new location for the file and folder recovery. Select the second option if you'd like to do this.

Once you click Recover file to the following location, you will need to select a location in the file folder tree show below.

You can also click the New folder button below the pane. For this example we'll create a new folder named Recovered Files and then restore files to that location.

Click the New folder button once you know where you'd like it to appear and then…

Type the new folder name, in this example it's Recovered Files.

Once you've created the new folder, click OK.

The next step is to define settings. Click on that icon to continue.

You have several options; select the one appropriate for your recovery process. For this demonstration, we'll choose to keep the most recent file.

After you've made that selection, click OK.

To complete the process, click Recovery.

A pop-up window will verify that you want to start the recovery process now. Click Yes.

A progress bar will appear; depending on the amount of data you're recovering, this may take a few moments.

Once the process is complete, the HP Backup and Recovery Manager will confirm that files were successfully restored. Each recovered file or folder will be listed. If there was a long list, you may need to use the scroll bar to see all the results.

Click Finish when you're done.

Now we've walked through the process to backup your data and restore data from a backup that you had previously created. You also learned a bit about PC Recovery, which lets you restore your system to its factory defaults or to another specified point in time. Should you accidentally hit delete or a disaster strikes, you're prepared to recover the lost data from your backup files.