Save files with File History

Expert

Deleted an important file? File History can help salvage any problems

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Expert

Deleted an important file? File History can help salvage any problems

1

Enable File History

By default File History is turned off, so go to the Start screen and type ‘backup’, then select ‘Settings’. Select ‘Save backup copies of your files with File History’, then select ‘Turn on’. If you’re asked if you want to recommend the drive you’re using to members of your HomeGroup, select ‘Yes’ if on a home network, otherwise click ‘No’.

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2

Select an external drive

File History can save backups of your files to an external hard drive, or even a NAS device. To choose a drive, click ‘Select drive’ on the left-hand side of the screen. You’re then shown a window that lists all the USB drives connected to your computer. Select a drive and then click ‘OK’.

3

Back up to a network drive

If you have a NAS device, or a USB drive plugged into your router, you can save your File History there. You can even select a folder in another PC on your network. Click ‘Select drive’, then ‘Add network location’. Click where you want to save, then ‘Select Folder’.

4

Exclude folders

Backing up all your files and folders can take a lot of time and disk space. Not all of your files need backing up, so save time and capacity by leaving out unnecessary folders. From the main screen, select ‘Exclude folders’, then click ‘Add’ to add folders you want to be left out.

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Expert

5

Set advanced options

Click ‘Advanced settings’. You can set how regularly copies of your files are made, from every 10 minutes to daily, as well as change the size of the offline cache (which limits how much disk space File History takes up), and how long the saved files are kept for.

6

Run File History

8

Make sure you’re always protected

When you choose a new drive for File History to use, it begins backing up files automatically. It then periodically backs up files depending on the schedule you set, or every hour if you’ve left it at its default. You can manually start the process by clicking ‘Run now’.

7

Restore previous versions of files

If disaster strikes, load up File History as in Step 1, and select ‘Restore personal files’ from the left-hand side of the screen. You can then choose previous versions of the files you have selected for backing up, and restore them to avoid any of the problems or errors you have encountered.

By following these steps you’ll ensure that your important files are always kept safe. If you have a number of Windows 8 devices, make sure that all of them use this great feature. If they are all on the same HomeGroup, you can get them to share the back-up drive by going to ‘Advanced settings’ and ticking ‘Recommend this drive’.

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