How to Backup Computer to External Hard Drive  

How to Backup Computer to External Hard Drive

Updated on Nov 11, 2023 | by Jeremy

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Backing up the data of your computer on a regular basis is extremely important and this becomes even more important when you have your important files saved on your machine. There are various reasons people backup their computers. Some users do so because they are going to format their system while others back up their data because they want to have a secondary copy of their important files.

It is highly recommended that you backup PC to external hard drive. It is because if you back up your files to an internal hard drive, it is going to get affected by the operations you perform on your computer. An external hard drive remains isolated from your computer and you can even restore this data on another machine if you want.

Method 1: Built-in Utility to Backup PC to External Hard Drive

Backing up your PC to an external hard drive is a crucial process that can save you from data loss and system crashes. Fortunately, Windows has a built-in backup utility that makes it easy to create a backup of your computer. In this guide, we will walk you through the steps to access the utility and create a backup of your PC on an external disk.

Step 1: Launch the Settings app on your Windows computer. To do so press the "Windows + I" button or search it manually. Now click on the option that says Update & Security to start the backup computer to an external disk.

backup computer to external hard drive

Step 2: In the left sidebar, click on the Backup option.

how to backup computer to external hard drive

Step 3: Just below the Looking for an older backup? header, you will see an option that says Go to Backup and Restore (Windows 7), Click on it to continue.

backup pc to external hard drive

Step 4: In the left sidebar, click on the Create a system image option to proceed.

create a system image

Step 5: Now the program will ask you where you want to save the backup. It will make a full backup of your computer to the location you choose. So connect your external hard drive to your computer and choose it from the On a hard disk option as shown below.

external hard drive backup computer

Step 6: After that, it will ask you to confirm the backup. If everything looks good according to your choices, click on the Start backup button to begin backing up your computer to your external hard drive.

Backing up your Windows computer to an external hard drive is a crucial process that can save you from data loss and system crashes. However, like any feature, it also has its pros and cons. In this section, we will explore the advantages and disadvantages of backing up your Windows computer.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Backing up Windows 10 to OneDrive

Advantages:

Disadvantages:

Method 2: High Efficient Tool for Backup Computer to External Hard Drive

Backing up your important files is a crucial step in ensuring their safety, especially if your hard drive ever fails. To make this process easy and efficient, consider using the ILING Disk Master software.QILING Disk Master software.

Your Safe & Reliable Backup PC to External Hard Drive Tool

Complete Guide to Create a Full Backup of Your Computer

Download the aforementioned software from its official website. When the application is downloaded, double click on the setup file to install it on your computer. Launch the software when it is fully installed.

Step 1: When the software launches, you will have an interface that looks something like the following. What you need to do on this interface is click on the option that says File Backup as it will let you create your PC backup.

Step 2: On the following screen, you will be asked to choose the files or folders that you want to backup to your external hard drive. Select your data to be backed up and click on the button that says Start at the top right corner to backup PC to external hard drive.

Step 3: When the Windows image backup software has created a backup of your chosen files and folders, your software interface will look like the following. It lists out all the backup that you have ever created using this software on your computer.

Backing up your computer is an essential step in protecting your valuable data. QILING Disk Master is a reliable and user-friendly software that can help you create a backup of your chosen files and folders. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to use QILING Disk Master to backup your computer.

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