HP Backup and Recovery Manager: explore the software and schedule a backup

Welcome to this demonstration of HP Backup and Recovery Manager. We'll explore the software and how to schedule a backup. 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.

The final option allows you to schedule backups. For this part of the demonstration choose Back up user created files and folders.

The backup wizard is easy to use and fairly self-explanatory. We'll cover the Advanced backup method in this demonstration.

Select Go to Advanced Backup and Recovery Software for experienced users and…

Then click Next.

In the Advanced Backup Manager, click Select Files at the far left.

A list of files and folders appears. Expand as necessary so that you can select the files and folders to back up. In general remember that storing personal files and folders in your Documents folder streamlines the backup process.

You can select any or all of the folders to back up. You can also open a folder and select individual files.

Once you've selected all the files and folders you want to back up, click OK to continue.

The next step is to indicate where you want to save the backup. Click Select location to continue.

First you need to enter a name for your backup at the top of the window. Then select a backup location from the folder list below. You also have the option of creating a backup description in the text box at the bottom. This might be useful to describe what update or other change you're about to make.

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

Once you've entered the name and chosen your file location click OK to continue.

Click Define Settings to create a password, save a profile and configure other settings.

You might want to protect your backup file with a password. Select Use a password to protect the backup at the top left if you want to do this.

Now the text box for the password is no longer grayed out. Enter and then confirm the password of your choice, following the listed guidelines.

You also want to save your Profile settings. Click Save as to save your credentials and your settings in a profile for later use.

In the pop-up window that appears, click Yes and then follow the prompts to select a location to save the file and enter the file name. When you're done, you're returned to the Define settings for the backup screen.

Another option is data compression. Select Yes if you want to make the file size smaller by compressing the data in your backup.

Finally, select Yes if you want to view a list of files selected for back up before the actual backup process begins.

Once you've defined the settings for the backup click OK to return to the Advanced Backup Manager.

Now that you've selected the files and folders, selected the backup location and defined the settings, you're ready to click Backup to begin the process. Notice that the details at the bottom reflect the changes you made in the Backup Manager.

A pop-up window will ask you to verify that you're ready to start the backup process. Click Yes.

A progress bar will appear and then the file list appears.

Click Next to continue the backup.

If you're using external media, such as a CD or DVD, insert it now and then follow the prompts to completion.

Now that you've created a backup using the advanced option, let's see how to schedule backups. We'll return to the initial HP Backup and Recovery Manager screen and walk through the steps.

From the welcome screen click Next and then…

Select Create or manage backups.

Then select the bottom option: Schedule backups.

Click next to see how to automate backups.

At the top of the Backup Name and Options screen is a text box where you can input the name for your scheduled backup. You can also use the default name that already appears.

In addition to modifying the name, you can also specify whether you want to schedule a backup by date and time or when docking to HP network attached storage.

For this demonstration, we'll use the Date and Time option. Click Next.

In the Schedule Settings screen you can select the time the backup will begin each time it's run, which days of the week it runs, or if you want to run it on the first day of each month.

First select the time you want the backup to run. Generally it's a good idea to schedule a time when you're usually not working at your computer, but your computer is powered on.

Also remember to select the option If the computer is turned off, perform this task at the next restart.

Next specify the backup schedule. For this example we'll select Friday only. Every Friday at 8 p.m. all personal files and folders will be backed up.

Now that the schedule is set, you need to specify what will be backed up. For this demonstration, select Backup files and folders.

Then click Next.

You'll be able to select the categories of files to be backed up.

When you're finished making your selections, click Next.

The next screen lets you fine tune your personal file category selection. Note that HP Backup and Recovery Manager lets you back up Office documents while they're open.

To continue, click Next.

Now you can select the target location for your backup file. For this demonstration, we created a folder named Backups on the hard disk that will hold the backup file. You could be doubly safe and copy that file to a high-capacity flash drive or network drive the following day. In this example, you could do that Monday morning after the Friday evening automated backup.

Scroll until you find the target location and then click Next.

The next screen shows a summary of the task you've created, including the time, frequency, types of files to backup and the location.

If you're satisfied with those parameters, click Next.

You'll get a verification screen that lets you know your scheduled backup was successfully created. At this point you can select Yes and schedule daily backups on other days, selecting a subset of files to be backed up. This would allow you to save your most important files each day, with all files being backed up once per week.

However, let's wrap up the demonstration and select No so we can finish the scheduling portion of the backup.

After you select No click Next and then…

Click Finish. Now your scheduled backup will automatically start the next Friday at 8 p.m.

In this demonstration, we've explored the options in HP Backup and Recovery Manager. We used the Advanced mode to gain greater control over the backups and reviewed how to schedule automated backups. You're better prepared to use HP's Backup and Recovery Manager as part of a disaster recovery plan to protect your computer and data.