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A very simple introduction to making a system backup in Windows XP.

Have you ever wanted to make a backup of your entire system in Windows XP, but never wanted to pay for an expensive software package that would allow you to accomplish this task?

Perhaps you found a piece of free software on the internet, however failed to understand how exactly you were supposed to use it. Or worse, the software requested that you sent the author money before he would allow you to restore your files.

Unknown to many users, Windows XP offers a simple and easy to use program made specifically to backup your system files. The program can be found by clicking the "Start" button, and navigating through the following menu items; Programs, Accessories, and System Tools.

The program is entitled Backup, however do not let the lame title fool you, as the software is both simple to use and very powerful. It is very simple to use, because you only have to specify where you would like the backup file to be stored; there are no challenging questions asked. It is very powerful because it enables you to create a single file that is a complete backup of your entire system.

Once you open the program, you will be greeted with a window containing the backup & restore wizard. After reading the window, you may click on the next button, and you will be greeted with two options; Backup files & settings and Restore files & settings.

After you select "Backup files & settings" and click the OK button, you will be greeted with a list of items that you can backup. Because the purpose of this article is to explain to you how to backup your system files, select the option "All information on this computer" and click the next button.

How to successfully make a backup copy of your entire system.

You will then be asked for a location to store the *.bak file. Since Windows XP is extremely large, storing the *.bak file on floppy disks is not feasible, as it would take several hundreds, if not thousands of floppy disks to hold the file.

Instead store the file locally on your hard drive. Once the file has been created, you will be prompted to insert a floppy disk. The software will then write a program to the disk that allow you to boot the system using the disk, and restore your system via the *.bak file.

Please remember that the backup file can be extremely large, and requires you to either place it onto a CD, DVD, or in a well protected folder or partition on your computer system.

How to easily restore your backup files.

If you ever have the need to utilize the backup file, simply place the floppy disk in your drive, and turn on the computer. The system will boot from the floppy, and ask for the location of the *.bak file. Once you provide the system with the location of the backup file, your system will begin to replace your corrupt system files with your backup files.