One of the most useful and easiest backup tools to use in Windows 8 is File History, a somewhat hidden feature of the Microsoft system, which works like the Mac OS X Time Machine. Thanks to File History it is always possible to recover accidentally deleted files so as not to lose them again.
This function is similar, but better and simpler, to the backup function of Windows 7 and it is advisable to activate it in any case always, whenever possible.
To activate it first, and then in my next post, we're going to explore the features and discuss how to recover the files.
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Windows 10 file history and is one of the most important features that you should activate on your computer.
It is an automated system to protect personal files, documents, desktops and more .
File History records all changes made to personal files automatically and silently: documents, videos, music, images and photos, Onedrive folders.
To use File History, the only requirement is to have two disks on the computer which must not be two partitions, but just two different hard disks.
This is because the backup function works so that if one disk breaks, data can be recovered from the other.
You can definitely use an external hard drive, a USB drive or a folder of another PC on the network, shared through the File Sharing function.
To activate File History, go to Search and search for it from the Start screen or search for it in the Control Panel elements or go to Windows 10 settings (Windows 8 Settings is on the sidebar that appears by moving the mouse to the right side of the screen, then click on Change PC settings ) and then on Update and restore .
To use it, just press the " Activate " button that will be available if Windows detects the presence of a disk more than the one where the system is installed.
To backup the files in the folder of a network location, click on select drive and then on " Add network resources " and choose the location.
In Windows 10 the File History is much improved compared to Windows 8, with the possibility to choose the folders to be excluded and other advanced settings accessible from the menus at the top left of the window.
To recover File History files from another computer with Windows 10 and 8, open the Restore function located in the Control Panel.
If you have difficulty finding it, use the search and search for " restore personal files ".
In the recovery screen you will see the most recent versions of the files and you can easily restore them, even individually.
If a file has been deleted, it will be found here.
From the File History screen of the Control Panel you can also click on Advanced Settings .
From here you can choose how often to save the modified files, the size of the cache and whether to keep the original files to keep the files forever.
From here you can also view the event log to see recent changes or errors.
If you want to do a complete recovery of the files, you can use the system restore or reinitialize Windows 8 without losing the files, useful in case of computer malfunctions.
You can reset Windows 10 to resolve any problems on the PC
File History is a useful and safe tool to use, which is always worth activating on every Windows 10 and 8 computer.
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