Windows 11 will have a very practical function: Windows Backup. A tool to easily and quickly save and recover a complete configuration, settings included, and find everything identically on a new PC. Magic !
Changing PCs or starting from a clean installation of Windows on a computer always involves a chore that is not really pleasant in essence. As soon as the system (started) everything must be reconfigured manually: install the essential applications, customize the interface – change the wallpaper, place shortcuts in the taskbar, adjust the mouse… –, repatriate the useful documents and personal files. In short, whether you unpack a new computer after purchase or completely reinstall Windows, it’s like moving house: you have to put everything back in place to get back to your habits!
Windows Backup: find everything identically on a new PC
It is precisely to put an end to this post-configuration that Microsoft is going to make a small welcome change in Windows 11. As it announced in a blog post published on May 24, 2023, the publisher is beginning to test a backup and restore tool called Windows Backup – Windows Backup, if its name is French – which backs up and restores the “content” of a PC very easily. Its principle is as simple as it is clever: unlike conventional backup and restoration software which regularly and automatically saves specific files and folders on a local or remote physical medium – external disk, USB key, network drive… – such as the has been doing for years the History of files integrated into Windows (see our practical sheet) or the famous Apple Time Machine on Mac, this application works only on demand, by transferring data to the cloud, more precisely to OneDrive, Microsoft’s online storage service.
In practice, all you have to do is use a Microsoft account – like the one associated with a Windows session – to start an online backup, then, once on the new PC or on the same computer after reinstalling Windows, reconnect with the same account to recover everything and reinstall. In a few minutes, we find the same environment, with the same settings, all automatically, saving ourselves the famous chore of reconfiguration!
Windows Backup: an (almost) complete backup on OneDrive
Of course, Windows Backup doesn’t back up and reinstall everything on the PC, unlike other “full copy” solutions. In its presentation, Microsoft mentions personal files (documents, photos, videos, etc.) placed in folders to select, applications, settings (Start menu, taskbar, shortcuts, etc.) and identifiers with their words (Wi-Fi, online accounts, etc.), but not the system itself. And for good reason: on the one hand, whether on a new PC or on a refurbished computer, Windows is supposed to be new and healthy; on the other, because the system itself would take up a lot of space. However, in its free version “offered” by default with any Microsoft account, the available storage space is limited to 5 GB. Sufficient to save settings and a few files, but not to host all the content of a PC equipped with a disk of several hundred gigabytes.
Certainly, in its immense generosity, Microsoft offers much more storage space on OneDrive. But through paid subscription formulas to its Microsoft 365 office suite (see our practical sheet). Not sure that everyone wants to checkout – especially in subscription mode! – to take advantage of this new function from time to time. It will therefore be necessary to be careful not to use it to unnecessarily save heavy files such as videos, which are easy to transfer to a local disk, a USB key or even a non-system partition. Limiting it to essential files, settings, and credentials, everything should fit within the free 5GB.
A big question mark! – remains however: what about applications? Because if, in its notes, Microsoft talks about apps from its Store, the publisher says nothing about the fate of third-party software, which is much more numerous. Do I have to retrieve and install them manually? Mixed question for all that relates to the drivers, of which Microsoft does not say a word.
So many points that will have to be checked when this new tool arrives, the date of which is still unknown. For the time being, members of the Insider program of the Dev channel (see our article) can test it through the Preview Build 23466 version, which is already available. Please note, however: Microsoft specifies that this preview, intended for testing only, does not save all the settings and that it does not manage professional accounts. But let’s not spoil our pleasure: even if it seems perfectible, Windows Backup should notably simplify the (re) configuration of a PC by reinstalling the essentials of a user account to find everything identically, as if by magic! Clearly a tool that we would like to have for years to facilitate all transhumance…