System failure on your HP Mini can cause a catastrophic loss of data, which can wipe out your precious photos, music and documents. Although most HP Mini computers contain a recovery partition that enables you to restore your HP Mini to factory defaults, this does nothing to protect data acquired after you purchased the computer. Therefore, HP recommends that you frequently back up important data using Windows 7 Backup and Restore. Backup requires an external hard drive, since the HP Mini does not have a CD/DVD drive.
Backing Up Data
Step 1
Power on your external hard drive and connect it to a USB port on your HP Mini.
Step 2
Click "Start" and enter "Backup" in the search box. Click "Backup and Restore."
Step 3
Click "Set up backup" on the right-hand panel.
Step 4
Click your external hard drive in the list of potential backup locations and click "Next."
Step 5
Click to choose "Windows choose the files automatically" to have Windows make all the decisions for you. Otherwise, select "Let me choose" to personally select backup locations. Click "Next" to continue.
Step 6
Click to place a check mark in the boxes next to the folders you wish to back up. Click the triangle symbol to the right of the box to expand folders and access subfolders. Click "Next." This step is unnecessary if you decided to let Windows choose files.
Step 7
Click "Save settings and run backup" in the "Review..." window.
Step 8
Select a regular backup schedule in the final window, or deselect "Run backup on a schedule" to perform a one-time backup. Click "OK" to perform the backup. This process can take a considerable amount of time when backing up large amounts of data.
Restoring Files
Step 1
Restart your HP Mini and press "F11" when the first logo appears. Select "System Recovery" and follow the onscreen instructions to restore factory defaults. This step is required only if the operating system is inoperative. If you wish to restore only backups, then skip this step.
Step 2
Click "Start" and enter "Backup" in the search box. Click "Backup and Restore." Click "Select another backup to restore files from."
Step 3
Click your external hard drive in the list of backup locations and click "Next."
Step 4
Choose "Select all files from this backup" and click "Next."
Step 5
Choose to restore "In the original location." You can also choose "In the following location" and specify where the backups are to be restored. Click "Restore" to restore the files and "Finish" when notified that the backup is complete.
