Backup Gets Some Respect in Vista

Backup has long been a feature of Windows that Microsoft was more interested in telling people to use than in getting people to use. For example, Windows XP contained a Microsoft backup utility, but many people never knew it, since it typically appeared only on the system CD-ROM and was not installed by default. To add insult to injury, Microsoft pushes many OEMs to avoid giving a real Windows install CD to their customers, so they could read in vain advice to "get the backup utility off your install CD".

That could change with Windows Vista. Microsoft has always relied on sales of Office and Windows to fund their other money-losing ventures like Xbox and MSN. That means they always need to add more features into Windows to help convince existing Windows users to upgrade. With Vista, Microsoft may have finally turned some of their Borg-like attention to the area of backing up data.

Vista promises to collect together in one place (hopefully installed by default!) the hodgepodge of backup and recovery utilities that Microsoft makes. The result is what Microsoft calls "Backup and Restore Center". I'll step through the collection briefly.

System Restore

System Restore was a feature that first appeared in XP. It lets you "restore your system" to a previous point in time. The basic idea is, before installing (for example) a new device driver, you set a "restore point". If the new driver causes your system to be flaky, then you ask Windows to restore things back the way they were at that restore point. In the past (and in Vista, I'm betting), Microsoft has done a poor job of making it clear exactly what that means. Exactly what files are eligible to be rolled back? What about registry settings? Etc.

In Vista, System Restore are, well, different in some vague and tech-centric way. To wit, Microsoft says the new System Restore now uses a "shadow copy" of files and folders. I swear, these guys wouldn't know the difference between a feature and a benefit if it bit them in the butt. Here's their description of why you should care about this change in the design of System Restore: "This improves integration with other aspects of backup and recovery and makes System Restore even more usable." Why just the other day, I was thinking "Boy, my life sure would be better if System Restore had improved integration!" Right.

Windows Backup

That's right, it's Microsoft's umpteenth stab at making a backup utility. This baby features 21st century innovations like: scheduling, and the ability to backup to an optical disc (hopefully it's direct to disc now, not the hidden directory followed by One Big Burn that Windows XP offers via secretly bundled Roxio software).

I doubt this is going to make a big dent in the third-party backup software market, but it just might if Microsoft actually installs it by default this time instead of hiding it on the operating system disc that many users will never own anyway.

System Image Backup

I definitely did a double-take when I saw this one. Microsoft is actually going to get into the image backup business for end users! System Image Backup will let you do sector-based copying of your boot volume and system volume. You can even do the backup to optical disc.

There doesn't appear to be any bare-metal restore feature, so if you lose your hard disk, you'll still have to tediously re-install Windows from scratch before you can start restoring your data from an image backup. Still, it's big news that Microsoft is going to bundle any form of image backup. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the marketplace, and whether the average consumer makes any use of it at all.

Previous Versions

This one is scary: Microsoft may have actually added a feature that helps reduce data loss for average users. Previous Versions is Microsoft's first foray into versioning -- automatically keeping past revisions of files for you. Accidentally delete a file? Suddenly discover you need that big section of your Word document that you deleted yesterday? File versioning might just save your bacon in situations like these.

OK, it's a little late. DEC VAX machines, after all, provided automatic built-in versioning for files some decades ago, back when disk space was actually expensive. But depending on how automatic and easy to use it is, this feature really could make a difference for end users -- and put pressure on third-party backup vendors to further distinguish their products.

September