Protecting a Windows 10 computer using System Protection

There are all sorts of wonderful computer backup products out there. Some will backup your computer to a device connected to your computer, such as a USB hard drive. Some will backup your computer to some ‘Cloud’ storage using the Internet. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, which is a discussion for another day…

If you’re using Windows 10, it does have some handy built backup tools to help you recover the system in the event that something has gone wrong, such as your computer not working properly.

The System Protection facility is for protecting your overall Windows installation, and will allow you to roll back to a previous time, should something be wrong with your computer. The key is, make sure it’s turned on!

To check if System Protection is turned on, do the following:

• Open File Explorer
• Right-click on This PC on the right and click on Properties
• Click on the Advanced System Settings link on the left
• Click on the System Protection tab
• Take a look at the Protection settings box – if it’s already on, it will have your local disk listed, with the word ON in the Protection column. If it’s currently off, you can turn it on by using the Configure button, and choosing the ‘Turn On System Protection’ option, and then just click OK to all of the open boxes

What you have just done is enable the System Protection feature, which will now take snapshots of your computer using something called System Restore. This will allow you to roll back if you need to, should something be wrong with your computer.

Alongside this, you may also want to set up File History as well, which does a similar thing, but your documents and files, which we have a separate article for.

Gavin Moorhouse runs Lucid Computer Solutions Ltd, an IT Support and Cloud Services business based in Redditch, Worcestershire. When he isn’t at Lucid Towers, he’s watching Star Wars.