How to Auto Backup Windows 11/10/8/7 on System Shutdown
Why scheduled backup system at Windows shutdown
Windows, the most widely used operating system, is powerful but also vulnerable to problems, especially after system upgrades or program installations. It can experience system failures without warning or even fail to boot suddenly.
To avoid data loss due to system failures, it's best to create Windows restore points regularly and perform backups after finishing operations, before shutting down the computer.
To ensure your data is always safe, it's more efficient to set up an automatic backup schedule that runs every time your computer shuts down. This way, you can always keep your newest data backed up, and in the event of a serious computer problem, you can easily restore your system to its latest, normal state.
Best way to schedule Windows 10 backup based on events
In Windows 10, there are two primary backup utilities: File History, which focuses on backing up user folders, and Backup and Restore, which allows you to create a system image.
In Windows 11/10/8/7, the built-in backup options, located in Start > Settings > Update & Security > Backup, allow for scheduling backups, but they cannot automatically back up the system on shutdown or startup.
Windows has a built-in feature to automatically create system image backups, but it lacks a customizable retention strategy, leading to accumulated backups and filling up available space.
To perform automatic backups at Windows 10 shutdown or startup, it's recommended to use a powerful backup program like Qiling Disk Master, which offers event-based schedule options. This program has various editions catering to different user groups, and the cost-effective Qiling Disk Master Professional edition covers all the functions mentioned, making it a suitable choice for automatic backups.
The software supports various Windows versions, including Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, 7, XP, and Vista. It enables users to create incremental backups on a scheduled basis (daily, weekly, monthly) or triggered by system events such as shutdown and startup.
With Qiling Backup, you can schedule backups for files, folders, operating systems, volumes, or entire disks, and save them to various destinations like internal/external drives, USB, NAS, or cloud drives. If your computer has limited storage capacity, you can also set up an auto-delete scheme for old backup images or increase the compression level to make the most of your space.
Here's a free trial for you to try out:
(PS: The free-The free version of Qiling Disk Master can only be used for 30 days. To ensure continuous file protection, it is recommended to upgrade to the pro trial, which offers a 10% discount for one computer.
Auto backup Windows 10 on system shutdown (step-by-step)
The operation of Qiling Disk Master Professional is surprisingly simple and quick, considering all its features. Once you've set up a scheduled task to auto-backup Windows 10 on system shutdown, you can simply forget about it and let the program do its job, worry-free.
Now I'll show you its basic workflow.
Easy way to schedule backup at Windows 11/10/8/7 shutdown:
1. Launch the software, select Backup and click on System Backup.
2. The source data is automatically specified, so you only need to choose the destination.
To prevent accidental damage to the system image, you can back it up to removable devices, cloud drives, or network-attached storage (NAS) for added protection.
3. Enable Schedule Backup, then choose Event triggers and select System shutdown as the event type to make your choice of automatic plans, then click Schedule Backup.
You can also use time-based options, select other event types, or choose a USB plug-in to perform automatic backup when a USB device is detected.
4. Go to Backup Scheme and enable automatic backup cleanup, then set up a rule to automatically delete older backups based on your specific needs.
Scheduled backups are incremental by default. If you want to perform automatic full backups or differential backups instead, you can choose them under the "Backup Method" section.
5. Tap Start Backup button, and click Finish when it ends.
To perform system restore, go to the Restore tab, locate the system image in normal state, and click Proceed. If you need to restore the image to multiple computers, use the image deploy tool available in the Technician or TechPlus edition.
Related tips:
- In the "Options" section of the backup settings, you can customize various backup settings, such as adding a comment, compressing or splitting backup images, enabling email notifications, and encrypting backups.
- To create a bootable media or recovery environment, you can create a Windows PE bootable media that allows you to boot the computer and restore it to a previous system image in case of system failure. This way, when a system problem occurs, you can use the media to boot the computer to Windows PE and then restore it to a previous system image.
- With AB Pro, you can restore a system image to different hardware while maintaining secure boot, and it will automatically check the Universal Restore option if the backup image is used on a computer with distinct hardware.
Summary
To protect your system and restore it to normal in case of failure, it's a good idea to automatically back up Windows 10/8/7 at shutdown or other events, allowing for easy system error fixes when needed. Qiling Disk Master offers various plans and options for flexible scheduled backups, also enabling you to set up a scheme for auto-deleting older backups.
The software also allows automatic syncing of files from local to cloud drive, or between two computers. Additionally, there's a Server edition for Windows Server users, enabling automatic server backup or sync.
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