66 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2009Chapter 6. Creating backup archivesTo be able to restore the lost data or roll back your system to a predetermined state, youshould first create a data or entire system backup file.If you are not concerned about restoration of your operating system along with allsettings and applications, but plan to keep safe only certain data (the current project, forexample), choose file/folder backup. This will reduce the archive size, thus saving diskspace and possibly reducing removable media costs.Backing up the entire system disk (creating a disk image) takes more disk space butenables you to restore the system in minutes in case of severe data damage or hardwarefailure. Moreover, the imaging procedure is much faster than copying files, and maysignificantly speed the backup process when it comes to backing up large volumes of data(see details in3.1 The difference between file archives and disk/partition images).6.1 Backing up files and folders (file backup)1. Start the Create Backup Wizard by clicking on the backup operation icon in the mainprogram window.2. Select My Data.3. From the tree pane, select files and folders to back up. You can select a random set offiles, folders, partitions, disks and even computers.In order to restore your operating system, you must image the system disk or partition; afile-based backup is not sufficient for the operating system restore.4. You can exclude specific files from a backup by setting filters for the types of files youdo not wish to back up. For example, you may want to exclude hidden and system filesand folders or files with .~, .tmp and .bak extensions.
