WindowsImage Backup and FileHistory

[who4ever]

If I have a WindowsImageBackup, do I need a FileHistory also? I need to free up space on my external hard drive and it seems to me that FileHistory is redundant if I have an ImageBackup. Thanks, Dave

 

[Grizzly]

How did you do the Image backup??
Did you use the build-in feature??
or did you use external apps like Acronis, Macrium Reflect and others??

If you have used the build-in feature (the old Windows7 backup and restore tool), you are doing yourself not a favor as it is very unreliable and backups can seldom be restored from that.

 

[who4ever]

Let me put it another way. If I choose to use the Windows System image, will I have the last version of all of my files? That is all I want. So then I wouldn't need FileHistory, then, because it takes up a lot of room.

 

[Bastet]

Windows image will have all files on the PC up to the date of the image - nothing newer.
File History if set to backup every hour will have all files which were added to the History backup up to the last hour’s FH backup.
File History will always be more up to date.

You can always run File History cleanup to remove ‘all but the latest version’ of the files & this will clean up space on the drive.

Macrium can be run to Image the drive daily & with Ver 8 (not yet released) it can be set to backup hourly. As Windows backup is deprecated this is a viable option for backups/images.

 

[eimajourge]

Are you trying to recover files from WindowsImageBackup or FileHistory, or do you need help with cleanup and management of these backups? Let me know your goal, and I can guide you through the best solution.

Here’s a quick breakdown of both:

1. File History (For Individual File Recovery)
Stores previous versions of files.
Best for restoring specific files instead of the whole system.
Recovery Steps:

Go to Control Panel → Search for File History → Click Restore your files with File History.
Browse your file versions → Select the one you want → Click Restore.
If the file exists, you can choose Replace, Skip, or Keep both versions.
Tip: If File History is stored on an external drive, make sure it’s plugged in.