One of the most important and critical features of Windows Home Server is the ability to automatically backup your home computers to the server. This feature is enabled automatically when you add new computers to the network by running the Windows Home Server Connector, but by default it probably backs up way more than you need. Most users are probably needlessly taking up too much hard drive space on your server.

I think it’s actually a wise idea on the behalf of Microsoft to err on the side of too much backup. The worst scenario would be if something wasn’t being backup up when you were assuming that it would be backup. Post-hard drive crash is not the time to discover you weren’t backing up all your critical files.

Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide what folders need to be backed up. Most people will store their “stuff” in their My Documents folder, or the Desktop. However, it’s very possible that you have created other folders, or store items in other locations. It’s also possible that you are using an application that stores files or a database outside of the typical user profile. When it doubt, back it up.

Configuring Your Backup

You’ll need to log into the Windows Home Server Console.

On the Home Server Console, click on the Computers & Backup tab. Click on the computer name you wish to backup and then click on “Configure Backup.” Or, just right-click on the computer name and click Configure Backup.

The Configuration Backup Wizard will begin. Click Next.

The Wizard collects information about your computer….

Choose the Volume(s) you want to backup and click Next.

Next, you’ll need to choose the folders to EXCLUDE from the backup. Unfortunately, there is not a way to choose just the folders you wish to backup. Only the ones to exclude.

You will see a list of folders that are excluded by default. To add additional folders to exclude, click Add.

Select the folder you don’t wish to backup and click Exclude. Click the on the (+) to show sub-folders. Unfortunately you’ll have to exclude them one at a time, so if you have a lot of folders to exclude, you’ll be doing a lot of clicking.

Note: In most cases, you won’t actually need to backup folders like your Windows folder or Program Files. I should emphasize, however, if you aren’t sure about a folder, and you have the space, back it up anyway.

When you’re finished excluding folders, click Next.

When the wizard is finished, Click Finish.

If you want to take a look at your backups, right-click on the computer in the Windows Home Server Console and chooseView Backups.

Here you can view a list of dates where a backup job was run and whether is was completed successfully or not.

If there were errors during backups, you will see a message such as Failed or Incomplete.

Once you’ve confirmed everything is good, you’re finished. Now, a backup doesn’t do you a whole lot of good if your don’t know how to restore it, so we’ll look at how to restore files from backup next…