Windows 10 maintenance for sporadic user

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Hi Woody,
I just got the operating system on my laptop upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10 (1909). To help with the transition, I bought your book “Windows 10 All-In-One For Dummies”. Wow, is it heavy! (both literally and metaphorically). I’d like to do good maintenance on this new O.S. from day one, but after reading several of the chapters concerning general maintenance, backup and system health, I still have a few questions.
Firstly, you say that it’s not necessary to use most of the old Windows 7 maintenance/backup/system repair tools because Windows 10 now does most of that stuff automatically.
However, I only use my computer for a few hours, a few times a week, and only connect to the internet for about half that time (if I need to use the internet for a specific reason). The rest of the time my laptop is turned off and put away. So, depending on how much freelance work I get, I use the laptop sporadically.
Now I notice that many Windows 10 maintenance, update and backup functions seem to happen at a specific time and day of the week, and given my sporadic usage, I’m likely to miss them on any given week. I’m wondering, if it is the case that my computer is turned off when these functions are supposed to happen (e.g. defragging and updates), do I need to do them manually? Or will they happen anyway the next time I turn on the laptop?
Secondly, regarding backups, I use an external hard drive, and do not want to use cloud storage. I have started backing up my data using File History. However, I’d also like to back up everything else (system, drivers, programs etc.), which I used to do using Backup & Restore in Windows 7.
However, I see that in the book you say there is no need to use System Repair Disk, System Image, System Restore Points, or Backup & Restore. But given that I’m not going to use cloud storage, I think I must need at least one of these previous options (I’m a bit hazy about the distinctions between them). Before your book arrived, I’d already created a System Repair Disk, a System Image and did a Full Backup using Backup & Restore, in addition to File History. Now I’m wondering if all that was a waste of time?
So, in summary, given my irregular and sporadic computer usage pattern, I’d like to know which maintenance tasks I need to perform manually, and roughly how often should I perform them?
Defragging? Disk Checking?
Updating the system?
Full backup using Backup & Restore?
System Repair Disk? System Image? System Restore Points?
(File History is fine, no questions on that.)
Many thanks for your book, by the way, it’s fascinating.
–Christine

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AlphaCharlie

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[Mike]

I’ll try to give you my opinion on some of these.  Others here on the forum should also comment.

Firstly, you say that it’s not necessary to use most of the old Windows 7 maintenance/backup/system repair tools because Windows 10 now does most of that stuff automatically.

That is true.  Windows 10 is pretty automatic in doing what Microsoft thinks best.  That includes most of the items below.  But, you can delay or change many of those to manual, and you can force many of the features below if you haven’t left your computer on for awhile (mainly searching for OS updates).

Defragging? Disk Checking?

Even with Win7, I only defragged a couple of times for the entire life of the OS…and I moved hundreds-maybe thousands of files around. You can certainly check it, but if its not fragmented that much…..then why ?

Windows 10 will automatically disk check for errors if you have hard shutdowns or drive failure.  But you can manually start it (just like defragging).  Again, I don’t think you have to do that on a regular basis unless you’re having problems with your hard drive.  By then you’d better be thinking of a new drive.

By the time my drive was “toast”, I knew well ahead, and had planned on a new system or maybe just a new drive.  This is especially true since a new SSD drive is pretty cheap.

Updating the system?

Yes, you should update.  You can follow the MSDefcon here at AskWoody and delay the updates, then allow Windows update to proceed…..OR…..just leave it to Windows Update to automatically update as necessary.  That process of delaying is well documented on the net.

Full backup using Backup & Restore?

I would use some of the mentioned Backup Software here on AskWoody.  There are several free or trial programs, and everyone has their favorite.  What’s important in backing up is that you always have two sources to get your backup from.  This is especially true if you lose your only backup or it gets corrupt.

System Repair Disk? System Image? System Restore Points?

Windows Update creates Restore Points as necessary, but you could simply do that yourself before a major update or if you’re installing a new software program.  Of course, if you want to create your own restore point for a Windows OS update, then you’ll have to manually control the update process.  That is explained in several posts here on AskWoody, but you can readily find out how to control Windows update by searching the internet.

Regarding a System Repair Disk, again I would recommend one of the Backup Software programs.

Mike

• This reply was modified 5 years, 2 months ago by Mike.

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Christine

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Mike wrote:

I’ll try to give you my opinion on some of these. Others here on the forum should also comment.
.
.
Regarding a System Repair Disk, again I would recommend one of the Backup Software programs.

Mike

Thank you so much Mike.  I’m sorry it took me so long to thank you, but I’m new to forums and could’nt figure out how to find my question so I could check for replies.  I just figured it out now!  So, thanks again for your answer, which has clarified things for me.

Now I have to figure out how to actually post this thanks…

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Tips for the newbie.
If you click the “reply” button at the top of the post you want to reply to, your post will nest below as an answer and it will not be necessary to quote the whole thing. If you want to quote only a small part, you can highlight that part before you click on “Quote” and it will quote the highlighted part only.

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Christine, DriftyDonN

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Thank you, will try that now.

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Thank you for this, it definitely simplifies things.

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Christine wrote:

However, I only use my computer for a few hours, a few times a week, and only connect to the internet for about half that time (if I need to use the internet for a specific reason). The rest of the time my laptop is turned off and put away. So, depending on how much freelance work I get, I use the laptop sporadically.
Now I notice that many Windows 10 maintenance, update and backup functions seem to happen at a specific time and day of the week, and given my sporadic usage, I’m likely to miss them on any given week. I’m wondering, if it is the case that my computer is turned off when these functions are supposed to happen (e.g. defragging and updates), do I need to do them manually? Or will they happen anyway the next time I turn on the laptop?

The latter:

In the case your computer isn’t powered on, or you’re actively working on it, the schedule to run maintenance tasks will be postponed until a later time when tasks won’t impact performance or energy efficiency.
How to manage Windows 10’s Automatic Maintenance feature

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Christine

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