In part I of this article, you learned about the importance of performing regular backups as well as how to access the Backup and Restore Center in Vista to make a backup of your files.

There could only be one thing worse than having no backup — having a backup that you cannot restore from. To ensure that your backup strategy actually works, you should perform a test restore every so often. To test the restore, the data that you back up should be temporarily restored to an alternate location to determine whether your backups are being performed without error.

You can restore backed-up versions of files that are lost, damaged, or changed accidentally. You can restore individual files, groups of files, or all files that you have backed up.

To restore files in Vista:

1. Click Start and click Control Panel.
2. Click System and Maintenance.
3. Click Backup and Restore Center.
4. Click Restore files. A wizard will launch to walk you through the process of restoring your file/s.