Step by step process

Did you know you can restore lost files from any PC on your home network that has been backed up with Windows Home Server? Here's how you do it:

Step 1: Open the Windows Home Server Console With the Windows Home Server Console, you can see which of your PCs have been backed up and the backup status of each. To view your PCs, click the Computers and Backup tab.

Step 2: Select your home computer Select the PC you'd like to view, and then click View Backups to see a list of all the backups performed on that PC. Select a particular backup, and then click Open to view all the files backed up from that PC.

Step 3: Browse the backup library window Once you open a particular backup, you can easily view all the files that were backed up. And you can easily drag the files you want to restore to a folder on your computer.

I've had a Windows Home Server for about a year now. Fortunately, today was the first time I needed to use it to restore anything from backup. I came home yesterday to find that one of my data drives on my dev rig was toast. Every time it tried to spin up it would let out a "clink-clink-clink" sound and then shut back down.

I didn't fret, though. Luckily all I needed to do was go to MicroCenter this morning to get a replacement drive, open up the PC and replace the busted one with the new one, format it and then use my WHS backup to restore all the files from Friday night's backup. Piece of cake.

Of course there are plenty of backup solutions that would provide the same functionality, but I don't know too many that will back up every PC in the house and also serve as a file server, a print server, and a streaming media server.

If you have multiple PCs in your household, have lots of family photos or videos that you'd like to keep safe, or just like cool stuff then I highly recommend you invest in a Windows Home Server, whether it be a pre-packaged product like the HP MediaSmart Server or one you build yourself.