Windows' newest safety net lives on the drive it protects.

Lance Whitney is a technology journalist with an IT background. He's written for TechRepublic, PCMag, Macworld, and Time, among others, He also teaches classes in AI, cybersecurity, and social media.

Making a full system image backup preserves not only your files, but Windows and all its settings as well. Here are the best free Windows backup and recovery tools with step-by-step instructions. When ...