Hello, Do we have any more detail on the exact differences between the backup and restore provided in Home and the advanced backup on Pro? There was a thread earlier that indicated that full image backup is available on all versions, but it isn't clear whether the process can be scheduled automatically. From what I've read, Home's lack of advanced backup can mean everything from not having the ability to backup over a network to a total inability to schedule an automatic backup (which of course is possible in Vista Home Premium). Are any fuller details available on the exact differences between Home and Pro? Thanks much!

Zeku,The chart in this threadshows that network backup is not available in some versions, but scheduling should be available.

Thanks for the link! I've been curious about the missing backup features in Home, especially since backup to a network was possible in Vista Home Premium and is now being offered only in 7 Pro and above. I haven't seen evidence that scheduled auto-backups will be possible in 7 Home Premium and there's been very little discussion online. Strangely enough, the wikipedia entry for Windows 7 Editions states that scheduled backups will not be available below Pro, and while this is just wikipedia we're talking about, I found it odd that Microsoft's promo pages for W7 don't mention scheduled backup for Home Premium, either...?

This chart that I found on Microsoft.com shows that scheduled backups are not on home premium.And yet following the link shows 'This is available on all Windows 7 versions' on the right side of the page.And this faq says that it 'applies to all editions of Windows 7', and it even mentions the scheduling options.

I think I may have the answer to the question, at last. Ed Bott did a good article on differences between W7 versions, and was so kind as to do test installs of all versions so that he could compare all the different editions' features. It looks like the only backup feature in Home that'll be missing from Pro's "advanced backup" is the ability to save backups to a network. Scheduled automatic scans and system image backups are available in Home, it seems, and he just confirmed this when I checked with him by e-mail. Still odd that network backup is being yanked out of Home, since my Vista Home Premium has it, but alas...

Strange how muddled Microsoft's info has been on these features. The e-mail (already gone) info was exactly the same as the article (i.e., the ability to save backup on network as the only difference between Home and Pro). I expect that there will be another blog post about this, soon. Anyway, that's a good point about the full image backup...I hope to hear more about that.