Does BackUp to an external hd do a new backup with date?

jane824 said:

I’ve used this method:

Select the Start​ button, select Settings > Update & security > Backup > Add a drive, and then choose an external drive or network location for your backups.

You are using File History. The way this works is that once you have chosen a drive to hold your File History, backups will be automatically made to that drive until such time as you turn off File History or choose another drive for it to use. It is not designed for continually changing the backup destination, it is intended that you use the same drive so that a continuous history is created. This can be a USB drive that's not permanently available, because...

...If the drive selected as the backup location becomes unavailable, such as when a USB cable is disconnected or the network goes down for maintenance, File History will continue to do its job by saving the copies to a cache on the local drive. Once the backup location becomes available again, the cached contents are transferred to that location and removed from the local drive.

Select Drive for File History in Windows 10

It was (apparently) intended that File History would be removed in the Fall Creators Update and replaced by a new feature called Timeline. This did not happen. Timeline may yet make it into the next Features Update (1803?) due out in April this year.

[Unfortunately though, it seems that the new Timeline feature that Joe Belfiore introduced during the annual developer conference won’t be ready for the upcoming Fall Creators Update.

The exec himself confirmed the bad news on Twitter earlier today, adding that the feature should make an appearance in post-Fall Creators Update Insider builds:

Timeline feature will not make Windows 10 Fall Creators Update

I recommend using Macrium Reflect or EaseUS or AOMEI and making full images of the OS and Data partitions onto external media of your choosing; that and File History should give you good routine backups, and, restores when needed.