New
#1
I want to back up system files and installed programs ONLY
I want to back up my drive, but only the installed programs and system files. If anything from My Libraries etc is important, I back it up within a week, if not immediately/automatically. Otherwise, expendable. Annoying to retrieve, but less so than a fresh install. It’s the difference between a backup sized 32 GB and 108 GB, the latter being unmanageably big. Also, if a program is installed to a directory somewhere within C:\Users, it's expendable. So basically:
- I want to back up installed programs, system settings, registry, etc, but not My Documents, My Pictures, download directory, etc. I want to keep those things, but in case of an emergency crash I'd rather lose those things than do a completely fresh install.
● Is there any backup software superior to the Win7 default?● If only a few individual programs don’t work because of missing references in \Users\, whatever, I don't care, I can just fix it later. As long as Windows as a whole runs like it does now, it’ll be peachy. I do want as many as possible of my installed programs to work.● If it's too difficult to back up programs in working condition, I can live with just writing down a list of installed programs and just reinstalling them later if there's a problem, and in the meantime just exporting settings and plugins and stuff if I can.● I still don't understand the nuts and bolts of the registry at all, just the broad concept. What do? Is this done automatically?- If I just do a selective backup, what folders within C:\Users would I need to include along system files and installed programs? I assume AppData is a given, as well as any folders that follow the pattern of .gimp2-8 or .thumbnails that are in Users. What else, if anything?
● Will it be a problem if I stick AppData, etc in their exact original paths after a system restore?
Given these premises, here’s the question - what type of backup should I make? Will a system restore point be sufficient, or do I have to do a full backup of everything except for the folders where my expendable data resides? Or a third option?
Last edited by MindNarrative; 30 Sep 2013 at 20:56.