Windows Backup Guide
Abstract
What is it all about?
This article explains some of the best practices to protect and
back up data on your computer. It gives you in-depth information on
what exactly you need to back up on your computer and how would you
locate the most critical and important data that needs regular and
reliable backup. The following topics are covered: Outlook data
backup, registry backup, e-mail (Outlook Express, Windows Live Mail) backup, messenger
data (MSN, ICQ, AIM, and Yahoo!) backup, system, shell and desktop
settings backup. Additionally, a few general tips are provided to help
you back up your documents and folders under Microsoft Windows 10, 8, 7,
Vista, XP, and Server, safely and reliably. Although information
presented here is free to study and explore, any kind of reprint,
reproduction, or redistribution are strictly prohibited.
Why to back up?
The importance of backing up
The first thing a new or experienced computer user should learn is
the importance of backing up. Are you still not backing up your data?
You should know this by now: computers can and do fail. The problem is
that you usually get no warning before it's too late. This has
happened to many people. In extreme cases, it has put companies out of
business. Computers are becoming more and more reliable. This creates
a false sense of security - we begin to think all our data are safe
and secure and will never go away. It's not true - and never will be.
If you don't back up your computer system regularly, you are playing
Russian roulette with your data. Backups are really a necessity, and
you are responsible for making backups of your files.
What to back up?
-
My Documents backup
Backing up your important documents and folders.
-
Outlook backup
How to back up Outlook folders and settings.
-
Registry backup
Backing up Windows 95, 98, ME registry files.
-
E-mail backup
Backing up e-mail and news folders for Outlook Express, Windows Live Mail, Mozilla, Netscape, and more.
-
Messenger backup
How to back up AIM, Yahoo!, MSN and ICQ messenger data.
-
System backup
Backing up the core system files and desktop configuration folders.
Each of the above backup topics shares the same common format:
-
Brief description of the resource, application, or system item, and why is it important to back it up.
-
Typical locations, paths and folders where this data usually resides. Tips to determine those locations.
-
File types and extensions for this data. Typical structure of this data to help you get an idea of how it looks like.
The backup locations mentioned there may vary from system to
system, from installation to installation. The examples of the paths
provided are generally valid for a typical Microsoft Windows
XP/Vista/7 installation. However they may, and will, differ on
other systems. The only way to correctly identify the required path
location, especially when running international Windows, is to make a
call to a special Windows system API function
SHGetSpecialFolderLocation and supply it with one of the
available CSIDL values. These are the programming terms and,
moreover, this can be done only programmatically, so don't try to
fully understand the above clause. However, if you're a computer
literate, you may guess the correct locations browsing through the
folders with the Explorer. For example, the Windows profile directory,
the most important directory which holds all of the local user
profiles, is usually located at:
- C:\Users\ on Windows Vista and 7.
- C:\Documents and Settings\ on Windows 2000 and XP.
- C:\Windows\Profiles\ on Windows NT.
- Windows 95, 98 and ME have no profile directory at all. All data is stored partially under subfolders of C:\Windows\.
If you're unable to determine any of the required locations, you
can still try finding the required data by searching your disk drives
for files of the specified types - the typical file extensions are
provided with each topic. If you don't want to do this work manually,
or if you're not sure whether you've found the correct paths or not,
there is an automatic, reliable backup solution available.
A special backup program,
Argentum™ Backup
, automatically detects
and locates the proper paths, folders and files under any Microsoft
Windows (95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8, and 10) platform. Argentum Backup
does it for sure, without any mistake or occasion. The developers put
a lot of work into the product, tuning and refining the built-in,
patented backup engine code-named AutoAnalyze™. Other
than that, Argentum Backup is an easy backup software to back up your
documents and folders, easily and reliably. Backups are stored in
compressed Zip files and can be created both manually and
automatically. Argentum Backup is designed to be suitable for both
beginners and advanced users.
How to back up?
Backup basics
-
Back up regularly, back up often. It is important that you
get into the habit of backing up your files on a regular basis. Just
having things stored on your hard drive is not enough. A computer
crash, a virus, or a hard drive failure can wipe out everything. Don't
make this simple mistake! Back up everything at least once a week.
Daily is better. If you use your computer daily, it is best to back up
important files daily and other data weekly. At the absolute minimum,
back up your files monthly.
-
Keep several backup copies. Never back up over a prior
backup copy - keep several copies over time so that you can back up
more than one version if necessary. Remember, a problem that is backed
up will remain a problem when restored!
-
Be selective. You don't have to do a total system backup. In
fact, why waste your time backing up all those executable program
files when you can easily re-install them from the original media in
case of a problem. Just back up your important files. Backing up the
entire hard drive is time-consuming, not practical, and should not be
done. A backup of specific data files is the way to go.
-
Know what's really important. The most important things to
copy are files you create yourself. Be they text documents, e-mail messages, pictures, or game saves, if
you made them, be sure to keep their current backup handy. Beyond
that, it's helpful to back up the configuration settings for any programs you
use, along with critical Windows data such as the registry.
-
Organize your folders. Backing up is easy if you set your
folder structure properly. It's faster and easier to back up if all
your files and subfolders are in a single folder, rather than having
your documents scattered across the hard drive. The My Documents folder is a good place to
store files on any Windows computer. When all your personal files are
in one place you are less likely to forget a file when you back up.
Organization can be the key.
-
Use backup software
to automate your everyday backup tasks. You don't have to copy your
files manually. You can accidentally omit something, or simply make a
mistake. A decent backup program creates the backup of your data
reliably and automatically, and it will notify you in case of any
problem, and will log the backup activity in detail. In addition,
there are a lot more useful features, all usually for a very low
price.
Argentum™ Backup
Windows backup software
Of course you can make an attempt and try backing up some or all of
the above data manually, by hand. That would require locating the
proper paths, searching through the registry, putting up a list of
items to back up, and then copying or archiving multiple files and
folders. That would be a bold attempt! First, you can make a
mistake and miss something very important. Second, it may take
quite a while, especially if you're short of time and have better
things to do other than sitting behind the computer desktop and
playing with the files. Third, after all, it's not that easy!
Fortunately, there is a better solution available! Back up all of
the above items fully automatically. In a snap. In a single click!
A special backup program, Argentum™ Backup, will automatically
locate for you all of the important data on your computer and will
create a simple list of tasks to back up, quickly and safely. All you
have to do afterwards is to click a "Backup Now!" button. It's that
easy.
- Most intuitive backup software ever. Extremely user-friendly.
- Extremely small, fast and reliable.
- Simply creates Zip (or Zip64) files.
- Argentum Backup is cheap but good. $49 only. Use this opportunity today!
- We are offering you to try Argentum Backup free of charge for 15 days.
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