In general, we can also make a backup of some key folders instead of proceeding with the continuous backup of the whole PC (which becomes progressively bigger as we add programs and files). The paths to be saved are in most cases those where the Windows user configuration files and programs, documents, music, photos, videos and private files are saved.
Basically it will be enough to make a backup of the user profile and of the folders used by him to be able to restore it in case of need.
In this way, the backup is much more flexible because, in case you want to bring data from one PC to another, the entire system would not matter including the drivers and installations of programs that may be incompatible on the new PC.
The computer would then be installed from scratch and receive the backup of the user profile with important and personal files.
Let's find out together the best methods and programs that we can use to make backup of the user profile and save personal folders in Windows .
READ ALSO -> Backup of installed programs and settings on Windows
1) Save system settings via Microsoft account
With Windows 10 we can save the settings and customizations present in the system using the synchronization offered by Microsoft.
To do this, simply open the Settings app and go to Account -> Your info and finally click on Log in with a Microsoft account .
Once logged in, go to the Synchronize settings menu in the same window and activate all the items present.
From now on all the system settings will be synchronized on the Microsoft cloud, so as not to lose them in case of a new PC or a reconfiguration of the old one.
At the right time we can recover them by logging in again with the same Microsoft account.
2) Save user profile files (Windows 10 backup)
After saving your settings, it's time to save your Windows personal folder backup so that you can recover your important files anytime.
We connect a drive capable of hosting the backup (a USB stick is fine or even better an external hard drive with USB) to the PC in question and, in Windows 10, we open the Settings menu -> Update and security -> Backup .
In the screen that appears, click on Add a drive and select the disk you want to use for backup (a network path is also fine, such as a NAS).
Once the drive is added, click on More Options, then on Add a folder ; we recommend adding the user's folder immediately, by going to the path C: / User (or C: / Users ) and selecting the folder with our profile name or account name.
Alternatively we can personally select the user's folders (Photos, Videos, Images, Documents, Music etc.) to be added to the backup.
Now that the folders are added, let's make sure that the backup is set to run every hour and to always keep the backups, so as not to have any problems.
3) Save the user profile files (Windows 7 and 8.1 backup)
If we still use the old Microsoft operating systems, the backup creation will be slightly different.
We connect a fairly large external hard drive to the PC, open the Start menu and search for Backup and Restore .
Once this new window opens, we click Configure Backup .
In the next screen we choose the drive to backup, then we click Next ; in the new window we set Manual Selection and click Next again.
In the new screen that we will see, we select all the items present under the Data files section (where the user profiles and files will be present), and deselect the item Include a picture of the system of the units .
Now click on Next, then on Save settings and back up .
4) User backup with external program
If we want to use an external program to manage the backup of the user profile, we recommend using EaseUS Todo Backup Free, which offers quick configuration in a few clicks.
Once downloaded and installed on our PC with Windows, start it and click on File Backup, present in the left bar.
In the new screen we select the personal folders in the Library section and in My documents, we add the path Computer -> C: / Users or C: / Users to our backup, we choose our backup destination from the Destination menu (an external USB disk or a network resource) and finally we click Proceed .
Our backup will be saved in the chosen location; from this program we can also set a schedule and choose what to avoid in the backup, so as not to make it grow too much (we can also delete the oldest backups and keep only the most recent ones, like 3-4 months at most).
5) Other methods for backing up the user profile
With the Data Grab program (no longer developed but still good) you can make a backup of the user profile to store it on an external hard disk or on a USB stick so that you can copy it when needed.
It is therefore not a classic backup program but a much more simplified copy solution.
Data Grab is a portable tool that can be used without having to do any installation.
After downloading the Zip file, you can launch the Datagrab.exe file to start the program.
From the configuration interface, a little spartan but clear enough, you can choose which folders to save .
First choose the disk where Windows is installed from the Backup from multiple-selection menu. You can select the current operating system, or another operating system if present on a different disk.
Below you can choose the most recent profile folders and the profiles on the PC.
Most of the settings and options can be changed manually, but the basic settings are already very good.
For example, you can only backup a specific user profile or all accounts registered on the computer; you can make a backup of all documents, looking for them on the entire hard disk and saving them in a single folder and you can save all the photos, music and configurations of the installed programs (from the AppData / Roaming folder).
At the end we set the place to save the backup in Location to store Backup and click Copy .
The backup also includes an executable file called DatarRestore.exe which should work to restore all the data where it should be.
Alternatively we can use Profile Locator, a rather popular tool I mentioned in the post: Move the special folders of the user profile.
Profile Locator, thanks to a guided procedure, is easier to use.
In another article we talked about how to restore Windows and all saved data, without reinstalling it and how to use free backup and recovery programs by cloning the disk with a system image.
