Usually, in the articles that talk about backup, we always talk about automatic programs and procedures that allow a backup copy of the hard disk, but few times it is indicated which files to save. In a computer with Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows 8 or other versions, it is absolutely not necessary to save all the contents of a disk, just save the folders where the important files are stored in a safe and double copy personal and program configuration settings .
In practice, to prevent all photos, music and customized configurations of the PC and programs from being lost in the event of a disk break, data must be saved on a second hard disk or external flash drive or cloud storage or other ( see the best ways to backup and not lose data).
Let's see then the main folders of the Windows PC which you must take particular care of and save a backup copy on a disk or a space other than the hard disk, for Windows 7, Windows 8 and also for Windows XP which has different paths.
READ ALSO: Best Programs to make automatic and incremental free backups
1) Backup of personal files: Documents, Music, Videos, Photos
The most important files that must be backed up periodically in order to be sure that they are not lost are personal ones stored over time on the computer: images, Office documents, personal text files, PDF, MP3, music collection, holiday photos, videos and all the rest.
These files are located in Windows 7 and 8 inside the C: \ Users \ [username] folder and in Windows XP in the C: \ Documents and Settings \ [username] folder.
The user folder is also opened in Windows by typing in the address bar of Windows Explorer or in the box Run the command % Userprofile% .
There is a user folder for each account registered on the Windows computer so, if you manage a PC used by multiple users who log in, you need to check the files for each of them.
In the path C: \ Users \ [username] or C: \ Documents and Settings \ [username] there are the folders: Documents, Pictures, Music, Videos that are certainly to be included in a backup.
There is also the Downloads folder which contains the files downloaded from the internet and which perhaps should be kept (although for safety it would be good to check that it does not contain viruses or bad installers).
Important is to save the Desktop folder which contains all the files visible on the desktop, including shortcuts to programs.
The contacts folder is the Windows address book that must be saved in the event that e-mail addresses have been imported from programs such as Outlook or other address books (see how to import vCards (file.vcf) into Windows contacts and Outlook).
If you are using an email program such as Outlook or Windows Live Mail, it is also important to back up the downloaded mail on your PC.
Outlook stores all the data in a PST file which can be found in different locations.
Then check if there is a PST file in the "Outlook File" folder under Documents or, depending on the operating system, in Windows 7 and 8 go to " C: \ Users \ [username] \ AppData \ Local \ Microsoft \ Outlook " while in Windows XP: C: / Documents and Settings / username / Local Settings / Application Data / Microsoft / Outlook / .
The location of the PST file is found by going to "Control Panel -> Mail -> Data File".
Windows Mail instead stores all the information in the user folder under the AppData folder: " AppData \ Local \ Microsoft \ Windows Live Mail " and " AppData \ Local \ Microsoft \ Windows Live Contacts ".
The AppData folder in Windows 7 and 8 ( Local Settings / Application Data in Windows XP) can be important to save because it contains all the personalized settings of the programs installed on the PC and the files created by them.
This folder is hidden in the sense that, by default, it is not visible and you have to go to the Folder Options (from the Control Panel), in the View menu, put the check under the Show hidden files and folders option.
If you save the entire Appdata folder, with the Local and Roaming folders, and bring it to another computer, there are no negative repercussions and, if there are files created by programs that are not installed on that PC, they simply remain ignored .
By saving the entire Appdata folder we can be sure that the Email account used, Firefox profiles, Chrome favorites etc. are saved.
Note, however, that making a simple copy of the AppData folder may not be enough to save the configurations of the programs because the files are often tied to registry keys.
For this reason, read the guide on how to backup programs with custom settings on Windows .
returning to the User folder, you can find the Favorites folder which contains the sites saved as favorites by Internet Explorer.
If you use another browser like Google Chrome and Firefox, the bookmarks are located in the AppData folder as seen before.
Other folders that can be important depending on the case (for the most part they are not and can be overlooked) are: Saved games, Podcasts and other folders that start with. that are not needed.
Then ignore the folders created by programs such as Dropbox, Google Drive, Skydrive that do not need to be saved because they are already synchronized in the cloud in online accounts.
Finally, go back to C: / Users and check if it is appropriate to backup the files, if any, in the Public folder which is used for resources shared between computers.
However, it is not necessary to backup the following folders
- Windows folder ( C: \ Windows )
- Programs ( C: \ Program Files )
- Program Files ( C: \ Program Files (x86) )
- PerfLogs ( C: \ PerfLogs )
In the Windows folder, save the C: / Windows / Fonts folder in the backup in case some additional font family has been installed.
The programs folder is useless because the programs when they are installed do not write only files but also registry keys.
It certainly pays to reinstall all programs on the PC from scratch, downloading them from official sites with new versions.
If needed, for commercial programs, you can retrieve and save the license keys of the installed programs.
If instead you wanted to avoid reinstalling all over again, then you need to create a backup image and clone the Windows disk.
However, to choose the folders of important files and save them for backup automatically, you can simply use the Windows Backup utility which can be configured from the Control Panel -> Windows 7 File Recovery
In this way, if even the main disk breaks and if the computer does not turn on anymore or for various errors, you can always reinstall Windows and restore all important data, photos and personal files.
