Today I will show you how to optimally backup all your personal files, folders and data in a way that is easily read and used in any operating system, not just Windows.
As I have mentioned in earlier guides, Windows Backup & Restore is great if you are sticking with a Windows operating system, but messy and complicated if you want to use that backup in MAC or Linux (its inside a container file) and System Repair Discs are only good for your Windows system, not your personal data. It is far better to manually backup your personal data, preferably in addition to Windows built-in backup, rather than relying solely on the Windows backup format.
Before we begin, you will need either a USB flash drive or external USB hard drive (see example images below) with the capacity to hold all your personal data, which I will go through with you first, before commencing the backup process.
How to manually backup your personal data (Vista, 7 & 8)
May 13, 2014 Here is the process: On the Home tab, select your drive letter and My Book. Click the Backup tab. Check the box next to the drive letter. Then check any folders or files you specifically don't want to backup. Click Enable Backup. Once you do this, backups. Western Digital My Passport User Manual. Summary of Contents for Western Digital My Passport. The internal hard drive or hard drive partition that you want to back up files from or copy retrieved files to when your computer has more than one. The My Passport drive that you want to back up files to or retrieve files from when you.
1. Calculate how much space you require
- Windows XP/Vista/7: Click on the Start Menu icon bottom-left of your screen, then click the Computer menu item
- Windows 8/8.1: Press the Windows Logo key on your keyboard, click on the File Explorer icon on your taskbar, then click Computer from the left-pane
- Click on your System (C:) drive or the drive where your Windows system is installed
- Vista/7/8 user folders location: Computer > System (C:) > Users > [yourusername]
- XP user folders location: Computer > System (C:) > Documents and Settings > [yourusername]
- Right-click on your user folder (named the same as your logon name) and select the Properties menu item
- Look for the Size on disk: XX.XXGB item where XX.XX will be the size of your personal files and data (ie. 15.56GB, MB=Megabyte, GB=Gigabyte, TB=Terabyte)
- Repeat this process for all Users > [username] folders you want to backup
- For USB flash drives, I recommend buying one-size-up from the size calculated, such as: if the size calculated is about 30GB you should buy a 64GB USB flash drive (not 32GB) as this will allow for headroom (you’ll need it).
- If you have more than 128GB of personal data, I recommend buying an external USB hard drive instead of a USB flash drive (see below) as it is more affordable and faster.
- For external USB hard drives, as a minimum I recommend buying a 500GB unit or larger, and USB3.0 rather than USB2.0. They come in sizes up to 4TB as of 2014.
- Obviously you should purchase an external hard drive capable of holding all your personal data plus 100% headroom, in other words double the size of your personal data.
2. Locate important data files
Rather than explain how to find important data files located outside of your user folder (which would make this guide far too long), I will instead give you some links showing how to find the most common ones.
There may be more data files you need to back up, go through your programs and assess which ones do before proceeding, but most programs will (and should) store data files inside your Users > [username] folder.
3. Copy the data to external drive
- Plug in your USB or external hard drive
- Open your user folder: Computer > System (C:) > Users > [yourusername]*
- You should now see all your user folders (Contacts, Desktop, Downloads, etc)
- Starting at the top of the list, right-click on the first folder
- Mouse-over the Send to: menu item
- Click on the USB or external hard drive from the list, it will usually be named the same as its brand, WD_Elements (E:) or SanDisk (F:) etc
- Windows will now copy the selected folder and it’s contents to your backup drive
- Repeat this process for each folder but be aware, it can take some time (hours) to transfer large amounts of data (ie. My Documents or My Music) especially to USB flash drives
- When finished transferring all your user folders, copy over any extra data files to your backup drive too (Outlook, Quicken etc)
- Backup of all your personal data is complete*
*Please note that sometimes your user folders will be on a different partition or disk, particularly if you have a high-end workstation. Be sure you have at least copied the following folder list…
- Contacts
- Desktop
- Downloads
- Favorites
- Links
- My Documents or Documents
- My Music or Music
- My Pictures or Pictures
- My Videos or Videos
- Saved Games
- Searches
- Any other folders or files inside your user folders
There may be more files related to custom programs installed on your PC (Adobe Creative Suite, Corel etc) you will need to find these files and back them up also.
Cheers guys! and any questions leave them in the comments below.
Technical Level : Intermediate Summary
With every new revision of Windows comes the process of migrating to it. Many of you will be initiating a clean install instead of an in place upgrade. Before you do that though, you will need to ensure your data can move to the new version of Windows or that new device you will be buying. In this article, we take a look at backing up your files, specifically, we look at backing up manually. Recent versions of Windows include File History, which was introduced in Windows 8.0 in 2012 but based on my personal experience, it is not as thorough as Windows Easy Transfer which is no longer available or supported. A manual backup is also handy for migrating your personal files to a new PC or an important way to ensure your data is kept safe.
Details
What you need to start this project?
The first thing I recommend you do is invest in an external hard disk. I can't exhaust this enough; they are affordable and can store lots of data. You can probably get a 4TB drive for around $100.
USB External hard disk
Keep in mind, if you have a complex configuration, this article does not delve into the nuances of multiple partitions or drives with data scattered across them although the same rules can apply in regards to backup. If you do have folders for data such as documents, music, pictures and videos stored on other partitions or drives, then I would recommend you disconnect these data drives and upgrade only the system partition. You can always reattach your data drives after setup is complete.
Turn on Show Hidden Files & Folders
You want your backup to be as thorough as possible. Within your User folder is a hidden directory called AppData. This folder stores important settings for the apps you use, such as custom directionaries for Microsoft Word, passwords for apps like Chrome, Outlook data files and mail folders for apps like Windows Mail.
To turn on Hidden Files and folders, start by opening your user folder. Press Windows key + R then type: %userprofile% then hit Enter on your keyboard.
Enabling Show hidden files and Folders
Windows 8/8.1/10 - Click the View tab then click Options Mac air manual 2017. then click the View tab. Under Advanced settings > Hidden files and folders select the radio box Show hidden files and folders.
Windows Vista/7 - Click Organize > Search and Folder Options
Windows XP - Click Tools > Folder Options
Windows XP - Click Tools > Folder Options
AppData folder is now visible.
After completing the above steps, you should now see the AppData folder appear in your user folder.
Next step is to simply select all the folder. You can do this by pressing Ctrl + A or
![Mac Essential Files To Backup Manual Mac Essential Files To Backup Manual](/uploads/1/2/6/8/126881934/463965746.jpg)
Click Organize > Select All (Windows 7),
Click Home tab > Select All (Windows 8/8.1/10),
Edit > Select All (Windows XP).
Click Home tab > Select All (Windows 8/8.1/10),
Edit > Select All (Windows XP).
Selected folders
Open your External hard disk then create a new folder and call it backup or a unique name. Open it then press Ctrl + V or
Canon pixma pro 100 manual mac. Click Organize > Paste (Windows 7),
Click Home tab > Paste (Windows 8/8.1/10),
Click Edit > Paste (Windows XP).
Click Home tab > Paste (Windows 8/8.1/10),
Click Edit > Paste (Windows XP).
Depending on the amount of data, this can take a while.
If you have multiple accounts
If you have more than one account on your computer, log into each account and repeat the same steps. Make sure a unique folder is created for each account you backup manually.
Remember other folders you might have
If you store data in folders such as Public, remember to look in there too. The Public folder is located in C:UsersPublic
In Windows XP it is called Shared Documents located under C:Documents and Settings
NOTE: Some apps will keep their own data stores within their application folders, so make sure you browse and copy those over if necessary. Some users have a tendency to store files at the root of the hard disk, normally where the operating system is installed (Local Disk c:). Also check there for any important files and move them to Documents folder.
Restoration
Once your backup is complete and you have your new computer setup and Windows is installed and running, the next step is to copy over your files and folders from the external hard disk. You can do this two ways, you can individually copy the contents of each folder into the respective folder on the new computer from the external drive. Here is what you can easily do.
Connect and turn on your external hard disk.
Browse the backup folder with your backed up folders.
Mac Auto Backup
Press Ctrl + A or Click Organize > Select All (Windows 7), Home tab > Select All (Windows 8/8.1/10), Edit > Select All (Windows XP).
Open your User folder on the computer
Press Windows key + R then type: %userprofile% then hit Enter on your keyboard.
Press Ctrl + V or Click Organize > Paste (Windows 7), Home tab > Paste (Windows 8/8.1/10), Edit > Paste (Windows XP).
You will be prompted if you want to replace the folders, click Yes.
Best Backup For Macs
Depending on the amount of data, this can take a while.
If you have other accounts, make sure the respective accounts have been created and logged into then repeat the same steps.
Mac Backup Programs
Resources: