After using Windows every day for years, you have probably turned your personal computer into your very own private space: your personal files are well-organized (more or less), your pictures are cherished souvenirs of the best moments of your life, your music CDs have all been digitized and you have even spent evenings retrieving the cover illustrations to make everything look nicer. As for your e-mails, there is a whole part of your life that has been accumulating in Outlook Express, not to mention the addresses of all the friends you would never have met were it not for MSN. Even the Windows desktop, with all your personal shortcuts, is more familiar than the physical desktop where your keyboard sits. No question, this is your own space. Now just imagine losing your hard disk. And having to reinstall everything with nothing but the Windows installation CD. How long would it take to see you smiling again?
With such a scenario in mind, you will probably want to start by setting aside your most important files and documents. And that's where the trouble starts. Where are the Outlook e-mails really stored? In a new installation of Windows, how can you find your shortcuts, desktop and settings? What is essential and what isn't? Here are the main folders and files you should set apart.
These are located in the path: C:\Documents and Settings\your_name\.
This is the most important folder in your Windows installation. This is where all of your photos and musical selections are located (In the "My Music" and "My Pictures" sub-folders). You should also find your office documents and other creations here. If they are not here, it is probably because you have already set up an organization and backup strategy (and you probably don't need the advice in this article!) or else you are really disorganized! In the latter case, it would be a good idea to start by saving these items in this location from now on. Most of the backup tools on the market will be able to locate them immediately (see below).
This folder also contains all of your personal settings (Desktop, shortcuts, Start Menu, Internet Bookmarks, etc.). And this is where you will also find copies of your discussions via MSN Messenger.
You may choose to back up the entire folder if you have plenty of space available (a DVD recorder or external hard disk, for example). If you wish to break down this backup into segments (because you only have a CD burner for example), you will have to make separate copies of all the folders that it contains. Here are the locations:
- Internet favorites: C:\Documents and Settings\your_name\Bookmarks\
- Your Start Menu: C:\Documents and Settings\your_name\Start Menu\
- The Desktop contents: C:\Documents and Settings\your_name\Desktop\
Different versions of Outlook Express save your e-mails in different locations. They are often located in the following folders:
C:\Documents and Settings\your_name\Application Data\Identities\
C:\Documents and Settings\your_name\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook Express\
and your address book will be located at the following address:
C:\Documents and Settings\your_name\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book\
But to make sure that they are correctly identified, you will either have to consult a particular key in the registry or (and this is the easier choice) run a search for the file extensions .dbx (e-mails under Outlook Express 5 and 6) or .mbx, .idx, .nch (under Outlook Express 4) and .wab for the address book. Once you have located these, all you have to do is copy the folders to a safe place and be sure to make a note of where you found them, so that you can restore them if you have any problems (of course, a specialized backup program will do this for you automatically).
If you use Outlook rather than Outlook Express, you will have to find and back up (by means of a system search) the .pst folder (a folder that contains everything, including e-mail, mailboxes, etc.) and the .pab files (address book).
If you play games, there is nothing worse than spending many long hours progressing through a video game only to lose your backups at the last moment! If this concerns you, remember to make regular copies of the directory that contains your backups in the game installation folder (which has usually been wisely designated as "Saves").
A good backup program will let you automate the task of protecting all of these files and directories. It can be programmed to make a copy at regular intervals, to make sure that you never forget. When selecting a tool, keep these criteria in mind:
Incremental backups. The tool should be capable of copying only those items that have changed in the documents that have already been backed up, to ensure quick backups.
Automatic detection of crucial files. This will avoid the need for searching Windows and the registry. A good tool will know how to locate your e-mails and settings and back them up automatically. All you will need to do is indicate any other personal folders that you want to back up.
