Backing up XP

[Terry]

When I do C:\Documents and Settings\Terry. I can see my settings.

From what I understand this is where most all programs store its

settings. I know it will not save the programs but will it store data
it has stored on my behalf.

When I pick XP backup (normal) does it get all of this data by
default? I would like to save this stuff, but I would like to make it
as small as I can.

Deleting recent documents and cookies and temporary files first will
get most of it from what I understand.

I would like to do it on my niece's machine and wipe her hard drive
out. She has so much crap and popups on her computer I would just
like to start over. I have told her to copy anything she wants to
keep to her "My Documents" folder.

Will I be backing up all the crap she has installed as well?

Is this a good way to back up data?

Thanks for your time

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

When I do C:\Documents and Settings\Terry. I can see my settings.
settings. I know it will not save the programs but will it store data
it has stored on my behalf.

When I pick XP backup (normal) does it get all of this data by
default? I would like to save this stuff, but I would like to make it
as small as I can.

Deleting recent documents and cookies and temporary files first will
get most of it from what I understand.

I would like to do it on my niece's machine and wipe her hard drive
out. She has so much crap and popups on her computer I would just
like to start over. I have told her to copy anything she wants to
keep to her "My Documents" folder.

Will I be backing up all the crap she has installed as well?

Is this a good way to back up data?

Thanks for your time

If your niece has a lot of rubbish on her machine then your best
bet is to manually back up all her important files and folders.
Remember to back up her EMail files too! After backing up
things, try to retrieve a few folders in order to be confident that
you can do so on the rebuilt machine. You must do the same to
her EMail files - ask the appropriate EMail newsgroup how to
do this.

After backing up her files, do a clean installation of Windows,
then re-install all applications, then restore her data.