Choice of folders to backup

K

Kelley

I have a new Vista machine and am transferring personal information from the
older XP. I need help in finding the appropriate folders to include in Roxio
backups on the Vista machine.

I need to avoid losing documents, photos, Favorites, e-mail addresses, and
e-mail messages in the case of an HD disaster. (I have no music files.) I
obviously need to backup Documents and Pictures. But what folders are the
locations of the other personal information?

Any other comments?
Alderbrook
 
K

Kevin

Kelley said:
I have a new Vista machine and am transferring personal information from
the older XP. I need help in finding the appropriate folders to include in
Roxio backups on the Vista machine.

I need to avoid losing documents, photos, Favorites, e-mail addresses, and
e-mail messages in the case of an HD disaster. (I have no music files.) I
obviously need to backup Documents and Pictures. But what folders are the
locations of the other personal information?

Any other comments?
Alderbrook

From Windows Vista Help

Import messages into Windows Mail from Outlook Express

When you upgrade a computer running Windows XP to Windows Vista, Windows
automatically imports any messages and contacts you have in Outlook Express
to Windows Mail. (Outlook Express has been replaced in Windows Vista by
Windows Mail.)

If you are not upgrading but want to transfer your Outlook Express messages
to a computer running Windows Vista, then you need to transfer the messages
manually or use Windows Easy Transfer.

If you are just transferring Outlook Express messages (and not all your
other files and settings) from a computer running Windows XP, you may find
it easier to use the manual method described here.

On the computer running Windows XP, do the following:
The folder that contains the Outlook Express messages is marked as a hidden
folder in Windows. To view this hidden folder, click Start, and then click
Control Panel. Click Appearance and Themes, and then click Folder Options.
Click the View tab, and under Hidden files and folders, click Show hidden
files and folders.

Locate the folder named Outlook Express. In Windows XP, this folder is
located here by default: C:\Documents and Settings\your user name\Local
Settings\Application Data\Identities\{your Windows user identity
number}\Microsoft\Outlook Express.

Copy the Outlook Express folder and all its contents to the Documents folder
on the computer running Windows Vista. (You can store this copy of the
Outlook Express folder in a location other than the Documents folder, as
long as you remember where to find it.) For information about how to copy a
folder, see Copy files to another computer.

On the computer running Windows Vista, do the following:
Click to open Windows Mail.

Click the File menu, point to Import, and then click Messages.

Click Microsoft Outlook Express 6, and then click Next.

Make sure Import mail from an OE6 store directory is selected, and then
click OK.

Click Browse, find the Outlook Express folder you copied to this computer,
and then click the folder once to select it. (Do not open the folder when
you select it.)

Click Select Folder, and then click Next.

Click All folders to import all the folders, or click Selected folders and
select which message folders you want to import, and then click Next.

Click Finish.

Notes
The Windows user identity number is different for every user. It will be
inside brackets and look similar to this sample number:
{8389CA60-ED34-11DB-95EE-10AE55D89593}

If Windows XP is installed on another hard disk location other than your C:
drive, use that drive letter instead of C: when searching for your Outlook
Express folder.

Outlook Express stores your messages in a folder that contains several
different .dbx files. These files (folders.dbx, inbox.dbx, outbox.dbx)
contain all your messages. Windows Mail cannot import any of these files
individually; you must import the entire Outlook Express folder.

If Windows Mail is unable to import your messages, make sure none of the
files in the Outlook Express folder are marked Read only. Open the folder,
select all the files, right-click them, click Properties, and make sure the
Read only check box is cleared.

Windows Mail cannot import messages from IMAP or HTTP e-mail accounts, even
if those messages were stored in Outlook Express. For information about
these e-mail types, see POP3, SMTP, and other e-mail server types. Windows
Mail also cannot import any newsgroup messages you may have had stored in
Outlook Express.

You can also import your Outlook Express Address Book into Windows Contacts
so you can use these contacts with Windows Mail. For more information, see
Import, export, or change the format for contacts.



To save your favorites in IE 6 on Windows XP

The favorites folder is located at C:\Documents and
Settings\YourName\Favorites
Open the Favorites folder and select all the items and then copy them to a
USB flash drive or burn them to a CD.

The favorites folder in IE7 on Windows Vista is located at
C:\Users\YourName\Favorites
Simply copy the saved favorites (the individual items, not the folder -- you
don't want to replace the folder just the items in it) to the favorites
folder and then you're set.

Hope this was helpful!
 
A

AJR

Note that using Vista's default selection via Backup and Restore Center
includes all "personal information".
 
P

Patrick Keenan

Kelley said:
I have a new Vista machine and am transferring personal information from
the older XP. I need help in finding the appropriate folders to include in
Roxio backups on the Vista machine.

I need to avoid losing documents, photos, Favorites, e-mail addresses, and
e-mail messages in the case of an HD disaster. (I have no music files.) I
obviously need to backup Documents and Pictures. But what folders are the
locations of the other personal information?

Any other comments?
Alderbrook

This is actually up to you to determine, and you do this by making a list of
the applications you use, and identifying where they save files. And
you're right, the My Documents and My Pictures folders aren't enough.

In Outlook Express (from your XP system) for example, there are two places
to look - for emails and addresses. They are separate, and helpfully in
folders marked hidden. Being in hidden folders means that some searches
and backup utilities will not find them.

For OE itself, if i recall - go to Tools, Accounts, Maintenance, Store
Folder to see where the DBX files are actually kept. You do need the whole
folder.

For the addresses used by OE, this is Windows Address Book (wab.exe) and go
to Help, About Windows Address book - the file in use is displayed.

For Outlook, everything is kept in a PST file. Go to File, Data File
Management select the file and choose Settings to see the full filename with
its complete location.

For other applications, you may need to do a bit more digging. Usually a
File, Save As will show you where things are going.

In general, if you take the complete Documents and Settings\Account Name
structure - AFTER clearing out temporary internet files - you will get
everything you need. However, "in general" can miss things you do need.

HTH
-pk
 

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