Choosing folders to backup

[Kelley]

I am moving from an XP machine to a new one operating with Vista. I need
advice on the Vista folders that I should include in my Roxio backup to a
DVD.

In the possibility of the loss of the HD I want to avoid losing my
documents, my photos, my Favorites, my e-mail addresses, and my stored
e-mail messages. (I have no music files.)

Obviously I should include Documents and Pictures. And what else do I need
in the backup? Where are my Favorites, the e-mail addresses, and the e-mail
messages?
And any other advice?

Alderbrook

 

[alexB]

If you install Vista over the old XP it will collect ALL important files,
specifically Program Files folder, Winnt folder and some others into
Windows.old folder. All other user set folders will be preserved, as far as
I can remember but they will be separate, meaning that they will be left as
C:\userDefinedFolder or whatsoever.

 

[Charles W Davis]

Kelley,

Here is a place to start reading:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/buyorupgrade/easytransfer.mspx

When I look at the size of my backup files, it would take 4 DVDs each time.
Then there is the time involved waiting to place a new disk in the drive. I
would recommend a USB external hard drive for your backups. The Windows
Vista backup programs is completely automatic and you may feel comfortable
knowing your files are safe.

If you are using Microsoft Office Outlook for your e-mail, move Outlook's
..pst file to a Documents folder so that all of your e-mail files are backed
up.

 

[Malke]

If you install Vista over the old XP it will collect ALL important
files, specifically Program Files folder, Winnt folder and some others
into Windows.old folder. All other user set folders will be preserved,
as far as I can remember but they will be separate, meaning that they
will be left as C:\userDefinedFolder or whatsoever.

Yes, but it would be *extremely* foolish to trust that everything will
go well and not back up first. The OP is being smart.


Kelley - I think you've covered everything. In XP, your Favorites are in
C:[assuming system drive is C:]\Documents and
Settings\your-user-account\Favorites. As for your email stuff, it
depends on what email program you're using. Here are sites with
information for OE and Outlook:

http://www.insideoe.com
http://www.slipstick.com

I would also caution you to make sure you don't use a CD/DVD-RW with
special formatting and that you don't use a backup program that puts the
files into a proprietary file format. Simply burn the files to CD/DVD-R.

Here are my steps when backing up data for a client:

1. Look at the root of all drives to see if anything was saved there.

2. Go into Program Files and see if there are any odd programs that
might have saved data in their folders.

3. Ask the client if they use QuickBooks, Quicken, or Outlook - if yes,
open those programs and do a backup or an export (depending on the
program) from within them. Ask the client if there are any other special
programs that need to export their data for future importing.

4. Go into Documents and Settings and for each user account get
Favorites and My Documents (which includes My Pictures and My Music).
Don't forget to look in the All Users Shared Documents, etc.

5. Ask client how they read their email and if they're using something
like Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, Thunderbird then back up accordingly.

Of course if you still have the XP machine sitting around, if you miss
something then you can always get it later.


Malke

 

[Malke]

One more thing - don't forget the Desktop! Lots of people save stuff
directly on their Desktops. I don't recommend this because things can
get easily deleted or lost but if you do, don't forget to back up.


Malke

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Kelley

In Vista:
Address Book. These are called Contacts in Vista/Windows Mail. They are
located in the C:\Users\yourname\Contacts folder.

Favorites. These are all located in the C:\Users\yourname\Favorites
folder.

EMail messages. These are all stored in the
C:\Users\yourname\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Mail folder.

Vista includes a handy backup program that can backup all of your personal
files.
Go to Control Panel/Backup and Restore Center. Click the Backup Files
Button.
Select the location where you want to save the backup. Click Next.
You will see a list of all the file types that will be backed up. Hover the
mouse pointer each type to see the details about the files that are included
in the backup.
Complete the wizard to backup the files.