![]() With that in mind, we recommend you back up your entire user account directory, including the hidden AppData folder. You may be able to use this data to restore an individual program’s settings if you ever need to recover from a backup. This is where programs store the settings and data specific to your user account. There’s also an AppData folder here, but you won’t see it unless you’re showing hidden files and folders. RELATED: What Is the AppData Folder in Windows? It also includes other important folders, like OneDrive, Dropbox, and Google Drive, where offline copies of your cloud files are stored if you use these services. It even includes your Desktop folder, where many people store files. If you use iTunes for your music, iTunes stores its music library in your music folder by default. These include the Documents folder where your documents are saved to by default, the Pictures folder that likely contains any family photos you have, the Downloads folder where files are downloaded, the Music folder where your music files are probably stored, and the Videos folder where videos are stored. On a modern Windows PC, you’ll generally find these under C:\Users\USERNAME, where USERNAME is your user account name.īy default, this directory contains your user account’s data folders. The most important thing is to back up your personal files. They’re not the best general purpose backup solution. System image backups have their place, but avoid them unless you’re sure you need them. You’re better off just starting from a fresh Windows installation and reinstalling your programs. For example, you can’t easily restore a system image on another computer, as a Windows installation will generally only run properly on its original system. System image backups sound nice, but there are some big catches. ![]() ![]() These backups will be much larger and take much longer to create.įor most people, we recommend you stick with just backing up your files and folders. These will back up everything, from your Windows system directory and installed program files to your personal data. However, it’s also possible to create full system image backups of your computer’s hard drive using built-in or third-party tools. RELATED: How to Create a System Image Backup in Windows 7, 8, or 10 Your backups won’t be any larger than they need to be, and they’ll complete quickly. This allows you to back up just the files and folders you need. Most common backup tools will back up a list of files and folders you specify. There are two types of backups you can create. So having a backup in the cloud is a good idea. For example, if you store your sole backup drive next to your computer, you’ll lose all copies of your files if your hardware is ever stolen or damaged in a fire. We also recommend using multiple types of backups for maximum data security. Choose the best backup solution that works for you-we discuss some of our favorites here. You can use the tools integrated into Windows or download a third-party backup tool. There are many ways to back up your data, from backing up to an external drive to uploading copies of your data to a remote server over the Internet. RELATED: What's the Best Way to Back Up My Computer? You might think this is obvious, but you’d be surprised how often we’ve been approached by readers that lost their data after their “backup” drive died. You still have just one copy of your data-you just moved it to a different place. If you do, it’s no longer really a backup. You cannot create a backup and delete the original. The most important rule of backups is that any important data should exist in two or more physical locations at once.
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