So you don't regret it! What files should be backed up on your computer?
As is known, hard disks [no matter their shape or size] are susceptible to damage at any moment and for various reasons. Today, the computer is working in the best condition, tomorrow the hard disk may fail or be infected with a virus or you may do something wrong unintentionally that leads to the deletion of all your files that you have collected over many years.
Personal photos, videos, work documents, games, songs, and more are gone! Recovery programs may be able to save the day a little, but they won’t be able to restore all your files. That’s why backup is absolutely essential in many cases.
But you don't need to back up all the files on your hard drive – that would take up a lot of space on the storage used to store backups,
However, it will take longer to complete the process. So, what files should be backed up on the computer? The answer to this question is the focus of our discussion today, as is clear from the title, so let's start from the following lines directly.
First of all, you need to understand the concept of “backup” in order to apply it correctly. The rule simply states that the user’s important data should be in two or more physical locations at the same time.
In other words, you shouldn't create a backup of a particular file and then delete the original copy of that file. If you do, it's not a "backup" in the literal sense. You still only have one copy of that file - the one you've moved to a different location.
This may seem obvious and doesn't even need to be mentioned, but you'd be surprised to know that there are a lot of people who complain and grumble about losing data after the storage device they had backed up to was corrupted!
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First: How to back up files
There are many ways to back up your data, from backing up to external storage to uploading files to an online server such as cloud storage services.
You can also use many tools dedicated to backing up data, if you do a quick search for "Backup Software for Windows" you will get many options to choose from, and they will often be free.
Considering that Windows already has a built-in backup tool that you can access via the Settings app in Windows 10 as shown in the image above.
In general, we suggest that you use multiple types of backups to provide maximum security for your data.
For example, if you create a single backup on the second hard drive connected to your laptop , you will lose this backup if your device is stolen or damaged in any way. So having a backup on cloud services is a good idea.
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Second: Back up your "files" and not all computer files.
There are two types of backups you can create on your computer, most popular backup tools will back up a list of files and folders that you select and need, so the backup will be smaller in size and complete in the shortest possible time.
There are also programs, even the built-in Windows tool, that allow you to back up everything on your computer, from the main system files and installed program files to user data. Of course, this will make the backup take up much more storage space and take longer to create.
For most people, the first type is more streamlined, where you select your important files and back them up instead of copying everything and there are files you don't need... Yes, you can't restore the full backup to another computer, it's better to start with a Windows installation from scratch and reinstall the programs again.
We'll cover this point in more detail later, but for now let's review the most important files that should come to mind as soon as you think about creating a backup.
Third: Files that you should back up
The most important thing is to make a backup copy of your personal files on the computer, and we are talking here about the personal files stored inside the C partition of the system, as for the other partitions of the hard disk, you will certainly need to back them up if they are important to you.
In modern Windows machines, almost all user files are stored in the C:\Users\ Username path where Username here is the name of your user account that you specified during the installation of the Windows copy.
By default, this path contains all the folders that contain user data, which is you! So the Documents folder by default includes documents saved by office programs such as Microsoft Office .
While the Pictures folder contains your personal and family photos, there is a Downloads folder where files downloaded from the Internet are stored, a Music folder that stores your music files, and a Videos folder that packs videos edited by editing programs. If you use iTunes, it will save your music library in the Music folder by default.
It even includes a Desktop folder where your desktop files are stored. Also in the same path are some other important folders like OneDrive, Dropbox, and Google Drive where offline backups of your cloud files are stored if you use these services.
There is also an AppData folder but it will not appear unless you enable the Show Hidden Files feature in Settings. This folder is used by programs to store settings and user account data, so you may need to back it up to restore a particular program's settings at any time.
In general, we recommend backing up everything in this path. At the same time, you can exclude some folders from the backup.
For example , if you have a bunch of videos stored in your Videos folder and you don't mind re-downloading them in the future, leave them out. But any other personal data or settings that aren't in that folder should be backed up if you care about them.
For PC games, they have files all over the place. Many games sync user files online using Steam Cloud or similar, so you don't need backups.
While many of them store these files in the AppData folder or in the C:\ProgramData path or somewhere else.
PCGamingWiki has a large database of many PC games and provides detailed information about them, including exactly where user files are located. For example, GTA IV stores user files in C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\Rockstar Games\GTA IV
Fourth: Files that should not be backed up
If you have backed up the contents of the Users folder, I don't think the C partition contains any other important files that you need to include in this copy as well, as the remaining folders such as Windows, Program Files, and Program Files (x86) can be ignored.
The Windows folder contains the main Windows system files, which are not transferable between different computers. These files will be stored automatically the moment you install Windows on the new computer, so you do not need them.
The same goes for the Program Files folder, which contains the files to run installed programs. You can't usually copy these folders, and you have to reinstall the programs from scratch when you move to a new computer, so there's no point in backing them up.
Now that you have started backing up your important files, you should continue to create backups at regular intervals. Back up your files daily if possible, and this process will be faster if you focus on the most important files and not all the files stored on your computer.
Backup automation can help ensure that you get these backups automatically on a regular basis, which is what makes cloud backups so good. They can be set to create a backup at a specific time every day, so you don't even have to think about it.
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