The Hidden Secrets Of Backing Up (Windows)
Yesterday I talked about backup options for your laptop, but knowing how you backup is only half the battle. It’s also important to know what to backup, especially if you are running Windows. It’s pretty obvious that you will backup your documents, photos and music which will usually be stored in the folders of the same name on your computer. Keep a check for any folders installed by programs. For example, WIndows Live Writer creates a folder in My Documents where it stores all your blog posts.
Another key location is the desktop. Many of us drag files there temporarily and use it as a workspace, so it’s a key place for backing up.
One of the things I learned the hard way is that Windows hides your files by default. The first thing I do with a new laptop or PC is open a folder, go to the tools menu and open folder options. Under the view tab, there’s a list of functions. I check ’show hidden files and folders’ so I can see everything that’s in a folder. The reason for this is that when I’m ready to backup, there are a couple of hidden files that have important data.
All your customized settings are hidden in two folders - local settings and application data, but you don’t see these unless you enable hidden file viewing. Once you’ve done that you can copy the application data folder to your backup medium. This is useful for restoring data such as your FTP settings (re-entering them by hand can be a pain if you manage a lot of sites), your browser extensions and your email folders. Backing these up can save you a lot of time and trouble.
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