Imagecredits:Macrium,Microsoft,Mirinsoft12 |^ |^ June 2019
fullreinstallisa
destructiveprocess–
everythingonyourC
drivewillbewipedclean
asa result.Evenif you
performa repairinstall,
there’sstillthedangerthatit won’tfix
yourproblemandmightevenmake
thingsworse,preventingyoufrom
gettingatyourdata.Therefore,it’s
importanttotakestepstoprotect
yourpersonalfilesandmaybeyour
preferences and system tweaks, too.
Step one is to look after your personal
data: documents, photos, videos and so
on. By default, these are stored inside
your personal user folder on the same
drive as Windows itself. So if you’ve not
moved these folders on to another
drive, it’s critical you back them up now.
Windows has all the tools you need:
Backup and Restore in Windows 7, 8.
and 10; and File History, which is limited
to Windows 8.1 and 10.USEFILEHISTORY
If you’ve not already set either up to
back up your data, now is a good time
to start. File History is the better tool if
your version of Windows supports it, as
it makes it easy to roll back your data to
an earlier point in its existence as well as
saving the latest version. Set it up via
Settings > ‘Update & recovery’ > Backup
(Windows 10) or Control Panel > ‘System
and Security’ > File History (Windows
8.1), then make sure it’s backing up thefolders you want it to and that at least
one full backup has been performed.
The Windows Backup and Restore
To o l (t y p e sdclt.exe to access it via the
Run dialog box) is straightforward to set
up, too – just click ‘Set up back-up’ to
get started if you haven’t already; if you
are using it, open it and take a new
backup immediately prior to reinstalling
to ensure your backup is fully up to date.
Like File History it can store multiple
versions of the same file, but fewer
revisions are stored.BEYOND YOUR DATA
The ‘Back up your program settings’ box
on the left tells you how to back up your
program settings using a free program
called CloneApp – if you’re struggling to
track down a program’s settings, check
its support pages or forums online, or
start your search under the C:\
User\<username>\AppData and C:\
ProgramData folders as well as the app’s
own folder under C:\Program Files or C:\
Program Files (x86). Also open the
Registry Editor (type regedit into the
Run dialog) and look under the HKEY_
CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE Registry
key for any subkeys related to your apps.
What happens if you miss a crucial file
or setting? This is where your final
backup – a fail-safe drive image – comes
in. You can click ‘Create a system image’
in the Backup and Restore Tool or – if
you want greater flexibility – we
recommend installing Macrium Reflect
Free from http://www.macrium.com/
reflectfree.aspx. Once installed, launch
the program and click ‘Create an image
of the partition(s) required to backup
and restore Windows’ to get started.
Macrium Reflect Free is also a lifesaver
if you’ve come to this feature locked out
of Windows and with no backup in place- follow the step-by-step guide on the
page opposite to create DVD or USB
flash drive rescue media and recover
your data before wiping your PC’s
main drive and reinstalling Windows.
Before you reinstall
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Back up program settings
If you’d like to transfer selected program settings from old installation to new,
download the portable CloneApp tool (www.mirinsoft.com) to your backup
drive. Once complete launch the tool by right-clicking CloneApp.exe and
choosing ‘Run as administrator’ and go through its list of 247 supported apps
to see if yours are there. If any are, tick the box beside each one you want to
save the settings for. If any apps aren’t covered – or you want to back up
additional settings – then choose Custom where you manually specify the
files, folders and Registry keys where your program settings are stored.A
Check File History
is switched on in
Windows 8.1 and 10.