Can I Save and then Reinstall the contents of my C: drive?

[strick9]

I have an external hard drive with enough capacity to hold my entire C: drive. Is there a way to back up everything on the C: drive, including the programs as well as the data, and then restore it back to the C: drive at a later date? I'd want all the programs to have their correct settings so that everything worked just as it did just before it was backed up.

If I'm wanting too much, is there a way to minimize reinstalling all the software?

Thank you.

[ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb]

Yes; in fact this is a very normal way of backing up everything, so it can be restored in case a failure occurs. You should use a backup software such as Windows' own Backup program, or if you want to invest in a professional backup program, the best there is is Acronis True Image (Home). You can obtain it directly from the Acronis website, or if you become a subscriber to this forum, you can get it at a discount by clicking at the blue 'Acronis' button on top of the forum page.

[andsome]

Acronis is well liked on here. Take Pats advice. :D

[-pops-]

I also suggest Acronis as being an excellent program for the job.

Please be aware that you cannot just copy your "C" drive over to another one by just copying in the same way that you might copy a file or folder. There are all sorts of "hidden" things on your main drive that enable it to boot into your operating system. These are not copied by a straight file transfer, you require to clone the drive which is what Acronis will do for you. In addition, you can make compressed backups of your system so that, in case of drive failure, you can be up and running again in many cases less than an hour - with a replacement drive, of course.

I strongly recommend that you make some sort of provision for doing this. All too often we get people coming here when it is too late and their drive has failed with no backup or other means of recovery.