Backing up data on an external hard drive...

I was wondering this for a few years but never put it to the test; If you
were to copy your entire program files (copy-paste) to your external hard
drive, and then repaste it back on an another computer, will it still be able
to work or will only installing work? Also I'm pretty much a beginner; how do
you backup?

Thanks,
Hiro.

"Hiro" <Hiro@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:BC251672-500B-438A-8AED-F8A560CD394D@microsoft.com...
>I was wondering this for a few years but never put it to the test; If you
> were to copy your entire program files (copy-paste) to your external hard
> drive, and then repaste it back on an another computer, will it still be
> able
> to work?

No. There are settings saved to the registry as well.

Copying works fine for backing up data, but to save your system you need to
create an image of the system.

"Hiro" <Hiro@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:BC251672-500B-438A-8AED-F8A560CD394D@microsoft.com...
>I was wondering this for a few years but never put it to the test; If you
> were to copy your entire program files (copy-paste) to your external hard
> drive, and then repaste it back on an another computer, will it still be
> able
> to work or will only installing work? Also I'm pretty much a beginner; how
> do
> you backup?
>
> Thanks,
> Hiro.

As Noozer says, you cannot create a copy of your system in this
way. Here are a couple of alternative methods:
- Use an imaging product such as Acronis True Image.
- If you are an advanced user, copy the files while in off-line
mode. "Off-line mode" means that you boot the machine with an
independent boot medium such as a Bart PE boot CD or that
you connect the disk as a slave disk to some other PC.

Hiro <Hiro@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>I was wondering this for a few years but never put it to the test; If you
>were to copy your entire program files (copy-paste) to your external hard
>drive, and then repaste it back on an another computer, will it still be able
>to work or will only installing work? Also I'm pretty much a beginner; how do
>you backup?

It depends on the program. Small, simple programs (Irfanview, for
example) or even more complex programs that don't depend on the
registry (Forte Agent and Pegasus Mail come to mind) should do all
right, although there might be some configuration issues once you
start them on the new machine. More complex programs - the best
example would be Microsoft Office - that depend heavily on the
registry, won't have a ghost of a chance.

You back stuff up by copying it to another place. Dumping to a CD or
DVD will work. Generally you only back up data, and keep the
installation CDs for your apps, in case they need to be reinstalled.

--
Tim Slattery
MS MVP(Shell/User)
Slattery_T@bls.gov
http://members.cox.net/slatteryt