Backing up data to be used for after a factory reset

[Bhav-9763]

Hello, I've been recently expiercing a problem and thanks to a HP support technician I was informed that my OS is corrupted and would need to do a factory reset recovery thing, however before that I should backup all my personal files. The thing I wanted to know is if anybody here knows any simple methods by which I can copy over all my personal data and software to an external hard drive, without having to go through the hastle of finding ever last file and then coping it over, and if there is a simple method, will it save every last file that has bee added to the laptop, or just some of them.

Also once I do back them up and reset my laptop how would I transfer them back through this method?

[WAWood · Accepted solution]

@Bhav-9763

You're actually talking about two very different things -- personal files and applications -- and the processes for backing up and restoring these are very different.

The easiest way I have found for backing up and restoring personal files is using an image backup application like Macrium Reflect.  That will save a compressed image of your OS installation to an external drive or large USB stick, and after your reset, you can reinstall the app, connect the external drive and/or USB stick and then "mount" the image as a virtual drive.  Then, you can access that drive just like any other and copy back all the personal files and folders you want.

The ONLY way I have found for backing up and restoring apps is using a third party tool like Laplinks PCMover Pro.  This will also create an image of your OS installation, but you get to choose what it contains.  An added plus is that it will read other compressed image files (e.g., MR files) and from those, you can select and restore specific apps.

Good Luck

[Bhav-9763]

Thanks for helping, I've also seem to have come across this feature called Windows 10 file history backup, with that would that only back-up all the files that I have added to the laptop (not the software)?