tcarp wrote:

(snippage and comments inline)

> The question here is about what I see as folders/files on my C-drive and,
> in
> general, what's stored in them. I duplicated this question in the bowels
> of another thread but it was beginning to get off-subject.

> As I look at these, the big three appear to be Documents and Settings,
> Program Files, and Windows. Am I correct in assuming that the Windows
> folder (possibly along with the hidden folders) is all that's needed to
> have a runable Windows system?

No, you aren't correct. See below for how to back up your system.

> I'm not ignoring the files listed below.
>
> The files on the C-drive:
>
> AUTOEXEC.BAT
> boot.ini
> config.sys
> drwtsn32.log
> IO.SYS
> MSDOS.SYS
> NTDETECT.COM
> ntldr
> pagefile.sys
>
> All of these are hidden so I'm assuming they are needed to have a runable
> system.

XP doesn't use autoexec.bat, io.sys, msdos.sys, or config.sys. They are
there only for backwards compatibility. The other files are necessary.

> Am I nieve to assume that in general the Program Files are, in fact, all
> the applications and the Documents and Settings are, in fact, my documents
> and
> application configuration settings files. Or am I only wishful?

"Documents and Settings" is the "container" for all user settings. Each user
will have [username] Documents, Music, Videos, My Pictures. In general,
installed programs will put their program files in the Program Files
directory, however that depends on the program. Some older programs will
use the root of C:\ instead.

Most programs will save their data in your My Documents directory but this
depends on the program. Some older programs will save at the root of C: or
in the Shared Documents folder. You need to examine the options of each
program that you use to determine this. You also need to examine how each
program saves - and just as importantly, restores - that data. For example,
some programs like QuickBooks and Quicken will want you to backup from
within the program and restore from within the program.

There are two different ways to approach backup. To get back a completely
working install, configured exactly the way you want, you should use an
imaging program like Acronis True Image. Purchase an external hard drive
and store the images on it. True Image can also do incremental backups.

http://www.acronis.com

You can also back up just your data, either by copying it to the external
hard drive manually or by using a backup program. I like Second Copy from
www.centered.com. It is inexpensive ($29.95), flexible, and doesn't put the
copied data into a proprietary format.

In addition to regularly backing up to an external hard drive, I also
suggest periodically burning the data to CD/DVD-R and storing it off-site
or at least in a safe place not next to the computer.


Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
Don't Panic!