How do I backup all of my programs and data?

[djdelarosa25]

I'm looking to do a clean install of Windows 10 Pro since my current one is running a bit slow. I want to keep everything that I have right now: files, installed programs, preferences, etc. What can I use to backup all of these and restore them just the way that they were before formatting?

[tt2468]

I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure you can't just restore programs like that. You would need to reinstall. Your best bet would be windows backup

[captain_to_fire]

34 minutes ago, djdelarosa25 said:

I'm looking to do a clean install of Windows 10 Pro since my current one is running a bit slow. I want to keep everything that I have right now: files, installed programs, preferences, etc. What can I use to backup all of these and restore them just the way that they were before formatting?

If you use the built in File History, it will backup both files and settings. Unfortunately, I don't think there's a program that can also backup installed applications. 

[SpaceGhostC2C]

If you really want to back everything up, the best option is to just make an image of your partition(s). You can either clone the drive to another (hence you can just swap one fisk for the other and the PC won't even know), or create an iso / img / whatever image file that you can later re-image into your disk.

The trick to create an image "live" is that there are several system files that won't be normally accessible to just copy them, hence you need to use a program that performs "shadow copying". There are several alternatives; the one that comes of the top of my head is Macrium reflect. Back in the day you could also make a Ghost bootable disk and then perform the image backup from there (it seems it has gone through some process of integration to Symantec over the years).

 

Bottom line: make a full image of your hard drive(s).