How important are your saved favorite sites, cookies, or feeds? I am quite sure that everyone repeats visits to same sites or adds certain sites to his/her favorite bunch! What happens if you lose all these links or need to work from another computer while having the same shortcuts? All you need to do is a simple backup of these settings and you can restore them to a new machine and have all your favorites with you! The technical term used is export and import your Internet browser settings and the following steps will show you how to perform such steps using Internet explorer and Mozilla Firefox:

Saving your Internet Explorer favorites, cookies, and feeds:

1. Open Internet Explorer and press the keyboard key ALT to display the menu bar
2. Click Import and Export… from the File menu item
3. Select Export to a file and click Next
4. Select all three options, that is, Favorites, Feeds and Cookies and click Next
5. Select the top folder Favorites or any sub-folder if you just need one and click Next
6. Click Next to the file location screen while taking a note of the location
7. Again, click Next to the feeds file location and click Export while leaving the default location for the cookies file

Custom Search

You should be presented with the following screen and click Finish

Follow the same procedure to import IE settings but select Import from a file instead Export to a file at the first screen

Saving your Mozilla Firefox Bookmarks:

1. Click Organize Bookmarks from the Bookmarks menu item or press Ctrl-Shift-B to open the library window
2. Click Backup from the Import and Backup tab
3. Leave the default backup filename and click Save

The Restore option from the Import and Backup tab, allows you to restore saved Bookmarks by date.

Last 3 posts by George

• Backup considerations for Microsoft SharePoint - July 26th, 2010
• What is Cloud Computing? - July 19th, 2010
• Is Cloud computing getting safer? - July 13th, 2010

In my opinion, Word and Excel general parameters are somewhat tricky to find in the new versions of Microsoft’s Office. The tricky part is that you normally miss the tab Word options when clicking the Office button as your attention is on other parts of the menu window! I would not consider this location for such an important feature during an application usability exercise!

To access the application options, in this case Word Options start Microsoft Office Word and click the Office Button:

On the bottom right-hand side of the Office menu click Word Options

Click Save from the Word Options window to view the autorecover options

1. Make sure that the Save AutoRecover information every… minutes is checked and set a reasonable value in the minutes box
2. Take a note of the AutoRecover file location or set a new location, which is easier to find or remember
3. In addition, you can set the Default file location for new documents

Last 3 posts by George

• Backup considerations for Microsoft SharePoint - July 26th, 2010
• What is Cloud Computing? - July 19th, 2010
• Is Cloud computing getting safer? - July 13th, 2010

1. To start the backup utility, go to the Start menu, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and Backup
2. The backup main window opens, by default the wizard loads first if this is the first time you are running the utility. I suggest that you uncheck the Always start in wizard mode option.
3. From the backup main window, click the Backup tab
4. From the left-hand side pane, expand your data drive by clicking the + sign and searching through the folders structure find the data you want to back up
5. Select the data by checking the respective check box – I suggest you include the System State check box from time to time as to have a backup of your system important files
6. From the Backup media or file name: Browse button, select the destination backup location- I suggest using removable media such as, a USB drive or a network share if available
7. Click the Start Backup to load the next window
8. From the Backup Job Information window, select the Replace the data on the media with this backup radio button and click the Advanced… button
9. From the Advanced Backup Options window, it is important to select the Verify data after backup check box and click OK - for info about backup types see – Data Backup Types
10. Click the Schedule… button if you want to perform the job later – you are ask to save the options selected and to enter the admin password
11. Click the Start Backup button to initiate the backup job – the Backup Progress window loads and you can click the Report… button to view the status of the backup job
     
    Note: It is important to check the log files for errors – for example, the number of backed up folders and files should match that of the Verify section and the value of the Different: element is 0. By default, all log files are saved in C:\Documents and Settings\’your username’\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows NT\NTBackup\data

Last 3 posts by George

• Backup considerations for Microsoft SharePoint - July 26th, 2010
• What is Cloud Computing? - July 19th, 2010
• Is Cloud computing getting safer? - July 13th, 2010

A word of caution – incorrectly editing the registry may severely damage your system. Before making changes to the registry, you should save a copy in a safe place such as, to an external drive or USB device.

The backup is done using the export function within the Registry editor. Export the registry file as follows:

1. Open the Registry editor by typing regedit in the Search text box from the Start menu
2. On the file menu, click Export
   
3. In the File Name, enter a name for the backup registry file and destination location, choose a removeable media if available
4. In Save as type, select the file type Registration files (*.reg)
5. In Export Range, check the option All to save the entire registry
6. Click Save

Importing the registry file

1. Open Registry Editor by typing regedit in the Search text box from the Start menu
2. On the File menu, click Import
3. Find the file you want to import, click the file to select it, and then click Open

Note: In Windows Explorer, double-clicking a file with the .reg extension imports the file into the computer’s registry.
Last warning: A restored file overwrites an existing one and becomes the active registry of your configuration and hence, any modifications done after the backed up registry are lost!

Last 3 posts by George

• Backup considerations for Microsoft SharePoint - July 26th, 2010
• What is Cloud Computing? - July 19th, 2010
• Is Cloud computing getting safer? - July 13th, 2010

Custom Dictionaries

Custom Dictionaries allow you to store words that are not in the standard dictionary but which are valid. Names, surnames, towns as well as technical terms are common examples of correctly spelled nonexistent dictionary phrases. You would add these words to a custom dictionary so as to prevent the spell checker from prompting you whenever these words are used in an email.

With custom dictionaries it makes more sense to move the file to the folder that holds the pst files. See the article titled “How to backup your Microsoft Office 2007 Outlook in its entirety (Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7)” for more information. For Windows 7, the suggested folder was %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Outlook while under Windows XP it was %USERPROFILE%\My Documents\Outlook. This ensures that all terms added to the dictionary are backed up whenever you backup this folder.

To perform this action, choose the entry Options… from the Tools menu. From the dialog box that comes up click on the Spelling tab; the Spelling and Autocorrection… button; the Custom Dictionaries… button. The dialog box titled Custom Dictionaries comes up. For each dictionary that is defined, you can set the path where it should reside. This can be done by selecting the dictionary and then clicking the browse button and selecting the new location for this file. If you already have data stored in your CUSTOM.DIC file, you should close Microsoft Outlook and move this file using Windows Explorer.

Signatures, Stationary and Templates

Stationery and themes are a set of unified design elements and colour schemes you want to apply to messages. They specify fonts, bullets, background colour, horizontal lines, images, and other design elements you want to include in outgoing e-mail messages. Signatures are parts of a document you embed at the end of each email. You may have a different signature defined for each email account that pours into Microsoft Outlook. You can vary the signature depending on whether you are writing a new email or replying to a communication sent by someone else. Besides being a time saver, signatures allow you to personalize your email. Within companies and organisations a standard signature helps promote a professional identity.

Under the folder %APPDATA%\Microsoft are three directories called Signatures, Stationery and Templates. By including these directories in your backup strategy you would not have to create your customisations if you ever need to reinitialise your Microsoft Outlook installation. You would only need to reselect the appropriate signatures, themes and stationeries the first time you run Microsoft Outlook after a fresh install.

Conclusion

Having to reinstall a computer is one of the most nerve wrecking experiences. Even if you are willing to stay up late into the night or to dedicate a Sunday to reinstall the operating system and programs, remembering and implementing program customisations can ultimately take much longer. Recreating some functionality exactly as it was before can end up being a real bugger. By backing up these settings, getting back to the state you were originally becomes a breeze.

Comments are welcome and should be sent to chribonn@gmail.com.

Last 3 posts by chribonn

• When Green Is Bad - July 5th, 2010
• What your backup solution should be and do - June 27th, 2010
• Securing your online backup archives - May 12th, 2010

• File backup: Windows Backup allows you to make copies of data files. You can let Windows choose what to back up or you can select the individual folders, libraries, and drives that you want to back up. By default, your backups are created on a regular schedule. You can change the schedule and you can manually create a backup at any time. Once you set up Windows Backup, Windows keeps track of the files and folders that are new or modified and adds them to your backup. To set up file backup, see the following backup steps

• System image backup: Windows Backup provides you with the ability to create a system image, which is an exact image of a drive. A system image includes Windows and your system settings, programs, and files. You can use a system image to restore the contents of your computer if your hard drive or computer ever stops working. When you restore your computer from a system image, it is a complete restoration; you can’t choose individual items to restore, and all of your current programs, system settings, and files are replaced. Although this type of backup includes your personal files, we recommend that you back up your files regularly using Windows Backup so that you can restore individual files and folders as needed. When you set up scheduled file backup, you can choose whether you want to include a system image. This system image only includes the drives required for Windows to run. You can manually create a system image if you want to include additional data drives. See an automated system image backup example

• Previous versions: Previous versions are copies of files and folders that Windows automatically saves as part of system protection. You can use previous versions to restore files or folders that you accidentally modified or deleted, or that were damaged. Depending on the type of file or folder, you can open, save to a different location, or restore a previous version. Previous versions can be helpful, but should not be considered a backup because the files get replaced by new versions and will not be available if the drive were to fail. For more information, see Shadow Copies

Last 3 posts by George

• Backup considerations for Microsoft SharePoint - July 26th, 2010
• What is Cloud Computing? - July 19th, 2010
• Is Cloud computing getting safer? - July 13th, 2010

In my entry titled “How to backup your Microsoft Office 2007 Outlook in its entirety (Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7)” I described how to backup the Microsoft Outlook 2007 data file together with that part of the Windows registry that stores within it the email accounts from where Outlook retrieves emails or via which emails are sent out. Today I discuss how to use that backed up information to either recover a failed computer or to transfer the settings from one computer to another. The former may happen if the hard disk fails or as a result of a malware attack while the latter would apply if you are upgrading your computer or operating system.

On your freshly formatted computer you need to install Microsoft Outlook. Accept all the defaults. After the installer completes, run Microsoft Outlook for the first time. You will be asked a number of questions. Enter anything that will allow you to proceed to the end of this process. Do not enter valid email account details because Outlook will attempt to download mail after you complete the process and since this is not the database you will be using, you do not want any messages to end up here (this can be fixed but why create a problem that will need fixing).

1. Restore the files you had previously backed up to their original location. If you followed my previous article, the location would be %USERPROFILE%\Documents if you’re using Windows 7 and %USERPROFILE%\My Documents for Windows XP.

If you were using an online backup solution, you could have had a process that backed up this directory multiple times a day thereby guaranteeing that not even one email was lost when disaster struck.

2. Delete the files created by Microsoft Outlook when you first ran it. As we did when backing up, we need to find out the default location where Microsoft Outlook places the pst database. The same steps you performed during the backup stage must be repeated:

1. With Outlook running, right click on the Personal Folders entry (1) and choose the option Properties for ‘Personal Folders’ from the short cut menu that comes up.
2. A dialog box titled Outlook Today – (Personal Folders) Properties comes up. Click on the Advanced… button (2).
3. This brings up yet another dialog box titled Personal Folders. The Filename: entry (3) depicts the location of where your Outlook data file currently resides.
4. Copy the directory location from the Filename: entry and paste it into Windows Explorer.
5. Click OK on all the dialog boxes you have just opened and shut down Outlook.
6. Delete the contents of this folder.

 3. Click on the Microsoft Outlook 2007 icon to run the program. Since the pst data file is no longer there, Outlook prompts you that it cannot find this file and asks that you select the location where this file can be found. Move to the directory you have just restored and select the appropriate database. Outlook will memorize the new location.

A  message box comes up to tell you that Outlook must be restarted. Press the OK button.

4. Run Outlook again and confirm that all your emails, contacts and calendar entries are present. Although everything should be there, the email account settings are missing. This is because these are not stored within the pst file but are held in the registry.

If you did not follow the article about how to backup this information, you will have to manually setup each email account. Search your mail provider’s website for information about how to go about it. If, on the other hand, you retained a backup of this chunk of the registry then read on.

 5. Close Microsoft Outlook.

 6. Restore the Registry entries by double clicking on the registry file found in the directory you restored earlier. You will be asked to confirm the operation (1). You need to choose the Yes button. A warning comes up (2) to tell you that mucking up with the registry is dangerous. This is because one can easily render a computer an electronic vegetable if one deletes, adds or modifies incorrect entries to the registry—check out the backup part of this work for more about the Windows registry. Press the Yes button for this dialog box. A third dialog box (3) will tell you that the entries have been successfully added.

7. The next time you run Outlook you will get a prompt for the password associated with each email account managed by this program. Type in the password. If you do not wish to have to enter the password every time you run Outlook, click the appropriate checkbox to save the password.

8. Confirm that everything is working as it did before.

End of part 2 – Conclusion

You do not appreciate something until that something is no longer there. Emails, contacts and appointments are three of the most important things in the electronic world we live in. A backup solution that is easy to setup and forget about while being equally easy to restore when the need arises is the ideal candidate to ensure that you do not ever lose one bit of data.

Your comments and opinions are welcome. Is there a program you would like to backup but do not know how to go about it? Did I miss something out in my article on how to backup and restore of Microsoft Outlook 2007? Leave a comment or email me on chribonn@gmail.com.

Last 3 posts by chribonn

• When Green Is Bad - July 5th, 2010
• What your backup solution should be and do - June 27th, 2010
• Securing your online backup archives - May 12th, 2010

Backing up the data file

The folk who decided on the default location of the Outlook data file chose a location that is difficult to figure out.  Also when installing Outlook (or when running it for the first time) there is no way to specify a different folder.

Changing the default location

The first thing I am going to demonstrate in this tutorial is how to move your existing Outlook files to a more humane location under the Windows 7 Documents (or Windows XP My Documents) folders.

Open Outlook which I am assuming you are already running.

1. Right click on the Personal Folders entry (1) and choose the option Properties for ‘Personal Folders’ from the short cut menu that comes up. If your folder has a different name, Personal Folders will be called differently.
2. A dialog box titled Outlook Today – (Personal Folders) Properties comes up. Click on the Advanced… button (2).
3. This brings up yet another dialog box titled Personal Folders. The Filename: entry (3) depicts the location of where your Outlook data file currently resides.
4. Copy the directory location from the Filename: entry and paste it into a Windows Explorer window.
5. Click OK on all the dialog boxes you have just opened and shut down Outlook.
6. Move the folder that contains the Outlook files to a more appropriate location. I would suggest under %USERPROFILE%\Documents if you’re using Windows 7 and %USERPROFILE%\My Documents if you’re still happily using Windows XP.

Click on the Microsoft Outlook 2007 icon to run the program. Since you have moved the original location of the data file, you will get a message box telling you that Outlook can no longer find the pst file in its original location (1).

Clicking OK on the dialog box brings up a file selection screen that allows you to specify the new location where you had shifted your Outlook data files. Move to the new location, click on the pst file and hit the Open Button (2).

Another message box comes up to tell you that Outlook must be restarted. OK that.

The second time onwards Microsoft Outlook 2007 will automatically find your files no questions asked. And the directory where all your important emails reside is now in an easy to find location in your Documents folder together with all your other important stuff.

Backing up the registry

Microsoft Outlook retains your email account settings within the registry. This means that when the time comes to reinstall your computer, unless you have saved your registry Outlook settings you will have to re-enter all the email accounts you process using Outlook 2007. If you happen to have a single Gmail account this might not be that much of a problem (provided you still remember how to do it) but if, like me, you have almost a dozen email accounts flowing into your Outlook remembering each mailbox’s parameters can be time consuming.

A word of warning about handling the registry: unlike many programs, the registry program does not have an undo or an undelete option and changes go into effect immediately. If you delete a file by mistake you can pull it out of limbo by visiting the Recycle Bin. If you screw up a document, pressing undo will take you back one action at a time until you reach the stage before the oops or, if necessary, you can abandon all changes done during that session simply by not saving the updated document. None of this exists in the registry so be cautious.

In Windows 7, type regedit in the Search Programs and Files to run the registry program. With Windows XP, type the same command in the Run… box. Both options can be accessed from the Start Menu. Windows 7 will bring up a dialog box asking you to confirm your action. You should say yes in order to run the program.

Navigate to the registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows Messaging Subsystem\Profiles (1). Each profile you have defined will appear under this key. In my case there is one profile called Outlook.

Right click on Outlook and choose the option Export from the menu that comes up. I suggest that you place the registry snippet you are saving in the same location as the Outlook data files. This ensures that all your Microsoft Outlook related data is in one easy-to-backup folder.

End of part 1 – Conclusion

By backing up the folder to an online backup service you can rest assured that whenever something happens to your computer all your emails and the mailbox settings can be retrieved with ease. If you add a new email account or remove one you no longer use, you should export the registry settings again.

When backing up your Outlook data files, Outlook should be shut down.

Although I have not mentioned Windows Vista, the procedure for Windows 7 is almost identical to that of Windows Vista.

Next time I will describe how to use the information you have saved to restore your Microsoft Outlook 2007 in case of corruption. I’ll also throw in how you can use this backed up data when upgrading your computer from Windows XP to Windows 7.

We all appreciate how important emails are to us. Back them up regularly.

Last 3 posts by chribonn

• When Green Is Bad - July 5th, 2010
• What your backup solution should be and do - June 27th, 2010
• Securing your online backup archives - May 12th, 2010

Last 3 posts by George

• Backup considerations for Microsoft SharePoint - July 26th, 2010
• What is Cloud Computing? - July 19th, 2010
• Is Cloud computing getting safer? - July 13th, 2010

Important Note - a drive needs to have system protection enabled in order to be included in a restore point and in order to have the previous copies of files and folders functionality!

You launch the System Protection box from the control panel: (Click Start\Control Panel)

1. In the Control Panel Click System and Security
2. In the System and Security window click System
3. In the System window click System Protection – now you have the System Properties window open with the System Protection tab selected

  4.   Select the drive you want to set and click Configure
  5.   After you make the required settings click OK

Required settings:

Restore system settings and previous versions of files

This is the default setting for the system drive or volume. Do not change this default setting, since restore points here hold system information and user files that are present in the user profile. Disk Space Usage depends on how much space is used for user files. If your files reside in this drive or volume then 20% to 40% should be ok. If the drive is set to hold just system files then 10% should be enough.

Only restore previous versions of files

You normally use this option on drives or volumes that contain user files only such as, a second disk drive for data storage. A value of 40% of Disk space usage would give you a large number of previous versions of your files.

Turn off system protection

This would be the setting for external backup drives or USB disks that hold backup file sets. The main problem with USB drives is that they are normally formatted using the FAT file system. Remember that System Protection works only with NTFS formatted drives!

Last but crucial point is that old previous versions of files that were overwritten due to a low Disk Space Usage setting will not become available by increasing the Disk Space Usage percentage! Then, you need to revert to a restore process from a backup set!

Last 3 posts by George

• Backup considerations for Microsoft SharePoint - July 26th, 2010
• What is Cloud Computing? - July 19th, 2010
• Is Cloud computing getting safer? - July 13th, 2010

To restore a file or folder follow these simple steps:

1. Open the Backup and Restore console – type backup in the search box Start/Search programs and files and click the Backup & Restore Icon
2. Click Restore My Files – assuming one or more backups have been done previously
3.  The Restore Files window shows the latest backup as default but you can click on the Choose A different Date to select an older backup
4. Click the Browse for Files button – click Browse for Folders button to restore a complete folder
5. Search for the file you wish to restore and click the Add File button – repeat for more files or folders (use the CTRL button to add multiple files)

    6.  Click the Next button
    7.  Specify the restore location
    8.  Click Restore – make sure when overwriting current files with older ones, that the older file is the one you want!

Finally, click Finish :)