Back Up Your Data

If you are having your computer re-imaged or if you are changing from one computer to another computer you will need to back up your data to the network in order to be able to transfer it back to your imaged or new computer. In the original configuration of a HSC imaged computer your data will be stored in a limited number of locations. On a standard computer the files you will want to back up are:

From the D drive:

  • My Documents - To save your documents go to your D drive and right click on the folder labeled My Documents and select Copy. Navigate to your network drive you are using for back up, right click in a blank are and select Paste. Wait until all of your documents have been copied over.
  • GroupWise Archive - The archive folder should be located on your D drive and you should not change that location outside of creating a backup when changing computers or having a computer imaged. Under no circumstances should your archive be stored permanently on a network drive. Archive files stored on the network can be deleted by the server’s automatic systems. Although files stored on the network are backed up, GroupWise archive files are usually corrupted when they are restored resulting in irreversible data loss. For instructions on how to back up, restore and manage your archive see the archive page.

From the C drive:

  • Internet Explorer Favorite Places – If you have stored a lot of favorite places that you want to keep you can make a back up of this information also. To save your Internet Explorer favorites, go to a browser page and click on File, and then Import and Export. This will open the Import/Export Wizard. Continue through the wizard to export your favorites to a location on your Home drive.
  • Desktop – You may also back up the folder that stores the appearance of your desktop. Keep in mind that the icons may loose their link to the program or document they represent if they are not in the same place after they are restored. To save your Desktop open My Computer and your C drive and click on Documents and Settings. Open the folder for your user name and you will see a folder labeled Desktop. Copy this folder to your Home drive.

If you have changed the location where you store your data at any point while using the computer, or if you use programs that have their own storage you may have data that is outside of the above locations. In this case you would need to run a search of your hard drives to locate all of your data. The search function is available on your start menu. Once you open the search screen you have several options on the left to restrict the search. You will use the first box to restrict your search to the type of file you are trying to find. You can search for each file type separately or you can search for several different file types at once by entering a comma between each extension in the first box such as “.doc, .pdf, .xls” to search for Word files, PDF files and Excel files.

A list of file types is at the end of this article. If you know what program or area of your hard drive the files will be located in you can restrict the search to that area using the Look in box. Once you have located the files you can click on Edit on the tool bar and Select All. Then you can go back to Edit and select copy. This will copy all of the files that were found and you can then paste them into the network location with the rest of your backup

If you need help with backing up your data or with any part of these instructions, please contact the help desk at 2-1694.

Common File Types


    .doc Microsoft Word Document
    .xls Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet
    .mdb Microsoft Access Database
    .wps Microsoft Works Word Processor Document
    .wks Microsoft Works Spreadsheet
    .txt Text File
    .pdf Portable Document Format (Used by Adobe)
    .wpd WordPerfect Document
    .123 Lotus 1-2-3 Spreadsheet
    .fpt FileMaker Pro File
    .sql Structured Query Language Data
    .jpg, .jpeg Joint Photographic Experts Group Image File
    .bmp Bitmap Image
    .gif Graphical Interchange Format
    .psd Photoshop Document
    .ai Adobe Illustrator File

Other file types exist so if you are unsure of what you need to keep please contact the help desk at 2-1694.