Best backup/restore tool for installed programs for Windows 8.1

Hi,

Out of pure ignorance, I installed Windows 8.1 32-bit on a 64-bit capable processor. I want to take full advantage of said processor, of course, and there's the memory limit issue too, so I'm going to install Windows 8.1 64-bit.

I've already backed-up my files, but I wanted to hear opinions on the best way to backup/restore all my programs, apart from having to install them one by one.

I know about Ninite, it's a very helpful tool, but I've installed a lot of programs not available on Ninite.

Is the Custom Recovery Image feature on Windows 8 the way to go? Is it a real option for my particular case?

I'll greatly appreciate any ideas or suggestions
Thanks.

 

Just create a system image. You can use the system built-in to Windows but no one here does as there are several free and reliable imaging programs freely available and they are very much better than the built-in system. Macrium Reflect, Aomei Backupper, or Easeus Todo - all great tools for your needs and able to backup and restore your system drive in its entirety.

Have a read here - http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/what-is-a-system-image

 

Thank you very much! I'll try one of those tools.

 

Earthling, I've got a follow up question:

From what I've researched, a system image includes all files in the system partition. Does that include the Program Files folder? Some programs store files in folders outside the system partition like "\AppData\Roaming\name-of-folder", (or even the Documents folder). Should I backup my Program files and AppData folder separately and just replace them when the system image is restored?

Thanks again.

 

Also, would I encounter any problems if I try to restore a 32-bit system image to a 64-bit OS?

 

The Microsoft link explains it. "A system image is an exact copy of a drive" so yes, every file and folder on your C drive is included, no exceptions at all. It is called a system image rather than a drive or partition image because if, as some people do, any part of Windows is located in a different partition then that partition will be included too, regardless of whatever else it may contain.

The article answers your second question too. Whatever image you restore completely replaces what was there before, so if you did that your 64 bit Windows would be replaced with 32 bit and there would be no trace of your 64 bit system remaining.

Please read the article thoroughly.

 

Appreciate your taking the time to answer.
I'm not going to go the system image way, like you kindly suggested.

Thanks for helping me figure it out.

 

So how are you going to protect your system? Imaging is the universally accepted way of doing so, and apart from cloning just about the only way.

 

ronyotz...

Everything Earthling said is true, but maybe you didn't quite understand it all. Just in case, here is the long explanation of imaging.

A system image consists of a compressed (made smaller than normal by using a compression code/key (to save space)) bit for bit copy of everything on a OS partition. So, if the drive you are imaging is C:\ and it has Windows 7 (or whatever) 64 bit installed, the restoration of the image (decompress and restore) will be exactly what was recorded at the time of the creation of the backup. This would include everything on the above mentioned Windows 7 64 partition example, including Windows, programs installed on the partition, and any other files on the partition.

If your OS installation that you want to back up is installed on C:\, take a look at the C:\ drive contents in Windows Explorer (My Computer), and you will see exactly what will be captured in the backup image creation process.

You will need a blank CD/DVD to make the disk that is used for the restoration process. This is necessary in case you ever become unable to boot into Windows. CD/DVD goes into the drive before boot and then the program to restore comes up from the disk instead of Windows. Just pick your image from its drive location (whereever it is) and restore...

 

Guys, thanks again for your answers.
Maybe I was the one who didn't explain -as well as I should-, what I was trying to do. I think it was because at the time I posted this question, I was still trying to figure it out.

What I ultimately wanted to do was to install windows 8.1 64-bit, because I had mistakenly installed the 32-bit version of the same OS. And I was trying to find a way to restore all my installed programs without having to re-install them one by one.

What I learned from this thread and elsewhere, was that if I'd made an image of my 32-bit system and then restored that image in a 64-bit system, it would've replaced the 64-bit architecture with the 32-bit one, and that was NOT what I wanted.

So I did a fresh install and then re-installed again all my programs. One by one. It's all good now.
Thanks again.