Back up Windows system folders correctly

Windows system folders have the peculiarity that they often contain files that are completely protected from access, so that not even the most perfect data backup program can back up this data. In the vast majority of cases, these are runtime files, i.e. temporary files that are only used by the Windows kernel or third-party applications during the currently running task. You can safely exclude such files from the backup - there is no need to worry about losing anything.

The following Windows system folders exist:

C:/Users/xxxxx/AppData usually contains program runtime files and master data, including databases and configuration files.

C:/ProgramData as above, but for all Windows users.

C:/Windows contains various program APIs (interfaces for programs), modules and components such as DLLs and OCX files. Also contains temporary files.

Suppress error messages

If you want, you can back up these folders, but it is very likely that some errors will occur during the backup. Fortunately, Langmeier Backup allows you to globally exclude error messages for certain file and folder patterns.

This is how it works:

1. To do this, click on Options... and then on Excluded files and types...
   
2. In the window that appears, click on Add...
   
3. Complete the following window as follows and then confirm the entry by clicking Add:
   
   
   
4. Repeat the last two steps for all system folders whose error messages you no longer wish to see.
5. Elements that are excluded from the backup appear in red and bold letters. Elements that are backed up but do not generate error messages in the event of an error are listed in black and thin font: