How can I back up all user data from a system drive, even if in odd folders/locations?

I’m a PC repair tech and I’m used to manually backing up and reinstalling Windows then restoring the data manually. I wonder if there’s any app, robocopy script or similar that can help me automate this, that can find and back up all data in a Windows 10/11 system drive, even if located in unusual locations such as in C:\ or in app specific folders, not just by file extension (I know how to do that with robocopy, etc), but some apps have proprietary file extensions or use extensionless files, so the app would have to inspect files and detect when it is a data file, if that is possible.

There are programs, but they often only cover a set of applications and are licensed per system it's used on. There is no way to determine programmatically if a file is used data or not. Mostly it's someone manually profiling applications and where they store data.

neemobeer said:

There are programs, but they often only cover a set of applications and are licensed per system it's used on. There is no way to determine programmatically if a file is used data or not. Mostly it's someone manually profiling applications and where they store data.

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That's what I suspected. Thanks a lot for your answer

Backing up personal data files - SyncBackFree, you can pick and choose folders/files

Alternatively, image the drive with Macrium Reflect (freeware version still available from majorgeeks)
Then on the new installation, use MR to mount the image file and copy/paste selected contents to the new insatllation

NEITHER are satisfactory for system and/or program files/folders

Frank15 said:

I’m a PC repair tech and I’m used to manually backing up and reinstalling Windows then restoring the data manually. I wonder if there’s any app

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Read what it can do here.

Thanks for your answers. I've tested both apps you recommended and they're quite good, although not quite what I'm looking for. I'm now trying this command to copy app data files in a system drive (excluding system and application files that may not contain data...I mean user data).

robocopy C:\ i:\backup *.txt *.doc *.docx *.rtf *.odt *.odm *.pdf *.html *.xml *.xhtml *.epub *.mobi *.azw3 *.csv *.tsv *.log *.yaml *.yml *.json *.markdown *.rst *.tex *.wpd *.ods *.xps *.abw *.pages *.ott *.wks *.wps *.odg *.odp *.sxw *.docm *.dotx *.dotm *.sxi *.xls *.xlsx *.xlsm *.csv *.tsv *.dif *.dbf *.slk *.wk1 *.gnumeric *.numbers *.xltx *.mdb *.accdb *.sqlite *.db *.dbf *.pdb *.sql *.sqlite3 *.db3 *.sqlite2 *.ppt *.pptx *.odp *.key *.pot *.potx *.pps *.ppsx *.pptm *.potm *.ppsm *.otp *.prezi *.slp *.fppx *.jpg *.jpeg *.png *.gif *.bmp *.tiff *.tif *.webp *.svg *.raw *.psd *.ai *.eps *.cdr *.pcx *.xpm *.emf *.wmf *.heif *.heic *.dng *.nef *.orf *.cr2 *.sr2 *.jxr *.avif *.tga *.pgm *.ppm *.xcf *.fpx *.3dm *.obj *.fbx *.glb *.dae *.stl *.3ds *.mp3 *.wav *.wma *.flac *.ogg *.aac *.m4a *.aif *.aiff *.amr *.opus *.midi *.flp *.cda *.mp4a *.mpc *.alac *.ape *.wavpack *.spx *.mka *.aifc *.wv *.caf *.au *.mp4 *.mkv *.avi *.mov *.wmv *.flv *.webm *.mpg *.mpeg *.3gp *.vob *.ogv *.ts *.m4v *.asf *.rm *.f4v *.qt *.h264 *.xvid *.divx *.swf *.yuv *.m2ts *.hevc *.mts *.mpv *.dvr-ms *.zip *.rar *.tar *.7z *.gzip *.tgz *.bz2 *.xz *.iso *.tar.gz *.tar.bz2 *.tar.xz *.arj *.lzh *.cab *.chm *.pax *.z *.jar *.ace *.pak *.uue *.dmg *.pkg *.cpgz *.pst *.ost *.eml *.msg *.mbox *.mail *.mbx *.rfc822 *.emlx *.torrent *.mobi *.gpx *.vcf *.vcs *.ics *.vcard *.kml *.kmz *.img *.bin *.wim *.raw *.dsk *.sparsebundle *.sparseimage *.plist *.mobileconfig *.icns *.pict *.qtx *.key *.numbers *.pages *.toast *.deb *.rpm *.bin *.sh *.run *.out *.elf *.bashrc *.profile *.bash_profile *.zshrc *.xdg *.desktop *.dwg *.dxf *.dwt *.fbx *.sldprt *.sldasm *.slddrw *.skp *.vdi *.vbox *.vbox-prev *.vhd *.vhdx *.vsd *.vsdx *.fbx *.3ds /E /Z /R:0 /NP /NFL /NDL /LOG:"C:\Users\Scott\Documents\Backup.log"

...still working on it, as this one is resulting on a hidden and read-only folder

Thank you

Frank15 said:

I’m a PC repair tech and I’m used to manually backing up and reinstalling Windows then restoring the data manually.

Click to expand...

You could try Live File Backup


You can back-up by 'filter' => subfolder => folder => disc / partition
It can run it continuously or on demand

Backing up and restoring apps includes hidden files and registry items -- something file backup apps usually can not handle.

I've uses EaseUS ToDo PC Trans to do such backups and migrations and it works for most stuff -- but while the free version copies user data only the PAID version copies apps and registry settings.