Sometimes we end up having a messed up Windows installation and want to start all over again. The reason could be anything – malware infection, missing files, unintentionally changed settings or something else, but it is so much beyond repair and fixing that it is much easier and time saving to just reinstall the Windows. The only problem is that you would lose your user profile settings and all the programs data stored inside the user profile folders, once you reinstall the Windows. You must backup some of the important things like the passwords stored inside the browser, the bookmarks, e-mail client settings and so on, or it will take many hours to reconfigure them all manually and you may not remember all the settings like before.
The freeware Transwiz comes to rescue to the plight of Windows users who are thinking of reinstalling Windows or migrating to another system but are afraid of losing years worth of settings and data stored in the user profile folders. Transwiz, as the name suggests, takes you through a step-by-step wizard interface and helps you backup and restore the user profiles. Here is how:
Backup User Profiles in Windows with Transwiz:
- Launch Transwiz, select I want to transfer data to another computer. Click Next.
- Select the user profiles that you want to backup. You can also choose some of the unassigned profiles (the profiles not used by anyone). Click Next.
- Choose a location where the backup will be saved. The backup can be close to a gigabyte or more, so carefully choose a location with enough capacity. By default, it compresses all the files, but for faster backup you can choose not to use the file compression. Click Next.
- Once the process is complete, you will have a user profile backup that you can later restore using Transwiz.
Restore User Profiles in Windows with Transwiz:
- Launch Transwiz, select I have data I want to transfer to this computer. Click Next.
- Select the user profiles that you want to restore. These backup should have been created earlier with Transwiz (preferably of the same version). Click Next.
- It will take a few minutes before the profile is restored on your computer after which you will have to restart your PC so that the new user profile can be loaded.
It is suggested that you save the same version of Transwiz software on your PC as the one you used to create the backup. This will ensure the compatibility with the backups when at a later time, you have to restore the user profiles.
You can download Transwiz from https://www.forensit.com/move-computer.html.