I have a new external 350Gig HDD and plan to use it to backup my data, documents, pictures, downloads etc. But there must be other stuff I need to back up like my settings, preferences, how do I find them? are there other items or methods I can use, your advice might save me hours of work...... Avagoodweekend......

Use the files & settings transfer wizard, say it's the old computer & create a folder on the disk & save it there. It will save desktop, e-mail settings,(but not passwords) Before posting try google. Backup. Use anti virus software.

I would see if you can use (might have to install) ntbackup to backup the entire computer including system state. Then you make incremental backups of the changes. You can restore to any time then. I read it wrong and answer it wrong too. So get off my case you goober.

If you have Western Digital Data Lifeguard you can copy your complete C drive onto the external HDD. Monthly I create a folder "BackupCdrivedate", copy the current C drive to a Seagate external HDD.After about 3 months I delete the oldest folder.If you wish you can create folders for other subjects, photos etc.Main thing is having USB2 to keep the copy time reasonable.

I use ghost & handybackup. http://www.handybackup.net/ Before posting try google. Backup. Use anti virus software.