Copy or Back Up Program Files(x86) to External Hard Drive in Windows 10/8/7

"I decided to reinstall Windows 7 on my computer but all the installed programs in the Program Files in C drive will be erased. I really want to keep some of the very important programs, especially the ones I did the upgrade. Is there any program backup software for me to make the backup?"

What's the Significance of Backing up Program Files in Windows

Do you fully understand what the Program Files folder is for? When you access the C drive on your computer, you will find a Program Files folder and another Program Files (x86) folder as well. In fact, both folders are available to place the installed software programs in Windows, but the x86 version is there for backward compatibility so that you can run 32-bit applications on a 64-bit operating system.

Before we introduce the Program Files backup solution to you, please be aware that not all programs are able to set up and run correctly after restore. You must be very clear that when it is significant to backup those program files. We listed three cases in which you may want to make this backup.

No.1 You don't want to lose the status of some programs after the reinstallation, such as game progress, account information, browser bookmarks and so on.

No.2 Only demand to backup program files and settings due to the lack of storage space on a backup location.

In conclusion, the coming backup solution to backup Program Files is not applicable when you're looking for a way to copy, transfer or backup the installed programs without reinstalling. If that's what you need, you should go to the linked page to learn how to backup installed applications in Windows 10 with Windows apps data backup software.

Back Up Program Files to an External Hard Drive in Windows 10/8/7

Instead of directly copying the very large Program Files folder to an external hard drive, here is a much more efficient way. Use third-party file backup software to create a backup image of the Program Files folders. 

EaseUS Todo Backup is recognized as the best Windows program files backup software, with which you can back up the whole Program Files folder to an external hard drive, USB flash drive, network drive or cloud drive in order to keep the very important program information up to date even after reinstalling.

The backup guide is as follows, please first connect your external hard drive to your computer and make it detected by Windows.

Step 1. Download and install EaseUS Todo Backup on your computer. Click the "Create Backup" button on the main interface.

Step 2. You got to make a backup of your software applications, so go with the option by clicking "Apps data".

Step 3. All the apps that can be backed up are shown on the screen. (Outlook is supported now, and we will gradually develop and support more application backups, such as game applications and other mailboxes like thunderbird, Gmail, Microsoft 365 applications, and so on.) Scroll down to find the app that you need to back up, and click "OK".

Step 4. Follow the guidance and select a place where you want to store the backup. It is recommended that you choose Cloud service, NAS, or an external hard drive to avoid the computer failing or crashing.

Step 5. You can set customized backup by clicking the"Option" button. It allows you to set a scheduled backup daily, weekly, monthly, or upon an event. It sets differential or incremental backup according to your needs. 

Step 6. When you finish settings, click "Backup now" to start the backup process. The time will depend on the size of your source data, but it won't take too much time.