It can be a daunting task - especially if you're disorganised. Apologies for this huge wall of text - I got a bit carried away....
I have a 'system' now. It might not be a right way of doing things but it's a way.... My data is separated into three piles. 1. Programs / 2. Program related data (settings & whatnot) / 3. User data (pictures, videos, documents, etc)
- Start a text file. I use notepad++ (free) but you can also use plain old notepad. I use a text file because I can open that and read it with a fresh install with no programs installed. Separate all the sections with a row of ****** so that it's clear to understand.
- List all the programs on your computer you want to keep. For licensed software, dig out the download links/keys so that you can copy/paste them into a browser when you get your new system up and running. If it's an email link, use an email account like gmail where you can access it online and set up a folder with just your download link emails.
- For each program you want to keep, see if there are any specific settings you want to keep. Bookmarks in Chrome, Macros in excel, Outlook .pst files, Actions in Photoshop, Presets in Lightroom for example. Copy them to a dump folder and write the location they need to go back to in your text document. This is tedious, but it's a 'do it once' thing.
- List all your user data by type (photos, videos, music, documents, game data)
- Save the text file somewhere safe. Email it to yourself so you can read it on a smartphone perhaps?
My text file looks like this...
Code:
********************************
*********Free Programs**********
********************************
Roboform - Website
Goodsync + Jobs - 'C:\Users\Your User Name\App Data\Roaming\GoodSync\jobs.tic' Options in same place
iTunes - Website
Caliber - Website
Ember - Saved downloads
Audacity - Website
Notepad++ (and plugins) (TextFX) - Website
WinDirStat - Website
VLC - Website
Chrome (&Start Me) - Website
Win32DiskImager - Website
7Zip - Website
Ccleaner - Website
VirtualCloneDrive - Website
Epson printer drivers/app
********************************
***********Photography**********
********************************
Lightroom - from adobe cc
Photoshop - from adobe cc
Lightroom catalogues - MyPictures
Pictures - MyPictures
Photoshop CC settings : E:\Ian\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CC (all actions and workspaces)
Camera Profiles : E:\Ian\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\CameraRaw (Lightroom camera profiles)
LR Presets : E:\Ian\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Lightroom (LR presets)
Curves : E:\Ian\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\CameraRaw (LR Curves)
Nik plugins - Saved Downloads
Topaz plugins - see email
********************************
***********MS Office************
********************************
Word
Excel
Powerpoint
OneNote
OneNote notebooks
Outlook
Outlook accounts
********************************
**********To Restore************
********************************
E:\Drag Images Here
E:\Saved Downloads
E:\Virtual Machines
E:\Ian\Downloads\books
E:\Ian\Downloads
E:\Ian\Ringtones
E:\Ian\Videos
E:\Ian\OneDrive
E:\Ian\Music
E:\Ian\Pictures
E:\Ian\Documents
Lightroom: If you're going to re-organise your images into a proper folder structure, Lightroom will throw a wobbly fit when the images move without it being told. As a precaution, write all your changes back to the original files by selecting all images and doing a CTRL+S to save the metadata back to the image file. This will mean that if you get into a pickle and need to start again, you will have all your LR edits, keywords, & star ratings in place. You'll lose colour labels and collection status as that's exclusive to the catalogue, but you can at least start a new catalogue with the majority of your images in the same state they were in before you started. You can tell lightroom where the new images are, but if the folders are in a mess, it can be hit and miss and time consuming. For me - it would be quicker to start again (plus I can tidy up as I go)
Passwords: Make sure you know all your passwords for things - especially your email account. Using password tools is great but starting afresh will means everything is wiped clean.
Back everything up. I tend to do a manual drag & drop of everything - as a backup/restore just puts the mess back in place. Use a detachable hard drive and drop it all in a folder "my backup stuff" The cloud takes ages to backup to (and then restore from) I don't know how much stuff you have on your laptop but you can get a 1Tb external HDD for £40 and it's a good practise to keep this as a backup drive in case anything happens in the future.
Uninstall Office & Adobe products as well as any other software that limits your license to "1 PC". (De-authorise the PC from iTues as well). Wiping the computer won't wipe the company's records and when you try and re-install you may hit issues with the fact that the company thinks you're trying to install a second copy. I hit this problem with Office and had to spend an hour on the phone to MS support to get it fixed.
Re-install windows.
Make sure all your peripherals work - If they don't - hunt out the drivers and get them working. Graphics drivers updates are a common thing that are wonky here.
Re-install your programs in a single logical place (C:\Program Files or similar)
Re-install your program data and verify it
Re-install your user data into an organised structure
It will take a while to do all of this, so set aside some time and do it when you know the laptop won't be needed for the duration. You can guarantee that you'll need to do something urgently halfway through the process and will need an email that you can't get to 'cos it's in Outlook.
As to organisation - I wrote a blog post a while ago about organising a LR catalogue. It's a bit out of date now as i run with just 2 catalogues but it might be of use:
Linky.
Finally - once you've got everything just how you like it, wipe that external HDD and do a full (clean) backup of the PC. Also - I'd strongly advise you to think about a regular backup schedule to this HDD so that if you have to do this again, all of the prep work is done.
Hope this helps!
