What files should be excluded from a complete Windows backup?
- by tro
I'm starting to use CrashPlan to backup my Win 7 PC. I've got it writing to my external HD (for quick local restores) and to CrashPlan Central (for offsite storage). I'd like to backup my entire C:\ drive (the only partition) in a way that:
Preserves all of my installed software and configuration, but
Avoids backing up log files and other ephemeral / temporary files that are regenerated during normal operation of the OS.
Which files and/or directories should I be excluding from backups? I'd like to make this a community wiki, so that we could all contribute towards a definitive list.
Here's a list of regular expressions identifying the directories and files that CrashPlan excludes on Windows by default listed at http://support.crashplan.com/doku.php/articles/admin_excludes:
.*/(?:42|\d{8,})/(?:cp|~).*
(?i).*/CrashPlan.*/(?:cache|log|conf|manifest|upgrade)/.*
.*\.part
.*/iPhoto Library/iPod Photo Cache/.*
.*\.cprestoretmp.*
*\.rbf
:/Config\\.Msi.*
.*/Google/Chrome/.*cache.*
.*/Mozilla/Firefox/.*cache.*
.*\$RECYCLE\.BIN/.*
.*/System Volume Information/.*
.*/RECYCLER/.*
.*/I386.*
.*/pagefile.sys
.*/MSOCache.*
.*UsrClass\.dat\.LOG
.*UsrClass\.dat
.*/Temporary Internet Files/.*
(?i).*/ntuser.dat.*
.*/Local Settings/Temp.*
.*/AppData/Local/Temp.*
.*/AppData/Temp.*
.*/Windows/Temp.*
(?i).*/Microsoft.*/Windows/.*\.log
.*/Microsoft.*/Windows/Cookies.*
.*/Microsoft.*/RecoveryStore.*
(?i).:/Config\\.Msi.*
(?i).*\\.rbf
.*/Windows/Installer.*
Other excludes:
.*\.(class|obj)
.*/hiberfil.sys
(?i).*\.tmp
(?i).*/temp/
(?i).*/tmp/
.*Thumbs\.db
.*/Local Settings/History/
.*/NetHood/
.*/PrintHood/
.*/Cookies/
.*/Recent/
.*/SendTo/
