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Windows User Folders Backup & Restore Utility

A fast, lightweight, and automated pair of Windows batch scripts. Backup.bat safely copies your essential user folders (Desktop, Downloads, Documents, Pictures, Music, and Videos) to C:\User Backup using the high-performance Robocopy engine, and Restore.bat merges them back into your profile without overwriting or deleting anything.

Unlike naive backup scripts that rely solely on hardcoded paths, this tool dynamically queries the Windows Registry (User Shell Folders) to detect custom folder locations, redirected drives, and Microsoft OneDrive synchronizations.

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✨ Features

📥 Backup.bat

• 🔑 Automatic Elevation (UAC): Relaunches itself as Administrator through PowerShell (RunAs) when needed. A guard flag prevents endless relaunch loops if elevation fails.
• 🧠 Dynamic Registry Resolution: Reads HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders to find the real folder paths. Value names containing spaces (My Music, My Pictures, My Video) are parsed correctly, and %USERPROFILE%-style variables are expanded.
• ☁️ Smart Fallback Chain: Registry path → standard profile folder → OneDrive sync folders (%OneDrive%, %OneDriveConsumer%, %OneDriveCommercial%, %USERPROFILE%\OneDrive).
• ⚡ Robust Robocopy Engine: Uses /E /COPY:DAT /DCOPY:DAT to preserve files, directory structures, attributes, and timestamps. Re-runs only copy new or changed files.
• 🛡️ Recursion & Junction Safety: Excludes junction points (/XJ) and the backup folder itself (/XD "C:\User Backup").
• ⏳ Low-Latency Retries: /R:1 /W:1 skips stubborn, locked files instead of freezing the backup.
• 🚫 Zero Log Files: No .log file is ever created and all Robocopy output is silenced. Any existing *.log files in the top level of C:\User Backup are purged at launch (subfolders are never touched, so log files you backed up from your own folders stay safe).
• 🎨 Clean, Flicker-Free Console: Cyan theme, boxed header, and one live status line per folder with dot padding.
• ⏱️ Non-Freezing Countdown: A 10-second inline countdown (10..1) that ends instantly on any keypress and keeps running even in elevated or redirected consoles.

📤 Restore.bat

• ✅ Confirmation Prompt: Nothing happens until you press Y. Pressing N cancels.
• 🧩 Non-Destructive Merge: Restores only files that are missing from your profile. Existing files are never overwritten and nothing is ever deleted (/XC /XN /XO, no /MIR or /PURGE).
• 🎯 Smart Destinations: Uses the same registry → profile → OneDrive resolution, so files land in the folders Windows actually uses. If a folder does not exist yet, it is created.
• ⏭️ Graceful Skipping: Folders that are not present in the backup are marked SKIP.
• 🔒 Backup Stays Untouched: C:\User Backup is only read, never modified.
• 🎨 Same Look & Feel: Identical header, status lines, and countdown as Backup.bat.

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📂 Backed-Up Folders

Folder	Backup Location	Registry Value Name
Desktop	C:\User Backup\Desktop	Desktop
Downloads	C:\User Backup\Downloads	{374DE290-123F-4565-9164-39C4925E467B}
Documents	C:\User Backup\Documents	Personal
Music	C:\User Backup\Music	My Music
Pictures	C:\User Backup\Pictures	My Pictures
Videos	C:\User Backup\Videos	My Video

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🚀 How to Use

Backup

1. Download Backup.bat (and Restore.bat) and save them anywhere, for example on your Desktop.
2. Double-click Backup.bat.
3. Confirm the UAC prompt when asked for Administrator permissions.
4. Watch the live status of each folder. All data is copied to C:\User Backup.
5. The window closes after 10 seconds, or immediately when you press any key.

Restore

1. If you are on a fresh Windows install or another PC, first copy your backup so that it is located at C:\User Backup.
2. Double-click Restore.bat and confirm the UAC prompt.
3. Press Y to confirm the restore (or N to cancel).
4. Missing files are merged back into your profile folders. The window closes after 10 seconds, or on any keypress.

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🖥️ Console Preview

+============================================================+
|                    USER PROFILE BACKUP                     |
+============================================================+

Target Path  : C:\User Backup
User Profile : C:\Users\YourName

[+] Desktop ....................................... [  DONE  ]
[+] Downloads ..................................... [  DONE  ]
[+] Documents ..................................... [  DONE  ]
[+] Music ......................................... [  DONE  ]
[+] Pictures ...................................... [  DONE  ]
[+] Videos ........................................ [  SKIP  ]

Backup completed successfully.

Closing in  7 s ...  press any key to exit

Status	Meaning
[ DONE ]	The folder was processed successfully.
[ SKIP ]	The source folder (Backup) or the backed-up folder (Restore) was not found.
[ FAILED ]	Robocopy reported an error (for example, files that stayed locked after the retry).

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⚙️ Customization

• Change the backup location: Edit the BackupRoot line near the top of both scripts (set "BackupRoot=C:\User Backup").
• Let newer backup files replace older ones on restore: In Restore.bat, replace /XC /XN /XO with /XO. Existing files that are newer than the backup are still preserved.
• Also purge logs recursively: In Backup.bat, add /s to the del command on the log-purge line. Note that this also deletes .log files that belong to your backed-up data.

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⚠️ Notes & Limitations

• The backup lives on your system drive by default. To protect against disk failure, copy C:\User Backup to an external drive or cloud storage as well.
• Backups are additive: files that you delete from your profile later are not removed from C:\User Backup.
• If OneDrive Files On-Demand is enabled, online-only files may be downloaded while they are copied.
• Run the scripts from your own administrator account. If UAC elevates through a different account, %USERPROFILE% and the registry hive refer to that account instead.
• Only the six standard folders are covered. AppData, browser profiles, and installed programs are not included.

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💻 System Requirements

• OS: Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, or Windows 11.
• PowerShell: Required for automatic UAC elevation and the countdown timer.
• Permissions: Administrator access (requested automatically).

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⚖️ Absolute Legal Disclaimer, Waiver & Limitation of Liability

This project is licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. This disclaimer expressly supplements, expands, and reinforces Section 7 (Disclaimer of Warranty) and Section 8 (Limitation of Liability) of the Apache License 2.0, and shall control to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law.

FOR EDUCATIONAL, RESEARCH, AND INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. NO COMMERCIAL WARRANTY OR LIABILITY IS ASSUMED.

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To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the Software (including all code, documentation, data, and related materials) is provided strictly on an "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE" basis, without any warranties or conditions of any kind, whether express, implied, statutory, customary, or otherwise. This includes, without limitation, any warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, title, security, accuracy, completeness, uninterrupted or error-free operation, or freedom from viruses or other harmful components. The author(s), copyright holder(s), maintainer(s), and contributor(s) expressly disclaim all such warranties.

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