In response to what Arlen Holder wrote :

a. I plan my backups a decade or more prior to the backup
b. Which means I break the backup into two components
1. Data I care about
2. Programs I care about

I've been thinking of how to summarize my backup & restore solution, where
I think it's three main components, not two... all of which are planned
ahead years in advance:

1. Data I care about goes "where it belongs" (easily saved).
2. Program installers I care about go "where they belong" (easily saved).
3. Settings I care about are well documented (harder to save).

Notice that the data and programs are essentially trivial to back up and
restore; it's the hundred or so tweaks to Windows that takes effort.

Hence, to restore a system after backing up the two folders:
o C:\{data,software}

Goes sort of something like this when you restore a system:
a. Create the {app,data,software,menu} hierarchy, e.g.,
mkdir c:\app\{archiver,browser,cleaner,etc.}
mkdir c:\data\software\{archiver,browser,cleaner,etc.}
mkdir c:\data\menu\{archiver,browser,cleaner,etc.}
etc.
b. Install your desired programs, one by one.
(Each program has its own custom readme log for its setup particulars.)
c. Lastly, tweak Windows from about a hundred files found in:
C:\data\software\os\windows\setup\{setup howto files}

My point is that most of the work is in the tweaking of Windows, IMHO...

For example...
o how_to_add_a_second_clock_to_system_tray.txt
o how_to_add_a_shortcut_for_internet_explorer_ie_bro wser.txt
o how_to_add_and_remove_items_from_the_image_openwit h_context_menu.txt
o how_to_add_colorized_open_as_admin_command.txt
o how_to_add_command_line_additions_to_windows_task_ manager.txt
o how_to_add_dualboot_ubuntu_and_setup_grub.txt
o how_to_add_edge_browser_add_save_as_dialog.txt
o how_to_add_edge_shortcut_to_custom_menus.txt
o how_to_add_open_command_window_here_context_menu.t xt
o how_to_remove_custom_folders_like_3dobjects_videos _pictures_music.txt
o how_to_add_pdf_printer_sans_privacy_metadata.txt
o how_to_add_registry_favorites.txt
o how_to_add_sendto_create_rmb_send_menu_customizati on.txt
o how_to_add_shutdown_slide_menu_slideshut.txt
o how_to_add_the_mvp_hosts_file_merged_with_others.t xt
o how_to_change_cortana_default_from_bing_to_a_priva cy_search.txt
o how_to_change_default_icons_for_key_folders_and_sh ortcuts.txt
o how_to_change_default_new_text_file_name.txt
o how_to_change_hostname_domain_mac_randomly.txt
o how_to_clean_msocache_perflogs_pollution.txt
o how_to_clean_the_default_desktop_and_make_energy_e fficient_background.txt
o how_to_clean_up_the_mess_in_the_rightclick_new_men u.txt
o how_to_create_batch_shortcuts_in_quicklaunch_menu. txt
o how_to_create_custom_icons_for_batch_file_shortcut s.txt
o how_to_create_master_bookmark_file_system_access.t xt
o how_to_create_master_vipw_encrypted_etc_passwd_acc ess.txt
o how_to_create_most_often_used_start_run_commands.t xt
o how_to_create_network_public_share_smb_folder.txt
o how_to_create_shutdown_cmda_curlme_killgw_reboot_b atch_commands.txt
o how_to_create_system_restore_point.txt
o how_to_delete_unwanted_context_menu_items.txt
o how_to_disable_auto_resizing_of_window_privacy_hol e.txt
o how_to_disable_automatic_restart_after_update_and_ crash.txt
o how_to_disable_fast_startup_hibernation_sleep_for_ dual_boot_ubuntu.txt
o how_to_disable_google_opera_ccleaner_onedrive_upda te.txt
o how_to_disable_keyboard_capslock.txt
o how_to_enable_editing_of_extensionless_files.txt
o how_to_enable_editing_of_more_than_15_files_contex t_menu.txt
o how_to_enable_hidden_administrator_account.txt
o how_to_enable_non_admin_to_see_network_ftp_net_use _drive_letters.txt
o how_to_fix_adobe_flash_privacy_settings_for_privac y.txt
o how_to_install_legacy_printers_since_ms_update_wil l_fail.txt
o how_to_install_license_for_msoffice_and_acrobat_an d_turbotax.txt
o how_to_make_user_administrator_with_full_access_ri ghts.txt
o how_to_modify_all_windows_settings_in_series.txt
o how_to_monitor_and_log_installation_changes.txt
o how_to_relocate_screenshots_downloads_desktop_spec ial_folder.txt
o how_to_properly_unpin_quickaccess_folders_in_file_ explorer.txt
o how_to_randomize_the_system-timezone_and_add_custom_clocks.txt
o how_to_remove_extraneous_scheduled_tasks.txt
o how_to_remove_scan_with_windows_defender_context_m enu.txt
o how_to_remove_shortcut-to_link_text.txt
o how_to_remove_uac_user_account_control_for_one_pro gram.txt
o how_to_remove_unwanted_windows_programs_and_files. txt
o how_to_run_and_save_initial_system_benchmark_resul ts.txt
o how_to_set_privacy_settings_for_timeline_activity. txt
o how_to_set_reg_files_to_open_in_gvim_as.text.txt
o how_to_set_the_edge_browser_to_open_in_private_mod e.txt
o how_to_set_up_basic_windows_file_explorer_options. txt
o how_to_set_up_dvd_fixed_sized_storage_folders_for_ burning.txt
o how_to_setup_dual_display_monitors.txt
o how_to_snapshot_initial_setup_files_and_services.t xt
o how_to_turn_off_useless_microsoft_notifications.tx t
o how_to_uninstall_microsoft_play_store_garbage_apps _like_groove.txt
etc.
--
The number of desired tweaks to Windows is about a hundred or so I think.