Formating this weekend, how to backup

I'm networked with my bros computer. Is there a way I can back everything up without having to reinstall anything? Not ghosting. Just certain programs.

 

Any program whose running requires registry entries would have to be reinstalled, since installation creates the needed registry entries. Many programs, while they might have some registry settings, do not need them to run properly (Eudora email program, for example), and their program directories and shortcuts can simply be copied somewhere and then, later, copied back to their original locations.