How can I backup entire installations of a program, instead of just manually backing up individual files?

"In the case of Firefox, you are close in your description. Once you install Firefox, you can transplant your profiles directory and then Firefox will be back the way it was when you backed up that directory (you'll want to transplant the contents of the directory not the directory itself since that name is randomly generated and linked in the registry).

Microsoft Office also has a ""Save My Settings"" wizard that creates a file you can use to export/import your customized Office settings.

You can also use the ""File and Settings Transfer Wizard"" in Windows to transfer some of the OS and program settings.

In general though, there isn't a way to backup your program settings. Too many things are in too many locations to allow that kind of restoration at a program level. What you can do is image your drive.

To do this you setup your computer exactly how you want it and then you run an imaging program (such as Clonezilla for freeware option) to take a snapshot of your system. If you need to restore your system or set it up on another location you can just restore that image. This would keep all of your programs and OS settings in place. As your program needs change, you can also create new image backups.

This seems like the most viable option for what you seem to need but the options above for specific program setups are an option. You'll want to decide what works best for you."

"In the specific case of Firefox, the FEBE (Firefox Environment Backup Extension) addon will store all the important stuff, including extensions, themes, bookmarks, about:config adaptions...

Not the full answer you want, but it might help some people."