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How to backup and restore Winamp

Winamp Backup Tool is a lightweight program for Windows that enables you to backup your Winamp configuration to restore it at a later point in time.

AOL announced in 2013 that it would close Winamp and all associated services such as the Shoutcast directory.

Plans changed eventually and Winamp was acquired by Radionomy instead ensuring that development of the player continued. It also meant that services such as Shoutcast would remain accessible on the Internet.

In fact, the Shoutcast website was updated just recently sporting a new design.

As far as Winamp is concerned, the last version was pushed out in December 2013 after the acquisition. The team is currently working on getting a new version but stated already that it won't be released in 2014 but in the beginning of 2015 instead.

The Winamp player is working fine however and users should not run into issues using it.

Winamp Backup Tool is a free program for the Windows operating system which you can use to backup the player's configuration to restore it at a later point in time.

winamp backup

In particular, the player will backup the following data:

  1. Winamp configuration files.
  2. Media Library database.
  3. Plugin settings.
  4. Visualization Presets.
  5. Skins.
  6. Icon packs and color themes.
  7. Winamp Pro registration data.

After you have installed the backup application on your system, you can select to backup data or use the restore or transfer feature instead.

If you select backup, you are prompted to pick a location for it. This can be on a local hard drive or any other drive connected to the PC at the time, a USB device for instance.

Next up is the option to run the backup automatically, or select the items that you want included.

winamp backup tool

If you select the latter, you can customize the backup so that only select items are included. It took 23 seconds to complete the backup on a test system. Depending on how many customizations you have added to Winamp, it may take a bit longer to complete on your system.

The restore and transfer options works in a similar fashion. You are asked to select the path of the backup that you want restored, and the path of the Winamp data folder on the current system or a connected system.

Here you can also select to restore all data or only select data points depending on your needs.

Conclusion

If you are using Winamp you may find the backup tool useful. While it is possible to backup data manually, it is not as comfortable as using the tool, especially since you can customize what is being backed up and restored.

This article was first seen on ComTek's "TekBits" Technology News

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