I have a Win7 PC and two laptops. My PC has corrupted windows that has disabled it to go on line. This means a full reinstallation.

My question,is there any way to save my programs, like an exterior drive, which I have, to save downloading my many music programs again, when I wipe them out.

I know I can save data, and have, but don't think executable programs will work. I am only a medium level user, and would appreciate any advice you can give me.

In other words, what kind of data can I back up, and which require a full installation from scratch.

Bernie