Restore programs and files after a restore to facory settings

When I suspected my hard drive was failing I tried recovery to factory settings, and when asked if I wanted a backup I agreed and after many hours, a backup was made and a restore to factory settings was done. I recovered the backup to my desktop, but before I move each of the folders to their rightful place (wherever that is) I wonder if an old windows image I have would be better to use? Will it restore programs without having to reinstall the. And restore my files to where they belong rather than on my desktop?
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The windows backup image is not very flexible nor trustworthy from within the trade.
More knowledgeable users, as well as myself, use Macrium Free to perform Image Backups on a regular basis:
http://download.cnet.com/Macrium-Reflect-Free/3000-2242_4-10845728.html?part=dl-&subj=dl&tag=button
The only problem with the free version is that you cannot backup individual files but you can with the paid version.
Suggest you check it out.  It is easy to use and very reliable.  It has saved me on a number of occasions.
Please mark my post as SOLVED if it has resolved your problem. It helps others with similar situations.

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