Can I backup MS Paint?

Bree said:

You can copy and paste them anywhere you want. There are two files you require: mspaint.exe and mspaint.exe.mui. The first can be found in C:\Windows\System32\ the .mui file is in a language-specific sub-folder of System32, for a US English install that would be C:\Windows\System32\en-US (for me it's C:\Windows\System32\en-GB).

Copy mspaint.exe to a folder of your choice (I have made a 'C:\Program Files\Old Windows apps' folder). Create the en-us (or en-gb, etc.) subfolder in your chosen folder and put a copy of mspaint.exe.mui there. You can now create a shortcut to run Paint from this folder.

The advantage of using a folder other than System32 is that your mspaint will never get replaced/removed by an upgrade. In fact, you can keep different versions in separate folders and run them simultaneously if you wish, as I have done here with the 1709 and a previous version. Spot the difference....

Attachment 186738

Thank you very much

RECONBunny said:

Thank you very much

You're very welcome.

The same technique applies to many other apps, not just Paint - you need the .exe and its associated .mui in an appropriately named subfolder.

Bree said:

You're very welcome.

The same technique applies to many other apps, not just Paint - you need the .exe and its associated .mui in an appropriately named subfolder.

What kind of apps?

RECONBunny said:

What kind of apps?

One that I have taken a copy of while it still exists is sdclt.exe/sdclt.exe.mui, the 'Backup & Restore (Windows 7)' app. If/when it is removed it will be an interesting experiment to see if it still works. The command line to run its 'create a system image' function is:
sdclt.exe /BLBBACKUPWIZARD

Fabio13 said:

For some reason this does not seem to work for me. My language is set to English UK and I copied both, mspaint.exe and mspaint.exe.mui (inside the en-GB folder) to another location and I still get the "Unable to create new document error".

Welcome to Ten Forums

You did put the .mui in an en-gb folder in the location you copied mspaint.exe to? If so, then there is another possibility. You say your language is set to UK English, but what is the base language of your Windows install? If it is a different language from UK English then you may also need to copy the .mui for that language to its own sub-folder in the new location.

Fabio13 said:

For some reason this does not seem to work for me. My language is set to English UK and I copied both, mspaint.exe and mspaint.exe.mui (inside the en-GB folder) to another location and I still get the "Unable to create new document error".

I also ran into the "Unable to create new document error" when trying the old school method of using the .mui and .exe files in Windows 11 that I had saved from Windows 10.

To fix this, I downloaded THIS.

When you get to the page, scroll down to "Download Paint" and it downloads as a .zip file that can easily be extracted with the built in Windows file extractor.

Curiously, I looked at my System32 en-US folder after the installation to see why the old school way wasn't working anymore and found this:



Note the address in the address bar because it is important to have the right language folder in the System32 location as the language chosen during the installation of your OS.

mspaint.exe.mui is now mspaint1.exe.mui

Same for just the .exe application:



Again, instead of mspaint, it is now mspaint1.

The address bar must be paid attention to again as it points in the System32 folder.

The .mui and .exe files are different sizes too, as the .mui file is now 53KB in Windows 11 instead of 56KB like the file I got from Windows 10 and the .exe application file is now 6508KB instead of 965KB like in Windows 10.

Them being renamed and being different sizes is probably why you can't just copy the files anymore and put them where you want.

EyeInTheSky said:

I also ran into the "Unable to create new document error" when trying the old school method of using the .mui and .exe files in Windows 11 that I had saved from Windows 10.

I appreciate that the job is done but do note that you could have avoided complications by putting your rescued files in folders of your own

C:\whatever
C:\whatever\en-us

and then creating your own shortcut to C:\whatever\mspaint.exe and simply not using the shortcut that Win11 creates in its Start menu.

Rescue Old Windows 10 Applications from Oblivion - Windows Enterprise Desktop [Ed Tittel]


All the best,
Denis