Lylie: ...And if you have another hard drive, you can copy/past all the FFXI files in case your PC break
Unfortunately, this doesn't work. You would also need to make a backup of your registry, as SE's ffxi installation makes alot of vague registry entries. I've tried to do a straight folder copy between laptops and ran into this problem. There's two ways to make a backup:
After you're done installing and updating FFXI, tweak the settings to your liking, run regedit.exe, backup the registry, and make a copy of the entire playonline folder. Regularly update the registery backup. Like this, if you have any ffxi issues, you can just blow away the original folder and (if necessary) double click the registry backup and load your original settings. The registry backup is mostly for installs you make to another computer or if you need to completely reinstall your OS. If you have to format your HD, and you only have one HD, you're probably screwed. (spend 20 bucks on a 20GB HD off ebay and you'll be set, as that's more than enough to store your registry and up to date FFXI installation)
My suggestion is during the next full OS installation, if you want to make a perfect ffxi backup:
For single HDs:Create 2 partitions during installation, one main, and one for your backup folders ~13GB large.
For two HDs: Just install on the main HD and format the backup HD after the OS installation is complete.
Install OS
Install all needed drivers as well as compressed file software, drive emulators, antivirus, spybot scanners
Install FFXI and perform updates
Run a registry back-up using regedit.exe and save the file to your back-up partition (this would save a clean copy of your registry settings, before those little programs we all download invade it) and copy/paste the PlayOnline folder onto your back-up partition/second HD. This would take alot of space, of course, because FFXI is about 10-12GB. The registry can reach up to 40MB. Be sure to update your registry backup as often as possible (preferably after each important program installation you do) and name them according to the date of the backup.
Like this, if you ever have an FFXI issue on your computer or another computer (you'll need to install appropriate drivers on other computers), you can just copy/paste the folder AND the registry and bypass updates altogether.