Which cloud storage service for system/application config file auto backup?

First ... apologies ... I'm not sure I'm posting in the correct forum. This post has been languishing in the laptop forum for a number of days with no response. I figure you guys/gals in this forum know more about this type of thing. I'd appreciate it if you can be of any help ...

I just bought a Dell laptop (Latitude E6420) and I'm the process of setting it up ... installing applications, transferring files, etc..

I want to use one of the online storage cloud services (Carbonite, DropBox, etc.). I have never used one before. I see a lot of reviews with pros & cons, but none of the reviews I have found seem to address my major concern: Which one of these services AUTOMATICALLY backs up system configuration files and application configuration files? I know they all backup data files.

I've had hard disks die on me before. After re-installing the operating system (Windows) and the applications, I found that all those little "tweeks" that I've done over years to customize my operating system and my applications are gone. I have the data files (spreadsheets, docs, etc.), but I now have to go and re-configure my computer. Since I don't keep a written record of every change I made to the operating system and to applications this is not an easy thing to do.

I want to use one of the cloud base services, but it's not clear which ones automatically backup those configuration files for the system and for the applications I am using. I know they all backup my data files. Very important, but not sufficient. I know with most of these services I can specify a certain config file for backup, but ... it's not always clear what that file is. Each application may use one or more files to hold config information. If the cloud backup service was smart enough, it could find and backup these files automatically??? Is there one out there that is that "smart"?

The bottom line ... If my disk crashes, when I do a restore from the cloud backup service I want my computer back to the way it was working and configured before the crash. Getting the data files back is an absolute necessity, but I want more.

Any recommendations?

Thanks,

- Simon