Backing up – Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\Data “folder”

I’m new to the sql environment and need to know if and when I backup the above mentioned data folder “Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\data” in case of any hardware failures…do I also need to backup any of the other folders under “Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1”? What about SQL Server settings associated with the data folder…should I backup the the entire Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1 folder? Let’s assume I had some hardware failure and reinstalled my windows system, will it then be ok to simply restore these folders after re-installing the SQL server?