In this article I will talk about how to save data when reinstalling Windows. Thanks to these tips, almost immediately after installation new system you can get to work without spending a long time searching for drivers, setting up programs and other dull and ineffective things.
In fact, I won’t tell you anything supernatural now. You probably knew a lot of what you will read here before me, you just didn’t think of using it to speed up the procedure Windows installations.
So, let's collect all the knowledge and apply it!
Windows creates a My Documents folder by default, and sometimes users save their personal files in it - music, movies, passwords, important documents. Although it is logical to save files in this folder, it is not safe. Every system failure that requires you to reinstall Windows will deprive you of all your unique family photos, important passwords and other data.
To save data when reinstalling Windows, important files must be placed on a different drive than the one on which Windows is installed. As a rule, Windows is installed on drive C, so personal files should be stored on drive D. The My Documents, Desktop and others folders are part of drive C.
The safest place on your computer is local disk, which does NOT have Windows installed.
Browser Synchronization
After installing a new system, a lot of time is spent restoring browser data. To save data during reinstallation, you need to use browsers that support synchronization functions - that is, storing your data in the cloud, which can then be retrieved and used from there. The data includes login and passwords, history, bookmarks, etc.
Popular browsers such as FireFox, Google Chrome, Yandex browser and others fully work with synchronization, and this feature can be used to save data when reinstalling. This option can be found in Settings and requires registration.
Use program import and export
But for other programs, to save data when reinstalling, such cloud storage usually doesn't happen. However, most serious products allow you to import settings to your computer as a file. Later, after reinstalling the system, these settings can be exported back.
Before reinstalling Windows, import settings files from programs. Once the system is installed, export this file. Thus, after reinstallation you will not have to configure all the programs for a long time.
Use driver packs and soft packs
After installing Windows, the traditional action is to install drivers. As a rule, the system itself installs drivers for most devices that are built into it. However, a small part of the equipment may be left without a driver, for example, cameras, video cards, printers (by the way, if you use a printer, you will be interested in buying cartridges).
Users usually obtain drivers from the developer’s website or from the disk that came with the device. After this, the driver is installed manually for a long and tedious time. In fact, this is all a long time ago, just like manual installation programs.
You can use driver packs, which are divided into two types: the first bulky ones contain all the drivers locally; the second are minimalistic - they scan devices and download drivers from the Internet. In addition, you can simply deploy the backup later. You can also use softpacks - these are sets of programs. You just need to check the boxes necessary software and start installation. Everything will happen automatically. For example, you can try softpack from here - http://softpacket.ru.
Use portable programs
Portable programs or portables are software that does not require installation. Many programs have portable version. To use this version of the software, you just need to unpack its files and run the executable file.
Reinstallation (update) of Windows 7 is performed on top of the installed one operating system without formatting the system partition. At the same time, user files and settings, as well installed programs and their parameters.
Attention! To reinstall the operating system, you must log in to it. You will need:
- installation disk
- product key
- free space on the system partition (no less than the Users folder in its root)
You can start reinstalling Windows 7 either directly from the installation disk or from a control panel item Archiving and recovery. At the bottom of the main window you need to click the link Restore system settings or computer, then - Advanced recovery methods. These methods are:
- restoring the system from an image previously created using the backup function
- reinstalling the system, and it immediately indicates that an installation disk is required
Restoring the system from a pre-created image is described in the article Restoring data from backups and shadow copies in Windows 7. And here we will talk about reinstalling the system - graphically Windows interface this process is called updating. New Windows 7 is installed on top of the current OS from the installation disk without formatting the system partition. As a rule, this method is recommended in cases where all other options for solving the problem have been exhausted, although this is a completely acceptable solution from a technical point of view.
If you run the update from a Control Panel item Archiving and recovery, Windows 7 will carefully remind you that you need to back up your files before installation and will immediately prompt you to do so. This is a good idea and should not be abandoned. Upon completion of archiving, or if you refuse it, you will be prompted to insert the installation disk into the drive and reboot.
However, you can start the update in another way - just insert the installation disk and run setup.exe, and then in the window that opens, click the button Install.
In this case, Windows 7 will prompt you to download latest updates- It is logical to install an updated system. Of course, an Internet connection is required.
If you choose to download the updates, the download progress will be displayed in the next window.
Once the updates are downloaded, the system will reboot and the installation process will begin. Having accepted license agreement, you can select its type.
- Update- this is an installation on top existing system. This saves user settings and files, as well as installed programs. All system parameters (for example, service configuration) are reset - returned to standard, as when new installation Windows.
- Full installation- This clean install with formatting the system partition, or installation on another hard section disk.
The upgrade uses Data Transfer Tool.
It saves:
- user files and folders
- audio files, images and video files
- user accounts and settings
- program parameters
- Internet settings and files in your Favorites folder
- email settings
- contacts and messages
All files are saved to the same partition where the operating system is installed. During the reinstallation, a series of folders are created, in one of which Easy Transfer places these files. The figure below shows how user profiles are migrated.
Then all this data is restored to installed system, and temporary folders are deleted. But before you see the desktop, you'll need to go through the standard setup process user parameters, called OOBE (Out of Box Experience) - enter the product key, set language and regional settings, etc. Once the update is complete, you will have a completely restored system that has saved your files, user preferences and settings of installed programs.
Very often, users of computers and laptops need to reinstall the operating system due to certain problems, excessive “contamination” of the system with various software that reduces its performance, etc. However, an important question arises: how to maintain necessary information and content during reinstallation. It's actually easy to do. It is necessary to move all existing system disk information, except for programs associated with it and system folders/files, to another disk or portable storage device. In this case, two possible action algorithms appear: the first is used if the system is in working condition, and the second, when it is disabled and there is no longer access to the desktop and disks. This article only covers options for reinstalling the system and does not take into account the method of having two operating systems on one computer, as this requires a little more knowledge from the user. The system to be reinstalled is Windows.
Method with working system
If the computer starts, you must proceed in the following sequence.
Method with a non-working system
There are also a couple of basic options in this part. If the user has another computer or has somewhere to borrow it, then the easiest way would be to disconnect hard drive and connect to another device. In this case, it will be used as a portable data storage device and all information can be transferred as from a regular flash drive. This method in most cases, it is only available on desktop computers, since laptops do not have additional connectors for hard drives.
Otherwise, you will need special software to start the computer - “ boot disk" Such a set of programs allows you to start a computer and emulate a working operating system on it while the real one is not functioning. Upon startup, without any problems, you can transfer data between partitions, or also write all of them to a portable storage medium.
One of the simplest options is to download a LiveCD. This boot disk is freely available on the website of the antivirus software developer. software Dr.Web. Such an image weighs less than 200 MB and can fit on a CD or flash drive.
With its help, an operating system is emulated on a computer Linux system. The easiest way for an inexperienced user to work with it is to run the software available in the disk image - Midnight Commander. Files real system in this case they will be saved in the “win” folder. After copying the files to a safe place, you can begin installing Windows.
If your operating system has crashed, then you should not despair and think that the information accumulated over many years has disappeared forever, because this is not the case. It is worth making a minimum of effort and continuing to work with the computer. If you are not confident in your capabilities, then it is best to seek the help of professionals.
I have a laptop. Booted from the boot disk. What to choose when reinstalling Windows files and the programs were not deleted? You can choose: "Update" or "Complete reinstallation". At the bottom of the dialog box there is also "System Restore".
Command line I don’t know how to use it... I surf the Internet via a netbook, so I can’t download the live image to a disk or flash drive (it’s the only one and it’s occupied by Windows). I can't boot the entire system at all. When booting from drive C, it performs system diagnostics, where there is also a “System Restore” item, but it does not see restore points, although the day before the incident I checked - they are there and enabled.
After diagnostics the computer can only turn off. Oh, you can also recover from the System image, but I didn’t do archiving. Please give advice! With gratitude...
Alek55sandr5 | 6 June 2015, 18:51
If you want to keep installed programs, then reinstalling Windows will not work for you. Since when you reinstall the system, most programs will not work. And regarding files, if you install without formatting, then all multimedia files will be saved. You need to try doing a system restore first. To do this, insert the boot disk, and when the OS installation window appears, select “System Restore” at the bottom of the window.
Igor | 19 November 2013, 18:22
Boot via F8. Select "Last Known Known Configuration" from the drop-down menu.
seroz | 19 November 2013, 18:14
First of all, when you reinstall/update Windows, all your data will be saved (even if it was on the system disk) - only the files of the operating system itself will be rearranged or deleted. However, if they were in system folders(such as My Documents), then the files may indeed be lost...
1. "Update" - reinstall Windows with current values, all passwords and files are saved.
2. "Reinstallation" - installing the OS from scratch. When reinstalling, it is better to choose a different name for the account (computer name). Moreover (if you mean Win 7), if the installation is on top of the current OS (that is, the installation will be launched from the operating system itself), then the new one will be installed in the same places, and the old one will be renamed to xxxx.old). In this case, if something was in My Documents or on the Desktop, you can pull it out from the old account (folder - "Users\"\My Documents (Desktop)).
3. System recovery is impossible without rollback points (which you no longer have)...
Bottom line - try to do an "Update" (the most painless), but rollback points will not appear. By Windows recovery(by Reinstalling) and saving your files - there is a lot of material on the network (even with pictures).
If you need to reinstall Windows and at the same time save your data, photos, etc., then all this must be copied to a safe place, which is another section of your logical . There are two options - your system is working now, or. Let's look at both. I don’t consider the option of installing two Windows in one partition - inexperienced users end up with confusion and a clutter of files.
Option 1:
The computer is running
- We look at what drive Windows is installed on (usually C:\), that is, we look where the “Windows” and “Program Files” folders are. Let's say on C:\.
- On another drive, for example D:\, create a folder rezerv. And in it there are folders robstol, bookmarks, programs. (If you have one disk in your system, then you can save everything to a flash drive, or you can.)
- From the desktop we copy all our files to D:\rezerv\robskol.
- If necessary, copy your bookmarks from Internet Explorer. . From the folder C:\Users\admin\Favorites, copy everything to D:\rezerv\bookmarks (this is for Windows 7). For Windows XP from the folder C:\Documents and Settings\admin\Favorites. Where admin is the name of your post, you may have something else. To save bookmarks from mozilla you need to use Mozilla program BackUp or go to the menu - bookmarks - import and backup - backup and indicate where to write the file.
- And now with the programs. Here everyone has their own, some can be copied, others cannot. For example, for 1C you only need to copy the database: when you start, a window pops up where you select the database, and below is the path where it is located. Now, if it is on a drive with Windows (ours is on C:), then it must be copied to drive D:/. Many programs have a creation item in the menu backup copies, this is what you should use. I’ll just note that Word and Excel do not need to be backed up.
- We save all our documents from the My Documents folder, they are located here C:\Users\admin\My documents for Win7 and C:\Documents and Settings\admin\My documents for Win XP are also on drive D:\rezerv\.
- Insert the installation Windows disk and following the installation wizard install new Windows. Just put it on the same disk where it was (on drive C), when asked to format the partition, select quick formatting V NTFS system. The process takes from 25 to 50 minutes, just carefully read the questions of the installation wizard.
- After installation, we install the drivers we need (they are on the disk that came with the computer), if they are not available, I recommend using them.
- We install the programs you need from our backup folders D:\rezerv\… copy our saved data back to the appropriate folders. That's it, Windows is reinstalled without data loss.
Option 2:
The system is not working
Simple dumb way: remove the hard drive from the computer and insert it into another working one. Save all data as described above, reinsert the screw and install Windows. If this does not suit you, then
need to boot from special disk, which allows you to work with files on your computer when Windows is not working. I suggest downloading the Live CD from the other Web site. It weighs only 180 MB and burns it to CD-R. There is also an option with a flash drive, but such a drive is needed on the farm. After booting from it, you get a working computer with Linux - you can go online and work with files. To do this, launch Midnight Commander and... nothing is clear, but where are our files??? And they are in the directory win- Linux stuffed all the Windows stuff there 😀 We copy all the files as in the first option - desktop, documents, etc. Only Mozila bookmarks can be found at C:\Documents and Settings\admin\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\5w3u4xzh.default\bookmarkbackups and copied if necessary. And then we install Windows, install drivers, programs, and copy our data back.
This is how we reinstalled Windows no data loss . If you have a “genuine” problem when starting up, then here is the solution and a working activator.
