I'm looking to upgrade my system from an Intel i7 9700K to a Ryzen 9 series, and I want to know if there's a way to reinstall Windows without losing the files currently in my C drive. Any tips or best practices for this process would be appreciated!
4 Answers
Technically, you can do it, but I wouldn't recommend it. The best approach is to create a separate partition on your hard drive, move any files you want to keep to that partition, and then reinstall Windows on the C drive. After the installation, you can move your files back and delete that partition.
Make sure to back up your important files, like documents, onto a USB or external hard drive before doing the install. Either get a new drive for the installation or wipe the same one clean. After installing Windows, you can just move your files back. Windows can get cluttered over time, so fresh installs can actually help in the long run.
Are there specific files I should avoid moving back immediately after? Anything that could cause issues.
You can reset Windows to its factory settings while keeping your files. Just a heads up, if you replace major components, you might need to contact Microsoft for reactivation. I use dual NVMe drives; I keep important data on a secondary drive, wipe the C drive clean, and then reinstall. If you don't have extra storage options, then resetting while keeping files might be your best bet.
If you're upgrading your drive anyway, consider cloning your C drive to the new one, making it your new C drive. This way, you won't lose anything during the transition.
Yeah, that's really the safest method. You could also use an external hard drive to back up your data. Just keep in mind that if you reinstall the OS on the C drive, it usually gets formatted, so all data on it would be lost.