Reinstall Windows without having to reinstall all my programs?

[Jobobee]

Hi there,

I'd like to reinstall Windows as some things on it are broken, but I don't want to have to reinstall all of my programs. Most of them are on my second drive. Is there any way to do this?

[Wtalk2]

It is possible to bring them over to a new install but I highly recommend you don't do it. You will most likely have compatibility issues and it will just be a pain. I suggest you just reinstall them all.

 

PS: Use Ninite to install many common programs at once.

[Jobobee]

It is possible to bring them over to a new install but I highly recommend you don't do it. You will most likely have compatibility issues and it will just be a pain. I suggest you just reinstall them all.

 

PS: Use Ninite to install many common programs at once.

The problem that I found with Ninite is it can only install to the main drive.

Will it be a pain even if it's the same version of Windows?

[Wtalk2]

The problem that I found with Ninite is it can only install to the main drive.

Will it be a pain even if it's the same version of Windows?

That is a bit of a problem with Ninite if you want to install to a secondary drive.

 

I'm not entirely sure how easy it would be. You can try reinstalling Windows and try running the programs off the secondary drive and if they work, great and if they don't you can just reinstall them.

[bchampion96]

The problem that I found with Ninite is it can only install to the main drive.

Will it be a pain even if it's the same version of Windows?

 

Things like steam are alright, where you can keep all your old games and just point steam to where they're stored, but programs need to be reinstalled

[mapegl]

i do this for my steam library. works like a charm. but other software than games.....wouldn't really recommend on doing so.

 

for steam, just copy it to another hdd or partition and after reinstall, just start the steam.exe. works!

[bac06]

Can you restore the pc from a previous image?

 

One that was made before things got broken.

[Jobobee]

Can you restore the pc from a previous image?

 

One that was made before things got broken.

Doubt it, I don't rember when it started to go wrong. It's not very broken, but when I boot and shutdown I get an error message, and I just have to click ok to close it. I'll grab a photo next time.

[bac06]

Save your game files somewhere and reinstall everything else since we can't help you.

 

And show us your errors so you can prevent having them again.

[Alterlai]

Doubt it, I don't rember when it started to go wrong. It's not very broken, but when I boot and shutdown I get an error message, and I just have to click ok to close it. I'll grab a photo next time.

You probably don't have to do a complete fresh windows install for this problem. Usually it's just a single program with a corrupt file.

[TheGamingBarrel]

If you reinstall windows doesn't it make a Windows.old folder with all your files in it from before?

[RH00D]

If you are using Windows 8.x then you can use the "Refresh PC" feature which will reinstall Windows without affecting your files, and Windows Store apps will be reinstalled. A list of traditional desktop apps that were removed will be placed on the desktop, thus you can just view the list and re-download those apps if you wish.

 

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-ca/windows-8/restore-refresh-reset-pc

 

If you are using an older version of Windows you'll have to clean reinstall then if you've backed up your files manually transfer them back over. All programs will have to be reinstalled.