Full reformat of Windows, but keep some data?

[Fine Evo]

So i'm quite a pleb when it comes to software and storage, I like to think i'm quite competent with computers (as i've built my own and troubleshooted many issues in the past) but i'm pretty lost with this one. I have Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows update has been a real pain for months now. It never installs 'Important' updates and just fails them and reverts to a state before i tried to install them. Today I got stuck on the reverting windows screen during startup and had to do some dodgy system restore plus some other things to even get back into Windows. I'm sick of trying to fix this and just want to start fresh, I can't even claim my copy of Windows 10 as I would need to update to get the claim my free copy through the prompt on the task bar. So I want to reformat (I think? Where you wipe everything and install a fresh copy of Windows) but want to keep my Steam library and some other games as my internet is terrible here in Australia and would take forever to redownload everything. I have both an SSD and HDD so could i just leave my HDD unplugged during the reformatting process? I would most likely delete everything form my HDD except the things I wanted to keep but it would be a good thing to reformat that too as i have done so since I got it in 2013. I will be upgrading to Windows 8, so will there be compatibility issues?

 

I'm really quite confused about all of this so any information is greatly appreciated, sorry for the long post.

 

Cheers,

 

Cody

[techguru]

So i'm quite a pleb when it comes to software and storage, I like to think i'm quite competent with computers (as i've built my own and troubleshooted many issues in the past) but i'm pretty lost with this one. I have Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows update has been a real pain for months now. It never installs 'Important' updates and just fails them and reverts to a state before i tried to install them. Today I got stuck on the reverting windows screen during startup and had to do some dodgy system restore plus some other things to even get back into Windows. I'm sick of trying to fix this and just want to start fresh, I can't even claim my copy of Windows 10 as I would need to update to get the claim my free copy through the prompt on the task bar. So I want to reformat (I think? Where you wipe everything and install a fresh copy of Windows) but want to keep my Steam library and some other games as my internet is terrible here in Australia and would take forever to redownload everything. I have both an SSD and HDD so could i just leave my HDD unplugged during the reformatting process? I would most likely delete everything form my HDD except the things I wanted to keep but it would be a good thing to reformat that too as i have done so since I got it in 2013. I will be upgrading to Windows 8, so will there be compatibility issues?

 

I'm really quite confused about all of this so any information is greatly appreciated, sorry for the long post.

 

Cheers,

 

Cody

yep..just backup everything to the hdd that you wanna keep

then unplug it

and clean install windows..then when you are back in windows plug the hdd back in (when its off)

[techguru]

if the pc runs windows 7 now..then no there won't be any major compatiblity issues

[Judahnator]

I would make a backup just in case anything goes wrong. Throw important docs/pictures/whatever into dropbox on an external hard drive.

 

Then as long as your hard drive is unplugged, nothing should go wrong

[Fine Evo]

if the pc runs windows 7 now..then no there won't be any major compatiblity issues

 

 

I would make a backup just in case anything goes wrong. Throw important docs/pictures/whatever into dropbox on an external hard drive.

 

Then as long as your hard drive is unplugged, nothing should go wrong

Ok thanks a bunch guys, Ill give it a go when im out of the house so it can do its thing without me impenitently waiting on it.