"Reset this PC" with multiple drives (2 with windows storage spaces mirror)

[ratva]

tl;dr: should I unplug windows storage space 2-way mirror drives prior to a windows "reset this PC" to prevent any risk of losing data/will I be able to just plug them back in and have the storage spaces recognised? Or is the "keep my files" option safe?

 

Hi all,

 

I wanted to clean up my windows install - I've used my desktop for a number of years, and I think small tweaks here and there have added up. I'm having issues such as windows hello not detecting my camera, and deleting and reinstalling drivers hasn't fixed the issues.

 

That aside - I have a C drive (SSD) as my boot drive, a D drive ("fast" storage HDD) and E drive (Windows storage spaces "Two-way mirror" between 2 slower HDDs).

 

I've got the C drive backed up externally, however I don't have capacity to back up the HDDs externally. So my question is this - can I just unplug the D and E drives before the reset to prevent any risk of losing data? I.e. will I be able to just plug them back in after and have windows recognise the storage spaces without overwriting the data? I imagine this isn't an issue for the D drive, but I'm unsure of the 2 drives used for the windows storage space.

 

The "Reset this PC" does have a "keep files" option, but I don't know if this is guaranteed to not effect the non-boot drives or if there is any risk.

 

Any insight is welcome!

[WhitetailAni]

2 minutes ago, ratva said:

The "Reset this PC" does have a "keep files" option, but I don't know if this is guaranteed to not effect the non-boot drives or if there is any risk.

Having used this feature many times, all it does is replace the Windows parts of your boot drive, leaving the Users folder alone.

It does not touch any other storage drives connected to your Windows install.

[ratva]

Thanks @FakeKGB - so would the configuration where I've set up the Windows storage spaces also be left alone then and not affected (as I would have thought that would be somewhere in the Windows part of the boot drive)?

[WhitetailAni]

1 minute ago, ratva said:

Thanks @FakeKGB - so would the configuration where I've set up the Windows storage spaces also be left alone then and not affected (as I would have thought that would be somewhere in the Windows part of the boot drive)?

I believe the configuration data is on the drives themselves, as I've experimented with Storage Spaces as well and they're transferrable between Windows PCs (I set up an ReFS partition made up of 2 virtual disks on an SSD via SATA to USB for fun).

[ratva]

Excellent, thank you - I'll go ahead with the reset with all drives connected then!

[ratva]

Update - worked like a charm - all reset, with files still in place, and this time the driver installs did work as they were meant to. Thanks again for the help!