I am upgrading my CPU and motherboard and have a question about what to do after the installation.

[Bukashka]

I am upgrading my pc's CPU and motherboard. I was just curious about the steps to take afterwards with my storage. I have a total of 3 storage drives on my pc. My C: Drive which contains my windows and some system files. And my other 2 drives contain all my games, videos, and photos. I am planning to format my C: drive (the one that contains windows) as to not let any software problems occur and so that all the drivers could be freshly installed for my new components. I am just wondering if adding the two other drives with all my games, files etc. after formatting the C: drive would work like normal in my computer, or would it require me to redownload my apps? And would my regular files such as videos and photos be alright?

[An0maly_76]

As I understand it, motherboard / CPU replacements often warrant a fresh Windows install anyway. And while I'm not sure I fully understand what you're asking, a format obliterates all data on the drive being formatted, so yes, you would have to reinstall your apps that were previously on that drive. If there's any data on that drive you want to keep, copy it elsewhere before formatting -- it will destroy it. As to apps that were on the other drives previously, whether they will run okay or at all depends on whether they require certain registry entries to be made in Windows' system files. Some do, some don't. Others may run with some unexpected behavior or glitches. I hope that helps.

Edited July 4 by An0maly_76
Revised, more info

[RONOTHAN##]

Files, videos, and photos should just carry over on those drives no problem. You might have to configure some stuff to have them show up in the "Videos", "Photos", etc. files in Windows, but they will definitely be there, maybe just not where you left them.

 

As for games, it depends on how the software was installed. If the games on those drives were installed through some kind of launcher like Steam, you should just be able to import the library location and all your games should just work. If it was installed stand alone like you would with a lot of GOG games, you'll likely have to reinstall them.