Reinstalling Windows

[Giddyguy]

So I am changing my motherboard, with everything else the same, and will probably have to reinstall my copy of windows. Now I want this transition to be as smooth as possible so I have a few questions.

 

But first here is how my computer is setup; I have my OS and main programs on a SSD and have games, music and some other programs on a storage HDD.

 

Here are my questions:

• What will happen to my Steam games (steam is on my storage hdd) when I reinstall? Do I have to reinstall steam and will it recognize my already downloaded games? What about non-steam games that store data in appdata and mydocuments? I have a program called Gamesave Manager and regularly backup files to this so would I be able to simple restore everything and have it work? Is there anything in the registry that would be lost?
• I use iTunes for music management and have my library perfectly set up. All the files are on my HDD so when i reinstall would my library be the way it was before? (album art, song information, etc)

These are the two main things I'm worried about because they take a while to setup correctly. Most other programs can be Ninite[d] or quickly installed. Thanks in advance!

[needmorewood]

So I am changing my motherboard, with everything else the same, and will probably have to reinstall my copy of windows. Now I want this transition to be as smooth as possible so I have a few questions.

 

But first here is how my computer is setup; I have my OS and main programs on a SSD and have games, music and some other programs on a storage HDD.

 

Here are my questions:

• What will happen to my Steam games (steam is on my storage hdd) when I reinstall? Do I have to reinstall steam and will it recognize my already downloaded games? What about non-steam games that store data in appdata and mydocuments? I have a program called Gamesave Manager and regularly backup files to this so would I be able to simple restore everything and have it work? Is there anything in the registry that would be lost?
• I use iTunes for music management and have my library perfectly set up. All the files are on my HDD so when i reinstall would my library be the way it was before? (album art, song information, etc)

These are the two main things I'm worried about because they take a while to setup correctly. Most other programs can be Ninite[d] or quickly installed. Thanks in advance!

nah u can just run steam again as a administrator and everything will be there.

i dint know about other games but it should be fine. may have to run extra stuff like direct x redists etc.

[Bluethulhu]

For Steam, install one game you already have installed into the directory, and it will say "discovering existing files". The rest of your games should then show up, if not restart steam. About iTunes, don't quote me, but most likely yes. I switched to Foobar2000 and haven't looked back since.

[Giddyguy]

nah u can just run steam again as a administrator and everything will be there.

i dint know about other games but it should be fine. may have to run extra stuff like direct x redists etc.

 

For Steam, install one game you already have installed into the directory, and it will say "discovering existing files". The rest of your games should then show up, if not restart steam. About iTunes, don't quote me, but most likely yes. I switched to Foobar2000 and haven't looked back since.

Ok so steam should be fine i guess. I'll probably just have to rerun direct x and punkbuster and what not like you said. thanks

[Sarcasm]

In your Music library, there's a folder named iTunes. As long as you retain that and bring it back in to the exact same directory, everything will stay. Trust me, I reinstall Windows every time the seasons change. As for the Steam games, if you're really worried there's an option to create a full backup to another drive and reinstall from that drive.

[Godlygamer23]

I've never re-added Steam games into Steam after a Windows re-install. Just installed them again, so no help there. As for iTunes, as long as the file itself has the necessary information, everything will be the same. If it was added using iTunes, it will not be like that.(excluding songs you've purchased through iTunes)

[ShadowRaven]

I t al depends on your operating system you are running  and if your files are compatible to your os 

[Giddyguy]

In your Music library, there's a folder named iTunes. As long as you retain that and bring it back in to the exact same directory, everything will stay. Trust me, I reinstall Windows every time the seasons change. As for the Steam games, if you're really worried there's an option to create a full backup to another drive and reinstall from that drive.

Yea my iTunes folder is on my storage drive and won't be deleted (i also have a backup) so i hope that works out fine. As for steam i also think that should be fine. Thanks!

[Sarcasm]

Yea my iTunes folder is on my storage drive and won't be deleted (i also have a backup) so i hope that works out fine. As for steam i also think that should be fine. Thanks!

You're probably going to have to set the library destination to there before installing iTunes though. Or if anything, copy it after and restart iTunes. Either way should work, as long as it's in the library root.

[Godlygamer23]

You're probably going to have to set the library destination to there before installing iTunes though. Or if anything, copy it after and restart iTunes. Either way should work, as long as it's in the library root.

You can't set the library destination without iTunes.

[Godlygamer23]

Whenever I re-install Windows, this is what I do. Install iTunes; create a new iTunes folder; Open iTunes; Navigate to the preferences section and go to Advanced; Change library destination to new folder and enable files to be moved to the new folder when adding to the iTunes folder; Drag everything from my old iTunes folder(you can do the whole folder) into iTunes.

[Sarcasm]

You can't set the library destination without iTunes.

The actual library destination within the Windows browser.

[Godlygamer23]

In your Music library, there's a folder named iTunes. As long as you retain that and bring it back in to the exact same directory, everything will stay.

Assuming you keep everything at default.

[Giddyguy]

I actually just found this Sevens Forum Guide about sysprep.exe. I think this is what Linus and others use to run benchmarks on different machines. I have already backed up all my data so I'm going to give this a go. If it fails, i'll just do a traditional clean install, but if it works then great!

 

Here is the link: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/135077-windows-7-installation-transfer-new-computer.html