Making sure I don't screw up

[genericusername]

I plan on upgrading my computer some time soon, and part of the upgrade will be upgrading from windows 7 to 10. I currently have a 500Gb Samsung 850 EVO that I use as a boot drive and have a ton of games on, as well as a 1TB HDD that has roughly 500Gb of games and 300Gb of other files on it as well.

 

Part of this upgrade is a new CPU, motherboard and RAM, so I will just get an OEM copy on Win 10 while I'm at it.

 

My question is simple: what is the best way of transferring all my current games/files/programs to my new computer? Obviously, I don't want to re-download nearly 1.5 TB of crap to my new computer, but I don't really want to spend like $60 on an external HDD either. Even if I do, being that I will be transferring all my games/files from Win 7 to the external HDD, then to Win 10, should I expect problems?

 

If i can just keep all my stuff on my HDD and SSD and transfer it straight to my new computer, that would be ideal, but I have no idea if that will screw me up when I install Win10 to my SSD.

 

Any advice is appreciated.

[Ophidio]

The harddrive that has no OS on it you can just plug into the new system and all files will be there. As for the games on your boot drive you will either need redownload them when you make the new system or copy the games to another drive so you can just move them back when you get your new OS installed. 

 

Edit: Forgot to mention when you try to get your games from the HDD you need to add the folder they are all in to your steam library so steam will read that drive for games. 

[genericusername]

1 minute ago, genericusername said:

I plan on upgrading my computer some time soon, and part of the upgrade will be upgrading from windows 7 to 10. I currently have a 500Gb Samsung 850 EVO that I use as a boot drive and have a ton of games on, as well as a 1TB HDD that has roughly 500Gb of games and 300Gb of other files on it as well.

 

Part of this upgrade is a new CPU, motherboard and RAM, so I will just get an OEM copy on Win 10 while I'm at it.

 

My question is simple: what is the best way of transferring all my current games/files/programs to my new computer? Obviously, I don't want to re-download nearly 1.5 TB of crap to my new computer, but I don't really want to spend like $60 on an external HDD either. Even if I do, being that I will be transferring all my games/files from Win 7 to the external HDD, then to Win 10, should I expect problems?

 

If i can just keep all my stuff on my HDD and SSD and transfer it straight to my new computer, that would be ideal, but I have no idea if that will screw me up when I install Win10 to my SSD.

 

Any advice is appreciated.

Also worth mentioning: Not all my games are on steam, like 1/3 of my games are either on Origin or UPlay. I know the Steam backup system exists, but I have no idea how it works. Does Origin or UPlay have something similar?

[_Dr_Eye_]

if you move your drives over to the other pc and download the media creation tool you will be able to select upgrade this pc and chose the option tat says keep my files once you start installing.

[genericusername]

3 minutes ago, Ophidio said:

The harddrive that has no OS on it you can just plug into the new system and all files will be there. As for the games on your boot drive you will either need redownload them when you make the new system or copy the games to another drive so you can just move them back when you get your new OS installed. 

 

Edit: Forgot to mention when you try to get your games from the HDD you need to add the folder they are all in to your steam library so steam will read that drive for games. 

So, all the programs/files on my current HDD are safe? That's a start. Although, like I asked in my OP, being that all my current games are from Win 7, would i expect any issues once I transfer them to Win 10?

[genericusername]

5 minutes ago, _Dr_Eye_ said:

if you move your drives over to the other pc and download the media creation tool you will be able to select upgrade this pc and chose the option tat says keep my files once you start installing.

You mean just transfer all my stuff to the new PC, install win 7, then just upgrade to win 10 from there? I heard if you do that, some of the files will get kind of screwed up during the upgrade to 10. Is that still a thing?

[kalnick]

1 minute ago, genericusername said:

So, all the programs/files on my current HDD are safe? That's a start. Although, like I asked in my OP, being that all my current games are from Win 7, would i expect any issues once I transfer them to Win 10?

When you launch them for the first time in Windows 10 Steam will take care of any file changes that are needed for the games to work with windows 10.

 

I have computers dual boot Windows 7 and 10 both share the same steam library  folder and the games work fine in both OS

[kalnick]

Just now, genericusername said:

You mean just transfer all my stuff to the new PC, install win 7, then just upgrade to win 10 from there? I heard if you do that, some of the files will get kind of screwed up during the upgrade to 10. Is that still a thing?

No the upgrade would be if you were upgrading and existing PC to windows 10.

Do a fresh install on your new pc and move the drive with your files on it tot he new system and then you can install steam again and point to the old folders.

You can also copy over all your documents folders as well. You will need to reinstall any programs like office.

[genericusername]

I realize something now. In my original post, I kinda made it sound like I am buying an entirely new computer. What i am actually doing is buying a new CPU, motherboard, RAM and case, but recycling my old PSU, GPU and storage drives to the new pieces of hardware.

 

What I understand you guys are telling (so far) is that before I upgrade to go ahead and transfer what I can from my SSD to my HDD. Then, wipe my SSD and install it with my other new parts into my "new" computer. Then i install Win 10 to the SSD as a boot drive. Then I should install my HDD to the "new" computer, then transfer what i want from my HDD to my SSD (Games, Steam, etc). Once that is done, Steam/UPlay/Origin will automatically make sure my games work properly

 

Am I missing anything?

[Ophidio]

Yes, you are going to want to wipe everything from your SSD and backup what you don't want to lose to your HDD. The OS doesn't matter with files as long as it's windows. I have to hotswap drives from XP, 7, 8, and 10 all the time and I've never had any problem. None OS drives are simply just plug and browse. So you can plug your HDD in and just read the files and move them back to where you want them to be. 

 

One thing though, Origin/Uplay games will not transfer. You will have to download all Uplay and Origin games over again as their launchers do not have a way to read pre-existing game files and add them back to the library. I know it sucks but blame Origin and Uplay for being dumb and behind in the times.

 

Everything else though you're golden!

[genericusername]

45 minutes ago, Ophidio said:

Yes, you are going to want to wipe everything from your SSD and backup what you don't want to lose to your HDD. The OS doesn't matter with files as long as it's windows. I have to hotswap drives from XP, 7, 8, and 10 all the time and I've never had any problem. None OS drives are simply just plug and browse. So you can plug your HDD in and just read the files and move them back to where you want them to be. 

 

One thing though, Origin/Uplay games will not transfer. You will have to download all Uplay and Origin games over again as their launchers do not have a way to read pre-existing game files and add them back to the library. I know it sucks but blame Origin and Uplay for being dumb and behind in the times.

 

Everything else though you're golden!

Much appreciated. You just helped save me from like 3 days worth it re-downloading all my crap. Sucks about Origin and UPlay though

[Zando_]

Off topic, but is that the original Battlefront cover I see on your profile pic? 

[genericusername]

Just now, Zando Bob said:

Off topic, but is that the original Battlefront cover I see on your profile pic? 

You betcha. The two original Battlefront games were basically the only games I played for like three years when I was a kid 

[Zando_]

Just now, genericusername said:

You betcha. The two original Battlefront games were basically the only games I played for like three years when I was a kid 

Aha! You should check out my thread (in my sig). Battlefront II and KOTOR are the only games I have, and if I could get the original Battlefront for PC for a reasonable price, I'd grab it. 

[Ophidio]

2 hours ago, Zando Bob said:

Aha! You should check out my thread (in my sig). Battlefront II and KOTOR are the only games I have, and if I could get the original Battlefront for PC for a reasonable price, I'd grab it. 

All you need to gt the original Battlefront for PC is a download of it and find an activation code which isnt hard. There are tons of them on the internet. I know I've used mine numerous time on a bunch of different systems.

[Zando_]

46 minutes ago, Ophidio said:

All you need to gt the original Battlefront for PC is a download of it and find an activation code which isnt hard. There are tons of them on the internet. I know I've used mine numerous time on a bunch of different systems.

The 2003 one? I've only seen discs for sale. And I wouldn't know where to get an activation code.