In this guide, we see the methods to restore or reinstall Windows without losing data, which is very important to know in order to restart the PC in case of problems. While in the past when going to format the PC, it was always a traumatic operation, with the need to make a backup to external disk or DVD, create partitions, format the hard disk, reinstall Windows and then restore the backup, today things are much simpler thanks to the installation processes of Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and, above all, Windows 10.
On these systems you can use solutions to restore and reinstall Windows without using any external software, also avoiding the requirement to have a second storage unit to store data.
First of all, if you find Windows functioning problems not too serious, but which are sudden and you don't know what caused them, then you can try with System Restore .
To use this function, simply search for the word Restore in the Start menu.
Keep in mind that in Windows 10 this solution is disabled by default therefore, to use it, you must first activate the creation of recovery points.
As seen in yet another article, there are several ways to correct errors on Windows, especially using the tools of troubleshooting tools that are integrated into Windows 10, Windows 7 and 8.1.
If, however, you want to reinstall Windows, but you don't want to lose photos, documents and important data, there are several ways, even quite simple ones.
1) Repair the existing installation
The installation CD for Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and also for Windows 10, includes an option to repair a Windows installation and using this option you can repair the Windows installation without losing the files, personal data, documents and programs on the system.
To take advantage of this, simply place the CD in your computer's CD or DVD drive and restart your pc.
If you need it, you can download the installation CD of each Windows version for free.
Note that you can also repair Windows 7 with the Windows 10 installation CD and vice versa, as long as you use the emergency command prompt tools.
After loading the installation DVD for the first time, you will be asked if you want to use the Recovery Console to restore Windows components.
If you are using a Windows 7 disk, the disaster recovery console is quite limited, so it is better to ignore it, press the Enter key and proceed with the installation as you normally would.
Press F8 to continue accepting the license.
The next screen displays, or at least should display, a prompt asking if you want to repair an existing system.
Then select the Windows installation already present and press R.
At that moment the repair and reinstallation of Windows will begin with the copying of the files on the hard disk; reboots the system, and proceeds as if it were a normal installation.
So nothing to add to the typical guided operations of any normal Windows installation.
After installation is complete, you should still be able to access all installed documents and programs.
For Windows 8.1, I refer to the guide to Restore, reinstall or reinitialize Windows 8.
For Windows 10, I refer to the guide to repair Windows 10 even if the PC does not start.
2) Reinstall Windows from scratch without losing data
If you proceed with the reinstallation of Windows, the only thing that is definitely lost is the installed programs, while all the data is always kept following the standard procedure.
When installing or reinstalling Windows 7, 8.1 or Widows 10, the user files of the previous installation are never deleted, but saved in a special folder called Windows.old, from which they can be recovered.
3) Format and install from scratch
If you intend to proceed to format and then install Windows from scratch, there are some differences between the various versions and therefore I refer to two special articles.
- How to format and install Windows from scratch, to have a clean and new PC
- Format a Windows 10 and 8 PC.
Formatting Windows 10, in particular, is very easy thanks to a tool included by Microsoft that allows you to reset Windows 10.
On other PCs it is also possible to perform a Factory Reset using tools included by the computer manufacturer.
In these cases, of course, all data is lost which, therefore, must first be saved with a backup.
In this regard it is important to know whether there are many backup tools included in Windows.
IN another article is also explained how you can backup your programs and custom settings.
If you have not backed up and Windows does not start, you can consult the article on how to save all data and files if Windows does not start and how to use very powerful Windows repair CDs, which I invite you to try.
4) Restore Windows by creating a new user
The easiest solution to restore Windows without losing any of your personal data is to create a new user.
You can then clean up your PC without formatting by creating a new user ultra fast, without reinstalling anything.
The new user starts from scratch, with default settings, without installed programs and without data and files in the main folders.
The old files can, however, be recovered from the folders of the old user and can be recovered and copied into the new user folders (ie the Pictures, Documents, Music, Videos folders etc.).
