Do you lose all your files if you reinstall windows?

Question

I appear to have a software problem which stops some software from loading via the d driveand also stops some programmes such as windows media player from working . If i reinstall windows will this cure the problem and do i loose all my files if i do reinstall?

Answer 1

No you don't. When reinstalling it will ask for a name, give it a second name so that your original document files remain and not over written. reinstalling windows does not remove your files. Do NOT reformat your HD before reinstalling.

Answer 2

Reinstall Windows Without Losing Files

Answer 3

Well your description of the problem is a little vague, so I can't tell you whether reinstalling Windows will fix it, but I can tell you that you won't lose any files if you reinstall Windows over your existing installation.

You will only lose files if you format your hard drive before reinstalling Windows - so just don't do that!

Answer 4

No, you do not lose any of your personal data. An installation of Windows will not delete any of your software or data files. It will delete and/or restore files that are in the Windows directory or part of the operating system. This is a good thing.



Reinstalling Windows is a last resort. If you have Windows XP, it will let you restore the system for a certain date, like two weeks ago, or whatever date you choose under "System Restore" which is a program on your Start Menu.

Answer 5

No and yes.



No, You won't lose your data files if during the installation you chose not to format. Options are Format, new installation, reinstall over the old one. Its Windows, none of them will do exactly what you want, but they will solve the problem.



Yes you will need to reinstall programs as the settings in the registry will be wiped out. (There is no good way to separate the good from the bad entries in the registry with out paying money for it. And it probably would have to be used prior to installing your extra software)



Personal settings like favorites and documents should have been backed up regularly. So I won't repeat what others have told you about saving everything that you think you might need prior to re-installation.



Best of luck with the problem.

(Bin Der, Dun Dat, Wazn't Impressed)

Answer 6

first backup important info just incase but you should not lose any personal files



I would guess that reinstal would not cure the problems you have

Try reinstalling the drivers for the problem drive, it could be a faulty drive

Sounds more like a lack of resourses but your info is a bit scarce

Close as many programs as possible that are running in the backgraound and try again

Answer 7

It's funny you should ask that. We recently had our old windows taken out of the office and reinstalled with double-glazed. When it was all over, we found that the filing cabinets had disappeared. So, if our experience is anything to go by, I'd say DON'T reinstall.

Answer 8

best thing to do is back them up , because if you do reinstall windows , and when you go looking for your files , you are not going to find them , couse you would have formatted your hard drive. widows xp should be installed on your PC depending on your uses, about every 6 months , by doing this you get rid of all the files that can clog up your system . and it gets rid of all the little bug that do not do any thing on their own but when they start clogging up your PC you will notice the slow down, and i when you are running xp you should put at least 1 gig of ram in to give you better preformance , 2 gig is even better,

Answer 9

If your PC came with a recovery partition on the hard drive, find the instructions for booting into the repair environment. Watch the screen as you turn on the computer; it might show a message such as 'Press F10 for Repair'. If it doesn't, check the manual or call technical support. If your recovery tool is a disc, boot the PC from it. Either way, follow the prompts. If your recovery tool is an actual Microsoft Windows disc, the tool will ask what kind of installation to perform. You want the kind that gives you a fresh version of Windows. For Windows 7 or Vista, when the wizard asks about the type of installation, select the Custom (advanced) option. For XP, at the 'Welcome to Setup' screen, press Enter to Continue, not R for Repair.

Answer 10

Depends on how you do it.



Option 1: Create new partitions - then the whole drive will be emptied



Option 2: Format an existing partition, then everything on that partition (shows up as a drive letter) will be erased



Option 3: Re-install using a repair, usually does not delete your files, but there is always a risk. Repair is the safest though.



Bear in mind that if your problems are from a virus or malware, then a repair may not fix the problem.

Answer 11

I don't think so, but why not back up important files to disc or floppy before uninstalling and reinstalling it just to be sure. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Answer 12

you can do a reinstall without a format which keeps most of your files, just make sure that you chose to leave the current file system intact when going throughthe setup









TAKE NOTE OF THIS



you will lose all your settings still and anything in your shared documents and my documents folders and your internet explorer favourites so move or back up these files first.



nobody else here seems to have mentioned this to you!

Answer 13

You will need to start the pc up and then back up any important docs you have and any photos,music,videos you have then do a complete reinstall, if you choose to "leave file system intact"then you will loose a hell of a lot of disc space.



But before that have you tried "system restore"?

start-all programes-acsessories-system tools-system restore.



That might work

Answer 14

It will cure it and yes you will loose all ur files. SO just back up what u need and then reformat your pc. Or use your system recovery disk (if u have it). It is about a 1 hour to 2 hour procedure.



Or your can try to repair your windows with your Windows CD.

Answer 15

we reinstalled windows and we lost our files, it went back to the day we bought it

Answer 16

Backup all your IMPORTANT files onto an external hard drive then reinstall ... and yes, you will lose EVERYTHING!



... then, make a separate NTFS partition and save all your documents to that drive ... then, you are set!

Answer 17

If you install windows on top of windows without formatting every thing will be there but they won't work, you have to re install the programs one by one.

Answer 18

Ya you need to back up the files you wish to save on to a CD.

Then "Format"

Answer 19

Yes you basicley get it as if it were new. You need to reinstall any programs that you had and update alot of the programs. One good tihng is youll get rid of all the viruses you gad and the addware.

Answer 20

u will lose files so back up everything u want to keep or need and then do a clean install ...

Answer 21

yes, you will loose all your files unless you move it to another hard drive(external or so).

Answer 22

Not unless you tell it to reformat your hard drive no.

Answer 23

not technaicly. if you have them on you hard drive no you shouldnt

Answer 24

yeah , if you don't split your hard in two before install it first time

Answer 25

yes, because you're uninstalling the old one first.

Answer 26

One simple answer: Yes.