How to update windows 7 without deleting files. How to reinstall Windows, keeping settings and installed programs

To reinstall Windows 7, you need to take the "course young fighter" You will have to deal with installation options, original images, system versions, as well as recording the OS to a disk or flash drive.

Only after this will it be possible to begin the process itself, which is best understood by reviewing the instructions. After reinstallation, you will need to understand the settings of the updated operating system.

Preparation

Before you learn how to reinstall Windows 7 on your computer, you need to understand the installation types to prepare your computer for this process.

Can be done complete reinstallation OS. In this case, all information from hard drive will be deleted: here we mean not only personal data, but also programs with drivers and system documents stored on drive C.

There is an option to update the system. In this case, only system files will be replaced. That is, all the information that is stored on system disk C. This is why many people recommend not to write any personal data on it.

It must be said right away that updating the system rarely gives the desired result. Many people try to reinstall Windows 7 completely. To do this you need to save everything important files. How is this usually done?

Best to buy for yourself external storage, which would then become temporary storage. You can transfer all important files to it: usually users save photos and work documents. Everything else can usually be downloaded from the Internet.

"Pirate" versions

Then, trying to find out how to reinstall Windows 7, another question arises: where to find installation files? It’s good if you have a disk with a licensed version or your friend has it. But as practice shows, most users use pirated versions.

On the one hand, there is nothing dangerous in the author's assemblies. But you should understand that in such installation files some services are removed and less important drivers are added. Such assemblies may also contain advertising files.

Versions

Before installing a new OS, you will have to decide on the versions. The installation file can be 32 bit or 64 bit. Previously, most computers ran on the 32 bit version. Now it’s quite easy to decide what is needed for proper functioning.

If your system is running with RAM more than 4 GB, and you also need to use resource-intensive programs, which means you need to download the 64 bit OS version. It's also important to remember that most new programs don't run on 32 bit.

The situation is more complicated with the choice of Windows OS: Home, Professional or Ultimate? You need to immediately figure out which one to use, because during installation you will have to choose one of three options.

Most often, users choose Professional or Ultimate. The last option has no restrictions. It has all the services and facilities. The Professional edition lacks some useful tools. But as practice shows, most of these services are not needed by many users.

Preparing the Disk

If you need to figure out how to reinstall Windows 7 from a disk, you will have to burn the image to media yourself. Of course, if you have licensed version system, you can skip this step and start with the installation.

But many people want to burn installation files to disk. To do this, you need to download ISO image. Afterwards it will be enough to download the UltraISO program. It will help you write a system image to a disk or flash drive.

After starting the program, you need to go to the “Tools” tab, and then click on the “Burn CD image” line. If you simply drag and drop a file, you will not record its contents. Next, you will need to select the OS image that you downloaded from the Internet.

Preparing a flash drive

How to reinstall Windows 7 from a flash drive? If your computer does not have a disk drive, or it is more convenient for you to use this particular drive, then you will have to figure out how to prepare it.

The above-mentioned UltraISO program is suitable for installation. Before you start, you need to install a flash drive into your computer (a drive with a capacity of 4 GB or more is suitable). Then you need to find the file image and open it. Then you need to find the “Boot” item.

You will need to select a recording method in the program. It is recommended to use USB-HDD. In the “Image file” line you need to specify the address to the installation file.

The option with a flash drive is perfect. But recording the image is not the last step. You need to go to BIOS. For each system you will have to select your own combination. Typically these are the F1, F3, F10, F12 or Esc buttons.

After loading this menu, you need to select the name of the flash drive in the First Boot Device item. After this, during a reboot, the installation of the system will begin automatically.

Without the help of a carrier

But reinstalling Windows 7 without a disk or flash drive is a time-consuming and difficult process. Of course, it is better to use some kind of storage device for installation. But if it so happens that it is not possible to use a disk or flash drive, you will have to use a hard drive.

First you need to make an OS image, as described above. It needs to be transferred to drive C. Then you can restart the computer. During the loading process you need to click F8, Space or Esc. You will have to click on the buttons at the same time to figure out how to launch the boot menu.

A black screen with inscriptions will appear. Here you will need to select “Troubleshooting”. You can move through the lines using the up/down arrows on the keyboard, and the Enter button will help you select the desired one.

A window with system recovery options will open. Here you need to enter keyboard input mode. Next, you will need to select a name for your computer. If it is password protected, enter the password. Then you need to click on the command line.

When it opens, you will need to enter a couple of commands. The first is needed in order to get, therefore, to the disk with the OS image. Enter: X:windowssystem32C.

For the command to be activated, you need to press Enter. The same button takes the user to the next command.

Use: >setup.exe. This command starts the installation process.

BIOS

Finally, before the installation process itself, you need to figure out how to reinstall Windows 7 via BIOS.

Once you open this menu, you will need to make a number of settings. Go to the Boot devices section. To activate it, you must press Enter. After that, using the arrows on the keyboard, go to the Boot Sequence. It is important that this item is responsible for the device boot priority.

In the First Boot Device line, you need to select the device on which the system image is stored. For example, if you downloaded the operating system to a flash drive, then you indicate its name here.

Start installation

If you have saved all the data, prepared a flash drive, disk or hard drive ( hard drive), you can figure out how to reinstall Windows 7. On a laptop or computer, the reinstallation process is no different. The only thing: if you are using a disk, the system will ask you to click on any button, if you are using a flash drive, the download will start automatically.

It is important to understand that the process, although it does not take much time, especially if the PC is powerful, still has many stages. Therefore, you need to carefully read and understand what you need to choose.

Start

If you did everything correctly, a black loading bar and an inscription will appear at the bottom of the black screen, indicating that the system is downloading files. After this, the installation will begin. At this stage, the user must select the language to be installed, the time and currency format, and finally configure the keyboard layout.

Installation type

What kind of OS reinstallation happens has already been mentioned above. During the reinstallation process, you will need to select the desired option. By the way, there is also a description of installation types. Therefore, it will be quite simple to choose the one you need.

If you decide to simply update the OS, just click on the first line. After this, the system will do everything itself, load necessary files, and the process itself will not take much time.

Free space distribution

If this is your first OS installation, you will have to deal with hard drive partitions. Firstly, the system may have several hard drives or an additional solid state drive. All this will be indicated in the list. Secondly, if the computer works with one hard drive, it is recommended to divide it into partitions. This way you can properly organize your system and personal files.

How many partitions to divide the disk into, what size they will be, is up to you. It is important to remember that the system requires at least 50 GB, and it is better to leave 100 GB.

If the hard drive is already divided into sections, then it will be enough to format each one. To do this, you need to select a section and click “Format” at the bottom.

Final stage: setup

After working with the partitions, you need to click on “Next” and wait for the installation process to complete. It is described here in stages, so it will be easy to follow. If you have an average system, the reinstallation will take about 15-20 minutes.

After this, the computer will reboot on its own. It is important to remove the disk or flash drive at this point so that the installation does not start over.

When the computer boots, the user will be prompted to enter a username and password. It is not necessary to encrypt the system. The next step is to activate the OS version. If you have a license key, you will need to enter it in the appropriate line.

You can check the box below: when you connect to the Internet, the system activates itself. Or you can use an activator. Then you need to accept the recommended system settings.

Conclusion

Reinstalling Windows 7 is not difficult. Restoring all programs and drivers takes much more time and effort. It’s good if, along with a laptop or computer, the user has a special disk with the necessary drivers: for wireless network, video cards, sound card etc.

If you need to reinstall Windows and at the same time save your data, photos, etc., then all this must be copied to a safe place, which is another partition of your logical drive. There are two options - your system is working now, or the computer no longer starts. Let's look at both. I don’t consider the option of installing two Windows in one partition - inexperienced users end up with confusion and a clutter of files.

1. We look at what drive Windows is installed on (usually C:\), that is, we look where the “Windows” and “Program Files” folders are. Let's say on C:\.
2. On another drive, for example D:\, create a folder rezerv. And in it there are folders robstol, bookmarks, programs. (If you have one disk in your system, then you can save everything to a flash drive, or you can split the hard drive into disks .)
3. From the desktop we copy all our files to D:\rezerv\robskol.
4. If necessary, copy your bookmarks from Internet Explorer. Enable display of hidden files and folders. From the folder C:\Users\admin\Favorites, copy everything to D:\rezerv\bookmarks (this is for Windows 7). For Windows XP from the folder C:\Documents and Settings\admin\Favorites. Where admin is the name of your post, you may have something else. To save bookmarks from mozilla, you need to use the Mozilla BackUp program or go to the menu - bookmarks - import and backup - backup and specify where to write the file.
5. And now with the programs. Here everyone has their own, some can be copied, others cannot. For example, for 1C you only need to copy the database: when you start, a window pops up where you select the database, and below is the path where it is located. Now, if it is on a disk with Windows (ours is on C:), then it must be copied to the D:/ drive. Many programs have a backup option in the menu, and this is what you should use. I’ll just note that Word and Excel do not need to be backed up.
6. We save all our documents from the My Documents folder, they are located here C:\Users\admin\My documents for Win7 and C:\Documents and Settings\admin\My documents for Win XP are also on drive D:\rezerv\.
7. We insert installation disk Windows and following the installation wizard we install the new Windows. Just put it on the same drive where it was (ours is on drive C), when asked to format the partition, select quick format in NTFS system. The process takes from 25 to 50 minutes, just carefully read the questions of the installation wizard.
8. After installation, we install the drivers we need (they are on the disk that came with the computer); if they are not there, I recommend using the automatic driver installation program.
9. We install the programs you need and from our backup folders D:\rezerv\... copy our saved data back to the appropriate folders. That's it, Windows is reinstalled without data loss.

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Method 3: Restoring Windows 7 without using Safe Mode.

To restore operating system system files, you need to boot your computer from boot disk. If you are restoring the netbook's operating system, use a bootable USB flash drive.

To select the device from which the system will boot, you need to go to the BIOS settings.

To open BIOS, depending on the manufacturer motherboard, you need to press the “F2” or “Del” key, but other options are possible, read the instructions for the device.

Next, go to the section “ Boot Menu" and select the drive. In our example it is represented as "CDROM Drive". Press “Enter” on it, then “Esc” and confirm the exit with saving the changes “Save and Exit”, select “Yes”

There is no need to worry that if you boot from an optical disc, all your personal files and settings will be lost. We will not completely reinstall Windows, but will restore system files without losing personal data.

Install the disc into DVD-rom and restart the computer.

Depending on the build of Windows, a message may appear on the black background of the screen: “press any key to boot from cd or dvd”, press any button.
In the window that opens, select the language and click the “Next” button

We go to the window for selecting the installation type: New installation or System Restore, we are interested in the second option, to use it, click on the “System Restore” link in the lower left corner of the window

If old Windows version damaged is identical to the one on the disk in the drive, then you will be prompted to “System Restore”

Select "Startup Repair".

For reference.Option Windows recovery saves all system folders (Program Files, etc.), programs and user settings. The desktop will also remain the same.

Let's consider rearranging Windows 7 while preserving all data and settings, without losing data. This is not a complete system installation with hard formatting disk, and updating Windows 7 on an already installed system. With this installation method, all files and settings will remain intact and unchanged. This installation option is recommended only if all options for solving the problem with the OS have already been exhausted.

Step 1 - Start installation.

With the computer turned on and running, insert the installation disk into the drive, open it through Explorer (not through startup), to do this go to My computer right-click on the shortcut to our disk and select from the menu Open. In the folder with the disk we find and run SETUP.EXE, click Install.

Note: setup.exe is better to run with compatibility windows vista sp2, otherwise the installer may complain that the current OS version is newer than the one the user wants to install and will stop updating.

Let's go to Start - Control Panel and select the item Recovery. Click on Advanced recovery methods

The system offers us 2 methods of system recovery:

1 - Restoring the system from an image, if one was created using archiving
2 - System relocation requiring installation disk
If you run the update from the panel Backup and recovery, then Windows 7 will remind you what needs to be done before installation backup copy files. After archiving, the system will reboot and you will boot from the installation disk.

Step 2 - Installation Windows updates 7

During the installation process, there will be a dialog box asking you to install and download all available updates for Windows 7, if you have an Internet connection, then feel free to update the system.

Step 3 - Selecting Windows Installation Type

As soon as the system downloads and installs available updates, the computer will reboot and the installation process will begin. You will be able to choose 2 installation options.

Update- installation on top of already installed system, all data will be saved, as well as all installed programs. System parameters and services will be reset to the default state (restored to the standard form as with new installation Windows).
Full installation- a completely clean installation followed by formatting the disk or installation on another disk partition. With this reinstallation method, data may be LOST, including all programs.
I recommend choosing the first option.

As you can see, when updating the system, the data and file transfer tool is used.

During the file transfer process, user files, all folders in the profile (audio recordings, video recordings, images, etc.) will be saved. accounts and user settings, program settings, favorites with your IE bookmarks, contacts and messages.

The transfer process takes time relative to the size of the files stored on the computer. All data will be transferred to the partition where the OS is installed. After installation, temporary files will be deleted. After all the procedures, you will be asked to enter your key in standard mode. licensed Windows 7, set language settings and so on. At the end, we receive updates and a fully restored copy of Windows 7 with your accounts and installed programs.

If you decide to reinstall Windows 7 due to problems in the OS, I still recommend making a complete backup copy of your precious data to another partition of your hard drive (or to an external drive) and installing the entire system from scratch. This will save you from the problems of old Windows.

Also called an update, it is carried out on top of the operating system, excluding formatting the system partition. In this case, user files and settings are saved, and installed programs and their settings are not affected.

To reinstall the operating system, you must log into it. You will need:

Installation disk,
- product key,
- free space in the system partition of the disk (no less than required by the Users folder in its root).

You can reinstall Windows 7 from the installation disc directly or from a Control Panel item such as Backup and Restore. You need to click the “Restore system settings or computer” link at the bottom of the main window, then click “Advanced recovery methods”.

These methods include:

Restoring the system from an image created in advance using the archiving function;
- reinstallation of the system, which immediately indicates the need for an installation disk.

The process of creating a system image for subsequent recovery is described in the article "". Here we will talk about reinstalling the system - this process is graphical interface Windows OS is called updating. Installed from the installation disk new Windows 7 over the existing OS without formatting the system partition. This method is usually recommended to be used when all other options for solving the problem have been exhausted, although from a technical point of view this solution is quite acceptable.

If you start the update process from the Backup and Restore control panel item, Windows 7 will remind you to back up your files before installing and will promptly prompt you to do so. You should not refuse this offer. After archiving is completed or if you refuse it, you will be prompted to insert the installation disk into the drive and reboot.

However, you can launch the update in another way - you just need to insert the installation disk and run setup.exe, and then click the “Install” button in the window that opens.

Windows 7 in this case will prompt you to download latest updates, after which it would be logical to install the updated system. Of course, you need an Internet connection.

If you decide to download updates, the download process will be visible in this window.

Once the updates are downloaded, the system will reboot and installation will begin. Once you confirm the license agreement, you will be able to select your installation type.

An upgrade is an installation on top of a currently existing system. This saves installed programs, as well as files and user settings. All system parameters are reset, that is, brought to the standard, as with a new installation of Windows.
- The complete installation is clean install with formatting the system partition or installation on another hard drive partition.

The Data Migration Tool is used during the upgrade process.

It saves:

Images, audio files and video files;
- user folders and files;
- user settings and accounts;
- program parameters;
- parameters email,
- contacts and messages,
- Internet settings and files in the “Favorites” folder.

All files are saved in the same section where they are installed operating system. The reinstallation process creates several folders, in one of which the data transfer tool places these files. The figure below shows how user profiles are transferred.