How to reinstall Windows 10 without losing data

How to reinstall Windows 10 without losing data: Some users are thinking about the question of how to reinstall Windows 10 without losing data: user information and programs. At some point in time, they realize that it is time to reinstall the operating system.

For some reason, the system starts to work with errors and malfunctions, and various methods for solving the problem, or restoring the OS using restore points, do not bring results. If there is no pre-created backup of the system, there is only one way out of this situation: reinstalling Windows.

The user is faced with the task: how to reinstall Windows 10 without losing important information. If personal data can still be pre-stored elsewhere, then there may be problems with the software. Some applications are not easy to install, or there may be problems activating programs on a new, reinstalled operating system.

Ways to reinstall Windows 10 without losing data

Is it possible to reinstall Windows without losing data? Yes, there are several ways to reinstall Windows without data loss:

• Reset your computer.
• Clean reinstallation of Windows with saving personal data.
• Installing Windows in the Media Creation Tool.
• Reinstall Windows using an external device: a bootable USB flash drive or DVD.
• Perform a Windows reinstall directly from a working operating system.

Depending on the selected method, the user will receive the following result:

• only personal data of the user will be saved;
• user data and some installed applications will be saved:
• personal data and installed programs will be saved on the PC.

The instructions in this article cover all possible options on how to reinstall Windows 10 without losing activation and user data.

In order not to have problems with the activation of the operating system, create a Microsoft account. Sign in with an account on a computer, Microsoft will store the product key associated with your PC. During the installation process, or after reinstalling Windows, enter your Microsoft account information, the system will be automatically activated. After that, you can switch to a local account again.

System reset

The Windows 10 operating system has a built-in tool to restore the OS to its original state. When you reset the system, the computer will return to the state in which it was immediately after installing Windows 10 on the PC.

Please note that Microsoft regularly releases so-called “big”, “major” updates that change the settings and functions of Windows 10. If the operating system was installed a long time ago, then after returning the system to factory settings, you will have to update Windows to a new one. current version.

1. Enter the Start menu, launch the Settings app.
2. Open the Update & Security option.
3. Enter the “Recovery” section.
4. In the “Reset your computer” option, click on the “Get started” button.
5. The “Select an option” window offers two options:

• Keep My Files – Keep personal files, remove apps and settings.
• Delete All – Delete personal files, apps, and settings.

6. Click on “Keep my files”.
7. In the “Ready to factory reset this PC” window, click on the “Factory” button.

After that, the process of reinstalling Windows 10 will start, which will take some time.

Finally, the computer will boot into Windows in the state it was in when you bought the PC, or installed the operating system.

Windows Clean Reinstall – Fresh Start

The next method involves removing the previous version of the operating system and a “clean” installation of the most recent version of Windows 10 while preserving user data and some programs.

As a result of a “clean” installation, all programs will be removed, except for applications installed from the Microsoft Store (Microsoft Store, Windows Store), and personal data will be saved.

1. From the Start menu, go to Settings.
2. Open Update & Security, enter Recovery.
3. In the “Advanced recovery options” option, click on the “Learn how to start over with a clean install of Windows” link.
4. In the “Windows Security” window, in the “New Start” option, click on the “Get Started” button.
5. In the “New start” window, read the message, click on the “Next” button.
6. In the “Your apps will be removed” window, click on the “Next” button.
7. In the “Let’s Get Started” window, click on the “Start” button.

The process of installing Windows 10 on your computer will begin. This method is described in detail in an article on my website.

Installing Windows 10 using the Media Creation Tool

With the Media Creation Tool developed by Microsoft, the user can install Windows 10 directly from the application.

1. Sign in to the official Microsoft website: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
2. Click on the “Download tool now” button.
3. Run the Media Creation Tool on your computer as an administrator.
4. Some time in the program window is preparing.
5. In the next window, accept the terms of the license agreement.
6. After the preparation is completed, in the window “What do you want to do?” select the “Upgrade this PC now” option.

This will start downloading Windows 10 to your computer.

The process of installing Windows using the Media Creation Tool is described in detail in this article.

Installing Windows 10 from a bootable flash drive using third-party programs

With this method, the user independently writes a bootable USB flash drive with the Windows 10 operating system using a third-party program, such as Rufus, WinSetupFromUSB or others. Then the OS is reinstalled on the PC: it is loaded from the USB drive.

During the Windows installation process, in the installation type selection window, the user needs to select “Upgrade: install Windows while preserving files, settings and applications.”

As a result of reinstalling the operating system, all data will be saved.

How to reinstall Windows without losing desktop data

If you are unable to use the previous methods, you can install Windows directly from the Desktop, without entering the Boot Menu (boot menu) or BIOS (UEFI). To implement this method, you will need a Windows 10 image in the “.ISO” format.

The OS image can be obtained from the official Microsoft website using the Media Creation Tool. In the process of creating bootable media, you must select the media: “ISO file”. The program will download Windows 10 and then save the system as an image file.

Next, you will need to start the installation of Windows 10 from this ISO file. To do this, you need to connect the ISO image to a virtual drive.

1. Right-click on the file, select Connect from the context menu.
2. In the window that opens, run the “setup” file as an administrator.
3. Next, go through the necessary steps in the application to prepare the installation of the OS.
4. In one of the windows, select what you want to keep on your PC after you reinstall the system.
5. Start installing Windows 10.

This whole process is described in detail in an article on my website.

Article Conclusions

If necessary, the user can reinstall the Windows 10 operating system without losing data. Several options are available to the user to solve the problem of data safety in case of installing Windows instead of the previous system. Some methods save the user’s personal data, system settings and installed applications, other methods will save only the user’s personal data.