Clean windows install, how to import old windows settings?

[AntaresSQ01]

Hello, i recently got a 120GB ssd and i would like to clone my HDD's C:\ onto it however my Windows folder is screwed up, 60gb and the "installer" directory is 39gb... apparently you cannot safely delete it and I cant seem to find Windows Utility Disk cleanup or whatever it's called. I want to create a fresh windows install but i dont want to set up all my windows "personalisations" and reinstall all programs on my C:\ Program files folders... What i had in mind is to reinstall Win 10 on the SSD then clone everything apart from the Windows folder over, would that work? Would that save my preferences since it should be in "C:\Users\My user"?
Thanks for any help in advance

 

[USAFRet]

You can't do that with 'programs'.
Personalization and settings, maybe. Applications, no.

And you can't "clone everything apart from the Windows folder over". It doesn't work like that.

If your current OS structure is screwed up, you best way forward is to simply bite the bullet, clean install, and start over.
Anything else might just be porting the screwed up stuff into the new install.

 

[AntaresSQ01]

You can't do that with 'programs'.
Personalization and settings, maybe. Applications, no.

And you can't "clone everything apart from the Windows folder over". It doesn't work like that.

If your current OS structure is screwed up, you best way forward is to simply bite the bullet, clean install, and start over.
Anything else might just be porting the screwed up stuff into the new install.

Well actually i can clone my C:\ then delete the whole Windows folder, THEN install windows, (booting in form a USB to do this), if i would clone my C:\ everything in regedit would stay and all the programs would still be recognized, all i want to do is clean up the windows folder safely technically, thats why i'm asking, I'm sure there is a way

 

[AntaresSQ01]

Perhaps i could do a Windows reset in the Windows 10 Settings? It keeps files while reinstalling windows, then clone after that?
Or what about Windows Sync, doesnt that port everything over?

 

[USAFRet]

You can't do that with 'programs'.
Personalization and settings, maybe. Applications, no.

And you can't "clone everything apart from the Windows folder over". It doesn't work like that.

If your current OS structure is screwed up, you best way forward is to simply bite the bullet, clean install, and start over.
Anything else might just be porting the screwed up stuff into the new install.

Well actually i can clone my C:\ then delete the whole Windows folder, THEN install windows, (booting in form a USB to do this), if i would clone my C:\ everything in regedit would stay and all the programs would still be recognized, all i want to do is clean up the windows folder safely technically, thats why i'm asking, I'm sure there is a way

Breaking this into individual steps:
1. Clone to a new drive
2. then delete the whole Windows folder
3. THEN install windows


This fails at step 3.
A new Windows install generates a new Registry.



So let's back up a bit and analyze:
What drive is the OS on currently?
What drive do you want it on?
Where are these applications?
What is incorrect with the current OS install?

 

[AntaresSQ01]

Alright

I have 3 drives, C,D and G,
C is 150gb
D is 350gb
C and D are on 1 HDD, 500gb
G is 2tb
I want to put all of C on my new 120gb SSD and call that C, while increasing D from 350 to 500 with the unused, old C.
I have a lot of programs in Program Files and Program Files (x86) That i do not want to lose/have to reinstall since some are no longer available to me/cant find them.
The problem is (my current C drive uses about 95gb out of 150 so it fits on the ssd) that the "Windows" folder is 60gb... which is obviously, not how it should be... Out of that 60gb my Windows\Installer folder is 39gb which i want to clean up safely or not need to have it.
Also a fresh Win 10 is bound to be smoother and faster, my current Win 10 even with barely any startup programs takes a whole 200 seconds to launch, and thats only until i logged in, not to mention its not usable then, got to wait like 2 mins before it opens a browser after i click on it. (When my windows is "warmed up" it launches the browser instantly)

 

[mbarnes86]

Hi

If you delete c:\windows
You delete the configuration for windows and all installed programs
So you would have to re install all the programs again

Disk cleanup may help remove unused files such as windows.old
Previous Windows updates etc

There is a windows\softwaredownload
Or similar folder which can be deleted
(This containes the windows updates )
This is sometimes done by a microsoft utility designed to repair broken windows updates


The best advice is to re install windows 10 again
The second best is to run disk cleanup a few times to see if it can clean up the un neaded files

You can find utilities to back up your own files such as those in \users\username
then re import them again after re installing windows

Regards
Mike Barnes

 

[AntaresSQ01]

Thanks for the answer, I realised my mistake with the windows delete, but Disk cleanup barely saved 100mb worth of space. You see the issue is, with a clean install on the SSD, all my programs would be gone unless i copy them over, My "user" would be gone, including everything in "my documents" which contains configs for like 50+ games, and you can guess i need those And i'm assuming you can't just ctrl+c , ctrl+v everything over like the "Users" folder or "Program Files"

 

[USAFRet]

Alright

I have 3 drives, C,D and G,
C is 150gb
D is 350gb
C and D are on 1 HDD, 500gb
G is 2tb
I want to put all of C on my new 120gb SSD and call that C, while increasing D from 350 to 500 with the unused, old C.
I have a lot of programs in Program Files and Program Files (x86) That i do not want to lose/have to reinstall since some are no longer available to me/cant find them.
The problem is (my current C drive uses about 95gb out of 150 so it fits on the ssd) that the "Windows" folder is 60gb... which is obviously, not how it should be... Out of that 60gb my Windows\Installer folder is 39gb which i want to clean up safely or not need to have it.
Also a fresh Win 10 is bound to be smoother and faster, my current Win 10 even with barely any startup programs takes a whole 200 seconds to launch, and thats only until i logged in, not to mention its not usable then, got to wait like 2 mins before it opens a browser after i click on it. (When my windows is "warmed up" it launches the browser instantly)

So this is actually 2 physical drives, not 3.
C and D are two partitions on the 500GB HDD.

Honestly, your best way forward is a clean install.
If your current install takes "200 seconds to launch", and "like 2 mins before it opens a browser after i click on it"
...you need to do a clean install on the new SSD.

Time to bite the bullet. Your sanity will thank you.

 

[AntaresSQ01]

A simple clone would be the easiest solution but then i don't exactly achieve anything with that thats improving my system apart form the better drive, the Installer folder will keep eating up space eventually being like 80gb lol

 

[AntaresSQ01]

Alright

I have 3 drives, C,D and G,
C is 150gb
D is 350gb
C and D are on 1 HDD, 500gb
G is 2tb
I want to put all of C on my new 120gb SSD and call that C, while increasing D from 350 to 500 with the unused, old C.
I have a lot of programs in Program Files and Program Files (x86) That i do not want to lose/have to reinstall since some are no longer available to me/cant find them.
The problem is (my current C drive uses about 95gb out of 150 so it fits on the ssd) that the "Windows" folder is 60gb... which is obviously, not how it should be... Out of that 60gb my Windows\Installer folder is 39gb which i want to clean up safely or not need to have it.
Also a fresh Win 10 is bound to be smoother and faster, my current Win 10 even with barely any startup programs takes a whole 200 seconds to launch, and thats only until i logged in, not to mention its not usable then, got to wait like 2 mins before it opens a browser after i click on it. (When my windows is "warmed up" it launches the browser instantly)

So this is actually 2 physical drives, not 3.
C and D are two partitions on the 500GB HDD.

Honestly, your best way forward is a clean install.
If your current install takes "200 seconds to launch", and "like 2 mins before it opens a browser after i click on it"
...you need to do a clean install on the new SSD.

Time to bite the bullet. Your sanity will thank you.

Sorry i meant partitions, yes. As you can read my answer just above yours, that is the issue :/

Edit: Also incase you are wondering my System is fairly strong, I can play games like BF4 on Ultra with 40-50 FPS, High, 60-70 so it shouldn't be because of the CPU (Works fine on arma 3 aswell which a cpu intensive game, on medium-high settings it runs at about 30-40)

 

[USAFRet]

A simple clone would be the easiest solution but then i don't exactly achieve anything with that thats improving my system apart form the better drive, the Installer folder will keep eating up space eventually being like 80gb lol

Right. A clone operation just moves the current issues to a new drive.

And that Installer folder growing is simply the result of applications and Windows Updates being installed.
Remove that, and Windows loses the capability to Uninstall whatever application it was.

But this shows the fallacy of having an OS drive that is 'too small'.
IMHO, a 120GB (or 150GB partition) is too small today.

You can actually copy that (or some of it) to a different drive and delete from C. I have, on one of my test boxes, just to see what happens. But the above issue results...the ability to properly uninstall something goes away.
And with further application installs and updates, it grows anyway.

And it doesn't fix your base issue....the whole thing being far too slow.

On a 1 week old Win 10 Pro install, my Installer folder is already at 10GB. And I haven't even finished installing all my applications.
But since this lives on a 500GB SSD, I'm not concerned.

 

[AntaresSQ01]

A simple clone would be the easiest solution but then i don't exactly achieve anything with that thats improving my system apart form the better drive, the Installer folder will keep eating up space eventually being like 80gb lol

Right. A clone operation just moves the current issues to a new drive.

And that Installer folder growing is simply the result of applications and Windows Updates being installed.
Remove that, and Windows loses the capability to Uninstall whatever application it was.

But this shows the fallacy of having an OS drive that is 'too small'.
IMHO, a 120GB (or 150GB partition) is too small today.

You can actually copy that (or some of it) to a different drive and delete from C. I have, on one of my test boxes, just to see what happens. But the above issue results...the ability to properly uninstall something goes away.
And with further application installs and updates, it grows anyway.

And it doesn't fix your base issue....the whole thing being far too slow.

On a 1 week old Win 10 Pro install, my Installer folder is already at 10GB. And I haven't even finished installing all my applications.
But since this lives on a 500GB SSD, I'm not concerned.

Well all I have is a 120gb SSD and i would rather build that into my system than leave it with a HDD + already crappy install, i think i'll just stick to my original idea, Clone, delete windows, install windows, I realise it will clear regedit, make me unable to install programs, but i dont really care, there is a reason I want to keep those programs so i probably wont see my self uninstalling them. My concerns are really that will my User still work ? I mean, i assume, since i could copy a user on WIn 7 with simply CTRL+C and it would still recognise the copy as a separate user. And at least the windows will be somewhat fresh, but installing windows and then copying afterwards will take ages + may not work since there is already a program files and users folder, but again, one last thing i need confirmation on: Windows 10 > Settings > Update & security > Recovery > Reset this PC? Would that be good idea before cloning? I assume that it's designed to keep everything working while also creating a fresh Win 10

 

[J_E_D_70]

You need everything you are afraid to lose backed up anyway. Any programs or games that write files to the windows folder on install (lots do!) won't just not uninstall, they won't work at all.

 

[AntaresSQ01]

You need everything you are afraid to lose backed up anyway. Any programs or games that write files to the windows folder on install (lots do!) won't just not uninstall, they won't work at all.

I'm pretty sure the programs themselves will still work, I moved programs by their main folders between harddrives and they still worked, I'm sure this is not much different, only thing that would be an issue is licensed programs that store their keys in regedit. But still waiting for a reply about WIndows PC reset

 

[USAFRet]

i think i'll just stick to my original idea, Clone, delete windows, install windows,

Clone then install are two diametrically opposed concepts.

One or the other, not both.

Cloning your current borked up install to a new drive simply means a borked up install on the new drive.
And if you 'install' on the new drive, why the clone?

As far as moving applications?
Some work, some don't. Some do, sort of.

And, as above, moving to the new drive just moves the existing problems to the new drive.

 

[AntaresSQ01]

i think i'll just stick to my original idea, Clone, delete windows, install windows,

Clone then install are two diametrically opposed concepts.

One or the other, not both.

Cloning your current borked up install to a new drive simply means a borked up install on the new drive.
And if you 'install' on the new drive, why the clone?

As far as moving applications?
Some work, some don't. Some do, sort of.

And, as above, moving to the new drive just moves the existing problems to the new drive.

As i said It's technically the same as if i installed a clean windows then copied my program files and users folders over, i just do it beforehand so whatever windows needs to, will overwrite, and maybe recognise stuff but comeone, cant someone answer my freaking "Reset this PC" queston D Do you think THAT would work, just do that THEN after thats done, clone, nothing else.

 

[USAFRet]

I'm still a bit lost as to why you are clinging on to this clone and "then copied my program files and users folders over" thing.
I mean..I know 'why', but you are still going to be bringing over a bunch of old crap. And whatever clone thing you are trying probably will not work.

You can't clone part of this. And you can't delete the OS from the old install, and then clone whats left into a new install.

Clean install, reinstall of your applications.
BAM. 100% working system.


As for your question "rwrite, and maybe recognise stuff but comeone, cant someone answer my freaking "Reset this PC" queston"

...this leaves one of two options.
A new install with "Reset and Keep Everything".
Which will probably drag over a bunch of crap that is currently not working.

or

"Reset and keep nothing", which is basically a clean install.
And then you go into your weird copy+clone thing.

 

[AntaresSQ01]

I'm still a bit lost as to why you are clinging on to this clone and "then copied my program files and users folders over" thing.
I mean..I know 'why', but you are still going to be bringing over a bunch of old crap. And whatever clone thing you are trying probably will not work.

You can't clone part of this. And you can't delete the OS from the old install, and then clone whats left into a new install.

Clean install, reinstall of your applications.
BAM. 100% working system.


As for your question "rwrite, and maybe recognise stuff but comeone, cant someone answer my freaking "Reset this PC" queston"

...this leaves one of two options.
A new install with "Reset and Keep Everything".
Which will probably drag over a bunch of crap that is currently not working.

or

"Reset and keep nothing", which is basically a clean install.
And then you go into your weird copy+clone thing.

Haha, you are right... I should just go with a clean install, uhh so many things to install then I'll probably not delete this C:\ partition then just in case... Oh well, Thanks anyway I'm gonna go and do it now, I'll be back in a few hours to report back!!

 

[AntaresSQ01]

Alright, I'm here writing from my fresh Windows, now my question is, is there a program that can import/transfer programs from my old windows install to this one, preferably being able to select which programs, like copies over from the old windows regedit to the new one, and the files themselves? I'm asking this since i have no drivers on this windows install so but i'm not entirely sure if its a good idea to install it again, in case my NVIDIA is not entirely on C:\.As its standing right now I'm running from my SSD on the new windows, but the old windows on the HDD is still accessible.

Edit: also what I find weird, is that my Windows is activated even tho I chose not to activate it on install, (my old windows was activated) could it be linked to Microsoft acc? I signed in with that.

 

[USAFRet]

now my question is, is there a program that can import/transfer programs from my old windows install to this one, preferably being able to select which programs,

No, that does not exist.
Drivers especially. They need to be reinstalled with the new OS.

For the activation, no problem.
Just reinstalling on a new drive, yes, it would automatically activate itself.
If you had changed the motherboard, that is where activation issues come in.

 

[AntaresSQ01]

now my question is, is there a program that can import/transfer programs from my old windows install to this one, preferably being able to select which programs,

No, that does not exist.
Drivers especially. They need to be reinstalled with the new OS.

For the activation, no problem.
Just reinstalling on a new drive, yes, it would automatically activate itself.
If you had changed the motherboard, that is where activation issues come in.

What i found is , Install program > copy from old windows > overwrite, lets me regain the basic settings of programs, after rerouting my "documents" etc aswell

 

[USAFRet]

now my question is, is there a program that can import/transfer programs from my old windows install to this one, preferably being able to select which programs,

No, that does not exist.
Drivers especially. They need to be reinstalled with the new OS.

For the activation, no problem.
Just reinstalling on a new drive, yes, it would automatically activate itself.
If you had changed the motherboard, that is where activation issues come in.

What i found is , Install program > copy from old windows > overwrite, lets me regain the basic settings of programs, after rerouting my "documents" etc aswell

You found this where?

 

[AntaresSQ01]

now my question is, is there a program that can import/transfer programs from my old windows install to this one, preferably being able to select which programs,

No, that does not exist.
Drivers especially. They need to be reinstalled with the new OS.

For the activation, no problem.
Just reinstalling on a new drive, yes, it would automatically activate itself.
If you had changed the motherboard, that is where activation issues come in.

What i found is , Install program > copy from old windows > overwrite, lets me regain the basic settings of programs, after rerouting my "documents" etc aswell

You found this where?

Found out, myself