[SOLVED] How do I backup my data, where to back it up, and where to install Windows 10?

[FosterKingsley]

Okay, I apologize in advance if this is not the right place to ask about these specific problems, but I don't know where else to go. Recently I found out my copy of Windows 7 is not genuine. So I'm wanting to upgrade to a new legit version of Windows 10. I have got Windows downloaded on a flash drive right now (Hoping to switch that) and I don't know where to go from there. Here's what I'm looking to do: I have, of course, all my stuff on my main hard drive. I would like to not lose any of that when I switch to 10, so I bought a 500Gb SSD (My main hard drive is 596Gb). I was told I could use that to backup\transfer my data, and also told it would help speed up my PC. However, I was told the only way to get the speedup from it is to make it as my primary boot drive...is that true? Here's what I need help figuring out... I wanna make sure none of my stuff gets lost in the new Windows install, I'm not sure whether I should install on my SSD or main hard drive (Is one better for it?) and if I do use one of those, then where should I put my data backup and what to do with it after? Will the Windows 7 program files in the backup try to restore themselves afterward when I try to restore the backup? (Side note: to install it from the flash drive is it just a simple drag and drop the setup files onto one of the hard drives?) I apologize for any annoying grammar or punctuation mistakes. If someone could try and help explain these steps to me in the simplest layman's terms that would be really appreciated. I hope this is all understandable. If I left out any important information or specs you would like to know please notify me and I will try to acquire it for you. 😀

 

[USAFRet]

Forget "programs", forget "applications", forget "not losing anything"
You WILL lose stuff.

We need a clear description of ALL the parts in this system.

With the current system running:
Attach some other drive.
Locate ALL your personal docs. Music/Video/txt/downloads, whatever.
Not applications, just those files that YOU've created or downloaded.

Save all of that to some other drive.

Write down all your passwords, usernames, serial numbers for any applications you've purchased that have them.


Then, you're going to do a FULL wipe and reinstall.
No backup of your current WIn 7, no saving all the applications....you will be starting from scratch.

However, we do need a clear description of what you currently have.

 

[USAFRet]

(Side note: to install it from the flash drive is it just a simple drag and drop the setup files onto one of the hard drives?)

No, but we'll get into that later.

 

[FosterKingsley]

Forget "programs", forget "applications", forget "not losing anything"
You WILL lose stuff.

We need a clear description of ALL the parts in this system.

With the current system running:
Attach some other drive.
Locate ALL your personal docs. Music/Video/txt/downloads, whatever.
Not applications, just those files that YOU've created or downloaded.

Save all of that to some other drive.

Write down all your passwords, usernames, serial numbers for any applications you've purchased that have them.


Then, you're going to do a FULL wipe and reinstall.
No backup of your current WIn 7, no saving all the applications....you will be starting from scratch.

However, we do need a clear description of what you currently have.

I apologize for the delay in response, but okay I will try to get the specs of my computer.​

Processor -
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2500K CPU @ 3.30GHz

Graphics Card - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960

Original Hard drive - WD Black Caviar 640Gb; However, when on my computer it says only 569Gb.

SSD - WD BLUE 500Gb; However, on my computer, it says only 465Gb.

I don't know if the type of fan in the PC is important but the big one is a Coolmax - Model ZX-500, and the one on my Motherboard just says Intel.

RAM - 8.00Gb if I'm reading correctly.

Motherboard - Now, my motherboard is an MSI; However, I cannot seem to find the model number on it for the life of me, UNLESS it's the number I'm reading here that says MS-7681 and Ver - 2.01. But it does say Military Class II and OC Genie II... Whatever that is...

If I am missing or leaving anything out please do let me know and I will try to retrieve that information for you.

 

[USAFRet]

OK.
Do you have some other drive where you can save your personal data?
Things like music/video/things you've downloaded.

NOT applications.

 

[FosterKingsley]

OK.
Do you have some other drive where you can save your personal data?
Things like music/video/things you've downloaded.

NOT applications.

Unfortunately I do not have another drive.

My SSD is empty right now if that would work cause I just bought it for the purpose of backing things up. However, I was told the only way to make the SSD speed up my computer is to make it my main boot drive, but I do not know if that's true. But, I figured if that is the case then I should leave it empty for just the Windows files.

I do have a flash drive but it is only 16Gb.

Unless maybe there is some way to take the hard drive from my old laptop and use that?...

 

[USAFRet]

Unfortunately I do not have another drive.

My SSD is empty right now if that would work cause I just bought it for the purpose of backing things up. However, I was told the only way to make the SSD speed up my computer is to make it my main boot drive, but I do not know if that's true. But, I figured if that is the case then I should leave it empty for just the Windows files.

I do have a flash drive but it is only 16Gb.

No, you'll be needing the SSD to be blank, because that is where your OS is going.
And yes, that is"true". You need the OS on your solid state drive.

How much data do you think you'd want to save to elsewhere?
(some is not a number....how many GB approx)

 

[FosterKingsley]

No, you'll be needing the SSD to be blank, because that is where your OS is going.
And yes, that is"true". You need the OS on your solid state drive.

How much data do you think you'd want to save to elsewhere?
(some is not a number....how many GB approx)

Okay, so after adding everything I would like to backup it would be about 266Gb... that might be a lot but it's mostly music, family photos, and some work stuff.

 

[USAFRet]

Okay, so after adding everything I would like to backup it would be about 266Gb... that might be a lot but it's mostly music, family photos, and some work stuff.

For that stuff, you absolutely need to find some other physical drive to save that to.
Music, meh. Family photos cannot be recreated.

$50 will get you a 1TB USB drive to save to. Which you should have anyway. Just in case.

 

[FosterKingsley]

For that stuff, you absolutely need to find some other physical drive to save that to.
Music, meh. Family photos cannot be recreated.

$50 will get you a 1TB USB drive to save to. Which you should have anyway. Just in case.

Okay, so what about the hard drive from my laptop? Because I already got that out of it and it says it's a WD Scorpio Black 750Gb...

 

[USAFRet]

Okay, so what about the hard drive from my laptop? Because I already got that out of it and it says it's a WD Scorpio Black 750Gb...

If you have the free space on it and means to connect it, sure.
Any drive will work.

All I'm trying to do is help you ensure that your critical personal files are safe during this process.

Get those things copied to a different physical location, and we can proceed on.
And...when you copy...do NOT select and copy the whole Documents or Pictures folder.
Go down a level and copy just the files.

 

[FosterKingsley]

If you have the free space on it and means to connect it, sure.
Any drive will work.

All I'm trying to do is help you ensure that your critical personal files are safe during this process.

Get those things copied to a different physical location, and we can proceed on.
And...when you copy...do NOT select and copy the whole Documents or Pictures folder.
Go down a level and copy just the files.

Okay, I will be back in a few. I'll have to shut down and open my computer to hook this other hard drive up.

 

[FosterKingsley]

If you have the free space on it and means to connect it, sure.
Any drive will work.

All I'm trying to do is help you ensure that your critical personal files are safe during this process.

Get those things copied to a different physical location, and we can proceed on.
And...when you copy...do NOT select and copy the whole Documents or Pictures folder.
Go down a level and copy just the files.

Alright so, I got it hooked in and two different new partitions came up... One is the actual hard drive and the other one says "System Reserved". I have never seen that one before...

Also, the System Reserved one says there is 61.99Gb taken up out of it but when I open it there is nothing there so... there's that.

 

[USAFRet]

Alright so, I got it hooked in and two different new partitions came up... One is the actual hard drive and the other one says "System Reserved". I have never seen that one before...

Also, the System Reserved one says there is 61.99Gb taken up out of it but when I open it there is nothing there so... there's that.

Please show us a screencap of your current Disk Management window.
Both the top and bottom halves of it.

 

[FosterKingsley]

Please show us a screencap of your current Disk Management window.
Both the top and bottom halves of it.

Alright, my computer won't allow me to take a screencap so I am uploading the ones I had to take with my phone. I hope they're visible enough... and I hope these are the right ones you're talking about...

 

[USAFRet]

Screencaps.....Snipping Tool. Learn it, live it, love it.

Moving on...
The Disk 2, the 500GB (465GB) is the new SSD?
Disk 0 is mostly empty?

Any personal files you wish to keep, copy them to the Disk 0.
After that, we can move on to a fresh install on the 500GB SSD.

 

[FosterKingsley]

Screencaps.....Snipping Tool. Learn it, live it, love it.

Moving on...
The Disk 2, the 500GB (465GB) is the new SSD?
Disk 0 is mostly empty?

Any personal files you wish to keep, copy them to the Disk 0.
After that, we can move on to a fresh install on the 500GB SSD.

Okay, awesome. One quick question before that, do I need to disconnect the backup hard drives before I do a restore, or will they be safe still connected?

 

[USAFRet]

Okay, awesome. One quick question before that, do I need to disconnect the backup hard drives before I do a restore, or will they be safe still connected?

During the new install on the SSD, which we have not gotten into yet...yes, you physically disconnect ALL drives except the 500GB SSD.

 

[FosterKingsley]

During the new install on the SSD, which we have not gotten into yet...yes, you physically disconnect ALL drives except the 500GB SSD.

Okay, it took a little longer than expected but everything is finally done transferring. If I forgot anything then I'll have to live without it. Should I go ahead and disconnect my other hard drives?

 

[USAFRet]

Ok.
Disconnect ALL drives except the one you want the Win 10 on.
You've created a new Win 10 USB or DVD to install from?

If not, this:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

Then, this:

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[FosterKingsley]

Ok.
Disconnect ALL drives except the one you want the Win 10 on.
You've created a new Win 10 USB or DVD to install from?

If not, this:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

Then, this:

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

forums.tomshardware.com

Okay, so I assume all drives except of course the SSD and the main hard drive which currently runs my computer? Cause I just tried to disconnect that one and of course I couldn't get into my computer after. Unless I'm doing something wrong...

 

[USAFRet]

Okay, so I assume all drives except of course the SSD and the main hard drive which currently runs my computer? Cause I just tried to disconnect that one and of course I couldn't get into my computer after. Unless I'm doing something wrong...

No...ONLY the SSD. Disconnect ALL others.
You'll be booting from the USB you made.

 

[FosterKingsley]

No...ONLY the SSD. Disconnect ALL others.
You'll be booting from the USB you made.

Alright, well, Windows 10 started installing, and everything seemed fine; However, it gets done installing and says it needs to restart the computer so after it restarts, it just puts me right back at the installation start...

 

[USAFRet]

Alright, well, Windows 10 started installing, and everything seemed fine; However, it gets done installing and says it needs to restart the computer so after it restarts, it just puts me right back at the installation start...

When it wants to restart, remove the USB drive and proceed on.

 

[FosterKingsley]

When it wants to restart, remove the USB drive and proceed on.

I apologize for last night. We had a bad storm and it cut the power out and it's been on and off all today. As of now I'm having to write this on my phone. I did however get Windows installed. However, the internet will not connect. It won't detect any networks. I tried the methods windows suggested but nothing happens. I have a wireless Netgear router plugged in that usually works but the computer won't detect and install it now...