Is quick format the answer?

Lennestal

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Dec 23, 2014
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Hi,
So on my PC rig I'm currently running Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, and I've recently bought Windows 8.1 and I'm about to install it. However, installing my new operating system would require me to reformat my (internal) hard drives, right?
By doing a FULL format, I'm guessing the whole hdd would be "cleansed" and all of my hundreds of hours spent in various different games would be gone.
And I just can't have that...

So my question is: Would a quick format, which leaves a folder named 'windows.old' mean that I can just drag the game files from the windows.old-directories into the reformatted hdd and just continue playing as like nothing happened, on my new operating system? Or would the game files be worthless since they're no longer on windows 7?

If quick formatting isn't the answer to my issue, I would appreciate other suggestions to installing W 8.1 without terminating my old game saves. Thanks in advance...