Messed up my computer on Windows 7. How do I get a fresh start on Windows 10?

[Jonathan Anderson]

I built my rig around 4 years ago. I had an 128gb SSD, which was fairly large at the time, and a 1TB hard drive. My plan was to install my operating system on the SSD, plus a few games and then to have most of my programs and files stored on the HDD.

Unfortunately, I didn't set this up correctly first time round. My SSD quickly got very full. So I decided, in my infinite wisdom, to just move a load of programs that were clogging up my SSD over to my HDD. I did that by just copying and pasting the program files, easy right? Sure a lot of you are smiling by now as you realise how much I just mucked up my systems registry.

So, now I'm looking for a fresh start, to install Windows 10 and to set everything up so it runs correctly. I've got a few questions though..

Is my best bet actually to get a new SSD, install the new operating system on there, then copy across any documents I need, uninstall all the programs I have on the other two drives and reinstall the ones I want in the places that I need them? Is there a way I can do this without needing to by a new SSD?

What steps do I need to take to make sure that program files and user folders by default, will install on the HDD unless I say otherwise. Is there anything else I would need to change to being focused on the HDD too?

I've found Microsoft Windows 10 Home licences for as little as around £20 on the internet, but if you buy it directly from them it looks like it costs closer to £120, are these sites a scam or is it just way over priced on the normal site?

I appreciate this is a lot of questions, thank you to anyone who takes the time to look this over!

 

[DeadRam]

You can re-install Windows on the 128GB SSD but it is small. Don't try to transfer who folders from the backup to the SSD after a fresh install of Windows. To backup data, copy the files from the SSD to the 1TB drive. Backup you Windows profile. Example C:\Users\msmith. Backup any additional folders on C:\ that contain data. You might have to skip some profile files like NTUSER.dat. You can backup individual data files from your profile like: Documents, Favorites, Desktop, Pictures, Videos. If you buy a new SSD disconnect all of the other drives when you install Windows. You can re-connect them later to transfer data. I've never used license reseller sites but you can purchase protection from the site. They will issue you a new key if your fails to activate. Good luck.

 

[Jonathan Anderson]

You can re-install Windows on the 128GB SSD but it is small. Don't try to transfer who folders from the backup to the SSD after a fresh install of Windows. To backup data, copy the files from the SSD to the 1TB drive. Backup you Windows profile. Example C:\Users\msmith. Backup any additional folders on C:\ that contain data. You might have to skip some profile files like NTUSER.dat. You can backup individual data files from your profile like: Documents, Favorites, Desktop, Pictures, Videos. If you buy a new SSD disconnect all of the other drives when you install Windows. You can re-connect them later to transfer data. I've never used license reseller sites but you can purchase protection from the site. They will issue you a new key if your fails to activate. Good luck.

Thank you for this, it's great and details both my options clearly.

How should I set my system up to prevent it happening in the future? or is it not really possible to do so and I just need to manage it better from the beginning?

 

[USAFRet]

How should I set my system up to prevent it happening in the future? or is it not really possible to do so and I just need to manage it better from the beginning?

1. As you've seen, you cannot copy/paste applications from one drive to the other.

2. The "Program Files" and /User/ folder....do NOT "move" those to elsehwhere. Bad things will happen.
Do not default them to the HDD. Rather...when you install something, select where it goes.

To actually manage space between a small SSD and your other drives, read here:
Win 7 & 8: http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-1834397/ssd-redirecting-static-files.html
Win 8.1 & 10: http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2024314/windows-redirecting-folders-drives.html

 

[DeadRam]

The Windows partition will grow in size so plan for that. I've been using a 128GB SSD for over 5 years so it will work but make sure you leave room for OS updates. Make sure you back up everything before doing a clean Windows install.