Will reinstalling the OS onto my SSD stop my HDD working?

[SlaughterShy]

Hey

My PC has been bluescreening a little too frequently for my tastes, from what I can tell it's a driver issue but I can't get photos of the bluescreen since it goes too quickly.

Accordingly I figured 'hey I'll just reinstall the OS onto the SSD. None of the hardware is changing, so my HDD (which I store steam games, program files, and other bits and bobs like downloads and such) should still work. I might have to set my PC to use it again like when I first set up'

Thing is I don't want to do this if it means I'll have to format the HDD, since it'll be a hassle to get everything back in order again.

Kingston SSD (120gb)
ST2000DM001 HDD (2tb)
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate


Any advice?

 

[Paul NZ]

You'll have to reinstall programs. Steam games I think you can download and they'll resync or something

 

[SlaughterShy]

You'll have to reinstall programs. Steam games I think you can download and they'll resync or something

Okay..

So programs will probably break on the HDD and need reinstalling, but files will still be there?

 

[Paul NZ]

Depends on what the files are,

If they're programs you installed since you're formatting the main hdd, the info for them would have been in the registry

It will go once you format the ssd. If theyre docs theyre OK

If not no. If you moved anything from the ssd before to get some space, you'll have to do it again

Know nothing about Steam games, dont play them on these. But I think you download them again or somethng. And it'll keep the folders where they are now

 

[SlaughterShy]

Depends on what the files are,

If they're program you installed since you're formatting the main hdd, the info for them would have been in the registry

It will go once you format the ssd. If theyre doc s theyre if not no. If you mo9ved anything from the ssd before to get some space, you'll have to do it again

The SSD has the OS on it, the HDD is just for mass storage. I'm planning on (if needed) outright unplugging the HDD while I reinstall the OS onto the SSD, plug the HDD back in and configure it in the windows storage explorer to display as the second storage device which it currently does now.

I get the SSD is getting formatted, but it's the HDD i'm more worried about since it has all my music, movies, documents and downloads (as well as steam games, which I know you can use pre-existing files to reinstall quicker).

SSD being reinstalled on, HDD should keep it's files?

SSD and HDD display as seperate drives in windows explorer.

 

[Paul NZ]

I see what you mean, music etc wont get deleted off the other hdd

 

[SlaughterShy]

I see what you mean, music etc wont get deleted off the other hdd

Okay cool, thanks!

 

[photonboy]

READ. THIS. (perhaps print it out)

You can keep the "STEAMAPPS" folder on the hard drive so that you don't need to redownload the games.

1. backup important data, passwords, write down program names to reinstall etc (plan carefully)
*COPY your "Documents" folders as most game saves are in there

2. install Windows to SSD

3. Create STEAM at default (C-drive), login

4. Create (steam library settings) a folder on the hard drive (I call it "STEAM"). You can have a Steam folder on each drive.

(You can even MOVE games between drives so if you wanted Skyrim on the SSD now to benefit from faster loading then you could backup the game in Steam, delete local content, RESTORE the game but choose the other folder.

I mention Skyrim to also point out that MOVING a game can screw up mod functionality. You can fix it but it can be a hassle.)

5. LOGOUT of steam, and move the "STEAMAPPS" folder to the newly created folder (cut and paste if on same drive... may have to hunt it down in Program Files(x86)/Steam/... but it's there and should be a very large folder.

6. Start STEAM (games should show up)

7. Start a game. If SAVE isn't available (no Steamcloud backup) then find the save folder you backed up for that game and copy back over.

*SAVES can be hard to find, but you can try searching for part of the name in File Manager. It could be in "Documents" direct or the sub-folder "My Games" as well as being listed under the company name etc. You can also Google "game name save folder" if stuck.

Other:
MODS require careful planning (I write down my Skyrim mod names, have a vanilla copy of the game, so then reinstall everything including NexusMods tool)

Other:
Some games don't need to be redownloaded. ORIGIN games can be "verified" again if you link the program to the proper folder with the games, and Blizzard games can do something similar.

I think I got UPLAY to work the same way. Yes, I did because I reinstalled Windows 10 from scratch and got UPLAY, Origin, Blizzard, and Steam games all working from the hard drive they were on.

 

[SlaughterShy]

READ. THIS. (perhaps print it out)

You can keep the "STEAMAPPS" folder on the hard drive so that you don't need to redownload the games.

1. backup important data, passwords, write down program names to reinstall etc (plan carefully)
*COPY your "Documents" folders as most game saves are in there

2. install Windows to SSD

3. Create STEAM at default (C-drive), login

4. Create (steam library settings) a folder on the hard drive (I call it "STEAM"). You can have a Steam folder on each drive.

(You can even MOVE games between drives so if you wanted Skyrim on the SSD now to benefit from faster loading then you could backup the game in Steam, delete local content, RESTORE the game but choose the other folder.

I mention Skyrim to also point out that MOVING a game can screw up mod functionality. You can fix it but it can be a hassle.)

5. LOGOUT of steam, and move the "STEAMAPPS" folder to the newly created folder (cut and paste if on same drive... may have to hunt it down in Program Files(x86)/Steam/... but it's there and should be a very large folder.

6. Start STEAM (games should show up)

7. Start a game. If SAVE isn't available (no Steamcloud backup) then find the save folder you backed up for that game and copy back over.

*SAVES can be hard to find, but you can try searching for part of the name in File Manager. It could be in "Documents" direct or the sub-folder "My Games" as well as being listed under the company name etc. You can also Google "game name save folder" if stuck.

Other:
MODS require careful planning (I write down my Skyrim mod names, have a vanilla copy of the game, so then reinstall everything including NexusMods tool)

Other:
Some games don't need to be redownloaded. ORIGIN games can be "verified" again if you link the program to the proper folder with the games, and Blizzard games can do something similar.

I think I got UPLAY to work the same way. Yes, I did because I reinstalled Windows 10 from scratch and got UPLAY, Origin, Blizzard, and Steam games all working from the hard drive they were on.

Okay awesome. Just to confirm, after reinstalling OS on my SSD and then plugging my HDD back in, none of the files will be removed from the HDD?