# Clean reinstall of windows XP. Do I lose my files? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 20, 2006, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clean-reinstall-of-windows-xp-do-i-lose-my-files/373464 "2006-09-20T19:31:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clean-reinstall-of-windows-xp-do-i-lose-my-files/373464/1 "2006-09-20T19:31:13Z")
I’ve lost access to Windows. BSOD, and now I can’t get in anymore. For me, the simplest thing to do would be just to reinstall windows. The catch: I can’t access windows, so I can’t back up my files. And, naturally, I ain’t exactly been backing up regularly. I tried a repair install, and I’m pretty sure that made things worse, somehow. I was able to boot into safe mode before, not anymore. So, I wanted to do a clean reinstall. Are my documents, images and songs going to be wiped, or is it just the programs that have to be reinstalled? I’m not concerned about reinstalling drivers and programs. Just having to lose songs that I bought and images that are no longer on my camera. ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clean-reinstall-of-windows-xp-do-i-lose-my-files/373464/2 "2006-09-20T19:37:06Z")
It’s been my experience that reinstalling Windows does nothing to your data files; it overwrites the Windows OS files, any drivers you had installed, and any of the SPs that have been downloaded and installed. You should be OK. Last time you were able to boot into Safe Mode, you should have tried using the System Restore function to “step back” to an earlier save point - it might have saved you some aggravation (unless you \*did \*try that, in which case just pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.) ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clean-reinstall-of-windows-xp-do-i-lose-my-files/373464/3 "2006-09-20T19:43:19Z")
Your files will still be there as long as you don’t allow it to do a format. Depending on what and where they are, they still may be a pain to re-organize and associate with the right programs (Outlook data for example) but it should still be there. ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clean-reinstall-of-windows-xp-do-i-lose-my-files/373464/4 "2006-09-20T19:46:49Z")
A clean Windows install usually starts with a formatting of the destination partition, so you will indeed lose the files in that partition. And you will lose everything if that’s your only partition. The reason for a clean install is to avoid bringing along all the baggage from the previous install. So it’s highly recommended that you find some means to get all the data off your drive before a clean install. You got into safe mode once and you probably can do it again. Once there, you should be able to access your data files. ---
**Author:** ![c\_goat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@c\_goat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_goat)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clean-reinstall-of-windows-xp-do-i-lose-my-files/373464/5 "2006-09-20T19:56:19Z")
You have several options I can think of, assuming that your disk is OK and it’s just windows that is messed up: 1. Buy another hard disk, make the current disk either the secondary master, or the primary slave drive. Reinstall windows on the new hard disk, and your old drive shows up as D: with all your files intact. I think this is the best option, because there’s no chance of losing anything on the current drive accidentally, especially if you only have the new drive connected during installation, and connect the old drive after Windows is up and running. 1. Boot from WinXP pro disk and use the recovery console, or create and boot from a [Bart PE](http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/) boot disk. You can rename the C:\Windows and C:\Documents and Settings folders to something else. Then find the option in the Windows install CD to install without wiping the drive. It’ll install a fresh copy of XP (if you don’t rename the directories, you end up with it trying to save the old settings and programs, including whatever is causing the BSOD). It’s also possible to create a BartPE disk that has DeepBurner on it, which will allow you to burn backup CDs of your files before installing Windows. I’ve done this in the past, so I know it’s possible, but I have XP pro so it might not be possible with home edition to install without wiping the drive. 1. Create a [System Rescue CD](http://www.sysresccd.org), boot from it and use QtParted to resize your NTFS partition so you have some empty space on the disk (enough to hold windows). Then use the Windows install CD, and figure out how to tell it to install to the empty space rather than the existing partition. I’m not 100% sure this option will work for you. You should end up with the old partition showing up as the D: drive. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clean-reinstall-of-windows-xp-do-i-lose-my-files/373464/6 "2006-09-20T21:07:57Z")
[QUOTE=Uvula Donor] Last time you were able to boot into Safe Mode, you should have tried using the System Restore function to “step back” to an earlier save point - it might have saved you some aggravation (unless you \*did \*try that, in which case just pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.) [/QUOTE] I did try that, and for some reason, it doesn’t seem to do a thing. Thanks everyone for your advice. I’m goin’ in… ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clean-reinstall-of-windows-xp-do-i-lose-my-files/373464/7 "2006-09-20T21:38:09Z")
I am assuming Windows XP. [To repair an existing Windows installation without losing your data](http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315341/en-us): > [@](#): > > To reinstall Windows XP by starting your computer from the Windows XP CD, follow these steps: 1. Insert the Windows XP CD into your computer’s CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, and then restart your computer. > 2. When the “Press any key to boot from CD” message appears on the screen, press a key to start your computer from the Windows XP CD. > > Note Your computer must be configured to start from the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive. For more information about how to configure your computer to start from the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, see your computer’s documentation or contact your computer manufacturer. > 3. You receive the following message on the Welcome to Setup screen that appears: > This portion of the Setup program prepares Microsoft Windows XP to run on your computer: > > To setup Windows XP now, press ENTER. > > To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R. > > To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3. > Press ENTER to set up Windows XP. > 4. On the Windows XP Licensing Agreement screen, press F8 to agree to the license agreement. > 5. Make sure that your current installation of Windows XP is selected in the box, and then press R to repair Windows XP. > 6. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to reinstall Windows XP. After you repair Windows XP, you may have to reactivate your copy of Windows XP. ---
**Author:** ![MrSquishy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@MrSquishy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSquishy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clean-reinstall-of-windows-xp-do-i-lose-my-files/373464/8 "2006-09-20T21:41:16Z")
[QUOTE=c\_goat] …or create and boot from a [Bart PE](http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/) boot disk… [/QUOTE] Cool! I was going to suggest [this](http://www.knoppix.org/), but that’s even better. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clean-reinstall-of-windows-xp-do-i-lose-my-files/373464/9 "2006-09-21T01:11:35Z")
There are a number of options - two of my favorites are a cheap USB 2.0 drive case (get them for maybe $15-20 at any computer store) so you can pop the old drive out, put a new one in and salvage your data later; second option is to make a USB memory stick bootable, put some minimal OS on there and a few choice utilities. I’ve got one around here that boots to DOS and has XCOPY, NTFSDOS and a few other such things. As long as the old hard drive is physically OK you can then copy your data to the USB drive and reinstall Windows XP at your leisure.