How to Do a Clean Install of Windows Without Losing Your Files,

Settings, and Tweaks

Whitson Gordon <https://kinja.com/whitsongordon>

2/12/13 11:00am

There's nothing like a fresh install of Windows to clear your mind, but
it comes at a cost: you have to set /everything/ up again, just the way
you like it. Here's how to reinstall Windows, migrate your important
settings, and leave the clutter behind.

You don't have to regularly reinstall Windows

just to keep things clean, but that doesn't mean you'll /never/ have to
do it again. Maybe you just bought or built a new computer, or maybe you
didn't take care of your computer as well as you thought and you have to
do a clean install. Maybe you just want to wipe the slate clean for that
new, fresh feeling. A clean slate is nice, but it also means you're
going to spend the rest of the weekend setting up all your old programs,
settings, and system tweaks, half of which you've probably forgotten
because you set them up so long ago. Here, we'll go through some tips on
how to back up your most important settings and tweaks, and restore them
on your new system.

one of the most persistent myths about Windows is that you need to
reinstall the operating system…

Part One: The Preparation

Before you reinstall Windows, you're going to want to go through all

your stuff and back up the programs, settings, and tweaks you want to
take with you. Here's what we recommend.

*Step One: Export a List of Your Programs*

Before you do anything else, it's handy to have a list of all your
currently installed programs so you know what settings to back up, and
which programs you want to reinstall later on. The easiest way to do
this is with CCleaner <http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner> (a program
everyone should have installed

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1. Open up CCleaner (you can do this quickly by right-clicking the

Recycle Bin and choosing "Open CCleaner" from the menu).
2. Head to the "Tools" section in the left sidebar.
3. Click the "Save to text file" button in the bottom right-hand
corner, and choose where you want to save it.

Save the file in your Dropbox or on a USB stick so you have it after you
do your clean install.

*Step Two: Back Up Your Windows Settings*

Next, you should back up any Windows settings you can so you don't have
to do too much tweaking after you reinstall. The best way to do this is
with Windows Easy Transfer, Windows' built-in migration program for just
such occasions. It can back up app settings too, but it's not very good
at it, so we aren't going to use it for that today.

To start it up, just open the Start menu (or screen) and type Windows
Easy Transfer. When it pops up, you'll get a description of what it can
do. Click Next and choose an external hard disk or USB flash drive for
your files. Tell it that this is your "old" PC, and it will scan your
users for items to back up. Click Customize to tweak the selection. In
this case, we recommend unchecking everything and just backing up
"Windows Settings," though you can use this to back up your documents
and files too (see below).

*Step Three: Back Up Your Documents and Files*

Before you reinstall Windows, you'll obviously want to back up your
documents, music, movies, and other files just like you always would. I
usually just copy these to an external drive or move them with Windows
Easy Transfer as described above, though if you back up your computer
regularly (which you should), you can always just restore them from your
backup later on as well.

*Step Four: Back Up Your Program Settings*

Next, you'll want to back up all the settings you've worked so hard
crafting on each of those programs (at least the ones you plan to keep).
Different programs store their settings in different places, but here
are the main places you should look:

*Your AppData Folder*: This folder, located at

|C:\Users\yourusername\AppData|, is where the majority of your programs
store their settings (usually under the |Roaming| subfolder). Usually
you'll see a folder with the name of the program or its developer, with
a number of files inside. You'll want to back up the program's entire
folder.

Your "My Documents" Folder*: You know where this is already. If you
open it up, you should see a few folders for other programs on your
system, which often contain user settings or tweaks that you'll want to
save. Back those folders up individually, just like the AppData folders.

*Your Program Files Folder*: Most programs won't store settings in the
Program Files folder, but it might store other important stuff, like
plugins or themes you installed after the fact. If that's the case for
the program in question, it's a good idea to back up its folder in
|C:\Program Files| (or |C:\Program Files (x86)|) for good measure.

*Your Registry*: Some programs, like Fences

<http://www.stardock.com/products/fences/>, store all of their settings
in your Registry. This is pretty easy to back up: just press the Windows
key, type |regedit|, and press Enter. Navigate to
|HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software| and scroll down to the program in
question—in Fences' case, under |Stardock\Fences|. Right-click on the
program's folder in the registry and choose Export to back it up.

*Games*: If you play any games, the above tricks should work, but we
recommend using a program like GameSave Manager
<http://www.gamesave-manager.com/> to make the process infinitely more
simple. It'll search for games on your system, find where their save
files are stored, and back up everything for you.

Again, different programs will store settings in different places, so if

you're unsure, do a bit of research before you start. If a program has
the ability to "export" or "back up" its settings to a file, that can be
handy as well.

Once you find the folder(s) in which a program stores its files, copy
that folder to your Dropbox or a USB stick. I also like to put a text
file with that folder indicating the path to where it was stored. For
example, if I were to back up Pidgin's settings, I'd back up the
|.libpurple| folder in my AppData and the |Plugins| folder in Pidgin's
Program Files. I'd then create a text folder that noted where each of
these two folders came from, so i know where to put them when I restore
them later on.

Repeat this process for each of your important programs, and you should
have everything you need to reinstall them later on without losing your
settings. This sounds like it'll take awhile, but it shouldn't—it only
took me a few minutes to back up all the important settings from my
favorite programs.

*Step Five: Create .Reg Files For Your System Tweaks*

If you're an intense tweaker, you've probably edited the Windows
Registry to enable some awesome under-the-hood power-ups
like hiding items in Windows Exploreror speeding up the Windows taskbar
The easiest way to back these up, says Justin Garrison
<http://1n73r.net/>, is to save a .reg file for each tweak in your
Drobpox or USB stick. That way, whenever you reinstall Windows, you can
just double-click on your .reg files to install those tweaks instantly.

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Most of your tweaks probably already have .reg scripts floating around
the net, so do some Googling to see if someone's already created one. If
not, you can always do a little research and create the file yourself
too.

Part Two: The Restoration

Once you've got everything backed up, it's time to reinstall Windows.
Insert the Windows installation disc and boot up from it, or use Windows
8's Reset option in the settings to start from scratch. Once you've got
a fresh installation of Windows, it's time to restore all your stuff.

*Step Six: Restore Your Windows Settings*

Before you do anything else, it's a good idea to restore those Windows
settings we backed up earlier. Reopen Windows Easy Transfer on your
fresh install, plug in your USB drive with your saved transfer files,
and this time choose "This Is My New Computer." It'll restore your
Windows settings and your user account that you backed up, along with
your Windows settings so you don't have to find them all again.

*Step Seven: Reinstall Your Programs*

Next, it's time to reinstall all your programs. This can take awhile,
but you can speed up the process with a few tools:

*Ninite*: Ninite <https://ninite.com/> is still one of our favorite

tools for installing programs quickly. It doesn't have every program out
there, but it's a great start. Just check off all the programs you want,
and Ninite will create an all-in-one package to install them in one fell
swoop. Be sure to check out the Lifehacker Pack for Windows too, which
has its own custom Ninite installer for our most recommended
programs.

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*Chocolatey*: If you're more of a command line geek, Chocolatey

<http://chocolatey.org/> is a handy utility that brings Linux-style
package management to Windows. With a few well-placed commands
you can install a ton of programs at once, bypassing the need for all
those separate installers. Again, it doesn't have every program
imaginable, but it does have quite a few to get you started.

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*Portable Apps*: If you're tired of downloading installers all the time,

you might want to try using portable apps instead. Portable apps
essentially let you carry all your programs and settings over to another
computer with no installation required. You'll still have to search out
each app yourself, but after you do it once, you'll never have to do it
again—every clean install from here on out will be much quicker because
you'll already have half your apps ready to go. Check out our guide to
portable apps

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Once you've installed the bulk of your favorite programs, you may need
to open up that text file we got from CCleaner earlier to pick up any
stragglers that aren't in Ninite. Install whatever you want, and when
you're done, move onto the next step.

*Step Eight: Restore Your Documents and Program Settings*

Once you've reinstalled your favorite programs, you should restore your
documents, music, movies, and other files (in case any of your programs
depend on them—like iTunes, for example). This should be pretty easy:
just restore them to the same place they were before (e.g., put your
music back in |C:\Users\yourusername\Music\iTunes\|, or wherever you had
it located).

Do the same thing with the app settings you backed up earlier. Open that
folder and restore the folders to their original locations in |AppData|
or |Program Files| (in the case of AppData, you should overwrite any
files that are already there). When you start that program, it should
inherit all your old settings and it will be like you never left!

*Step Nine: Restore Your Registry Tweaks*

Lastly, restore any registry tweaks you had. That means double-clicking
on your .reg files that had app settings or Windows tweaks stored
inside, and redoing any registry tweaks that you couldn't put into a
.reg file. Remember, you may need to restart the program in question (or
restart your computer altogether) for the registry tweaks to take effect.

It seems like a long and drawn-out process, but you'd be surprised. I

had all my settings copied over in a few minutes, and was up and running
with most of my favorite programs not too long after reinstalling—it's
much, /much/ faster than setting everything up from scratch. Of course,
if you /like/ setting everything up from scratch, feel free to do that
too. This is just a great compromise between doing a fresh install and
keeping all your settings that you don't want to set up again.