Re-Installing Windows 7

Heldelance · Jan 22, 2013, 11:39 PM

Hi everyone,

I've got a big of a question about re-installing Windows. Currently, the hard drive it's on is rather old (4-5 years I think) and it's rather low capacity (250 gb).

I would like to set up Windows to a different drive, maybe even net myself an SSD and put it there.

The question I have is, do I have to reinstall everything after changing the drives Windows is on?

I'm assuming that I will need to reinstall the drivers and stuff for the PC based on the fact that the drive they'll be on will no longer exist. I'm just not sure about programs like games and such which are on a different drive.

Many thanks for the input.
---

Jstn7477 · Jan 22, 2013, 11:54 PM

Yes, everything will have to be re-installed. Just about every program you install makes entries in the Registry which of course will be gone when you install a clean copy of Windows elsewhere.

Heldelance · Jan 22, 2013, 11:59 PM

I thought so. Was hoping there was an alternative, but I highly doubted it. I suppose it's for the best, clean out all the old stuff.

timta2 · Jan 23, 2013, 12:06 AM

As long as you are not changing any other hardware (other than the hard drive) you should be able to just clone the installation to another drive without any problems.

A fresh installation might be a better option if you want everything fresh though.

ThE_MaD_ShOt · Jan 23, 2013, 12:18 AM

Cloning is an option for sure if the os is in good shape. I cloned the drive in one of my rigs when I went from a 320 gb drive to a 1tb drive.

andrewsmc · Jan 23, 2013, 12:28 AM

Link to "Cloning" info plz?

Heldelance · Jan 23, 2013, 12:38 AM

I'm guessing he means imaging the drive. I think I'll just go for the fresh install that way there aren't too many problems. Better start to list the stuff I need to D/L (can't find the MB CDs...)

Jetster · Jan 23, 2013, 12:45 AM

Cloning to an SSD is not a good idea. When you install 7 to an SSD it make changes to the system to optimize the system for an SSD

Jan 22, 2013, 11:39 PM	#1
Heldelance Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 106 (0.05/day) Thanks: 18 Thanked 6 Times in 4 Posts System Specs	Re-Installing Windows 7 Hi everyone, I've got a big of a question about re-installing Windows. Currently, the hard drive it's on is rather old (4-5 years I think) and it's rather low capacity (250 gb). I would like to set up Windows to a different drive, maybe even net myself an SSD and put it there. The question I have is, do I have to reinstall everything after changing the drives Windows is on? I'm assuming that I will need to reinstall the drivers and stuff for the PC based on the fact that the drive they'll be on will no longer exist. I'm just not sure about programs like games and such which are on a different drive. Many thanks for the input. ---

Processor:	AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition
Motherboard:	Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3 Rev2
Cooling:	OCZ Vendetta w/Scythe Ultra Kaze 2000RPM Fan
Memory:	8 gb Corsair Vengeance 1600mhz 9-9-9-27
Video Card:	Gigabyte GeForce GTX 570 1280MB Overclocked V2
Hard Disk:	3x Seagate Barracuda 1TB
Optical Drive:	LG DVD burner
CRT/LCD Model:	22" Samsung LCD
Case:	Coolermaster HAF 932
Sound Card:	Integrated
PSU:	Corsair HX-620 620W
Software:	Windows 7

Jan 22, 2013, 11:54 PM	#2
Jstn7477 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Sarasota, Florida, USA Posts: 3,134 (2.30/day) Thanks: 386 Thanked 1,191 Times in 805 Posts System Specs	Yes, everything will have to be re-installed. Just about every program you install makes entries in the Registry which of course will be gone when you install a clean copy of Windows elsewhere. __________________ Intel Crunchers (30 threads): 2x 3770K 4.3G (12t), 2600K 4G (6t), X3210 (3t), P-M 735A, P4 HT 3G AMD Crunchers (13 cores):1100T 3.6G (3t), 1045T 3.4G (2t), X3 8550 2.5G, X2 4400+ & 4200+, T64 ML-37 AMD Folders (6272 GCN cores): 2x 7950 1125/1475, 7970 1150/1650, 7770 NV Folders (2336 GF10x + 1344 GK104 cores):GTX 470 & 465 720/1715, 4x 460 768MB 825/2000, GTS 450, 660Ti 1228/6000 HEATWARE

System Name:	Awesomesauce \| Laptop (Toshiba A665D-S6091) \| "The Shoebox"
Processor:	Intel Core i7-3770K @ 4.3GHz/1.18v \| AMD PII Mobile X4 X920 @ 2.3GHz\|AMD E-350 APU
Motherboard:	ASRock Z77 Extreme6 \| NWQAE S1G4 (880G/SB850) \| Gigabyte E350N-USB3
Cooling:	Thermaltake Water 2.0 Performer, 2x Cougar CF-V12HB + 5 Rosewill RFA-120-RL
Memory:	G.Skill RJ-X 16GB DDR3-2000 CL11 \| Stock 2*2GB DDR3-1066 CL7 \| 4GB DDR3-1333
Video Card:	XFX DD HD7950 3GB 1175/1500 1.2v w/ Accelero Xtreme 7970 \| ATI MR 5650 1GB DDR3 @ 550/900 \| 6310 IGP
Hard Disk:	Mushkin Chronos 240GB + Seagate Green 2TB \| WD Scorpio Black 750GB \| Samsung F1 1TB
Optical Drive:	ASUS 24x SATA \| Sony Optiarc AD-7703S 8x Labelflash \| Samsung Writemaster 22x SATA
CRT/LCD Model:	ASUS VG236HE 23" 120Hz 1080p \| 16.0" 1366*768 LED laptop glossy LCD \| Samsung 940BW
Case:	NZXT Source 210 \| Toshiba A665D \| Rosewill MI-01-BK ITX "shoebox"
Sound Card:	Realtek ALC898 \| Realtek ALC269 with harman/kardon speakers \| Realtek ALC892
PSU:	Rosewill CAPSTONE 550w (80Plus Gold) \| 75W 19.5v brick \| Seasonic 350w ITX
Software:	Windows 7 Pro x64 + Ubuntu 12.10 \| Windows 8 Pro x64 (laptop)
Benchmarks:	120FPS in the games I play? :P

Processor:	AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition
Motherboard:	Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3 Rev2
Cooling:	OCZ Vendetta w/Scythe Ultra Kaze 2000RPM Fan
Memory:	8 gb Corsair Vengeance 1600mhz 9-9-9-27
Video Card:	Gigabyte GeForce GTX 570 1280MB Overclocked V2
Hard Disk:	3x Seagate Barracuda 1TB
Optical Drive:	LG DVD burner
CRT/LCD Model:	22" Samsung LCD
Case:	Coolermaster HAF 932
Sound Card:	Integrated
PSU:	Corsair HX-620 620W
Software:	Windows 7

Jan 22, 2013, 11:59 PM	#3
Heldelance Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 106 (0.05/day) Thanks: 18 Thanked 6 Times in 4 Posts System Specs	I thought so. Was hoping there was an alternative, but I highly doubted it. I suppose it's for the best, clean out all the old stuff.

Jan 23, 2013, 12:06 AM	#4
timta2 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA Posts: 786 (0.40/day) Thanks: 94 Thanked 106 Times in 97 Posts System Specs	As long as you are not changing any other hardware (other than the hard drive) you should be able to just clone the installation to another drive without any problems. A fresh installation might be a better option if you want everything fresh though.

Processor:	Intel i7 930 @4.0Ghz @1.26v (HT On/LLC Off)
Motherboard:	Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD7
Cooling:	Swiftech H20 (w/Custom External Rad Enclosure)
Memory:	6GB (3x2GB) G.Skill Trident 2000Mhz
Video Card:	EVGA GTX 480 (@900/1800/2000)
Hard Disk:	x2 WD VelociRaptor 300GB (Raid 0) / x1 WD Black 1TB
Optical Drive:	LiteOn LH-20A1H + Pioneer DVR-115
CRT/LCD Model:	Samsung BX2440 (24" LED Backlit)
Case:	Cooler Master 690 (w/Mods)
Sound Card:	Creative X-Fi Titanium
PSU:	Corsair 750-TX
Software:	Windows 7 Ultimate (x64)

Jan 23, 2013, 12:18 AM	#5
ThE_MaD_ShOt Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Hi! I'm from the Internet Posts: 3,749 (6.95/day) Thanks: 2,539 Thanked 2,448 Times in 1,472 Posts System Specs	Cloning is an option for sure if the os is in good shape. I cloned the drive in one of my rigs when I went from a 320 gb drive to a 1tb drive. __________________ Crunchers : Phenom II x6 1090t / 2x Phenom II x6 1055t / Phenom II x4 970BE / “I always succed in my mission tho. Beer just delays it!” -ChaoticAtmosphere “TPU is very mild, and I love to tell people I love them when they are being retarded, it makes me feel special in my special places. What was the point of this thread again? Oh well, I love all of you.” -Steevo

System Name:	Selene / Yoda / Xp Gaming rig
Processor:	Phenom II x6 1090t @ 3.6 / Phenom II x6 1055t @ 3.2 / Athlon 64 X2 4400+
Motherboard:	Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3 /Gigabyte 890XA-UD3 / Asus A8n Sli Premium
Cooling:	CM Hyper 212+ / CM Hyper 212+ / Koolance W/C'd
Memory:	4x 4gb G.Skill Ripjaws / 4x 4gb G.Skill Ares / 2x 1gb & 2x 512mb Crucial Pc3200
Video Card:	2x Visiontek Hd7850's C'fired / Visiontek and Xfx HD6850's C'fired / 2x Evga 8800gtx's Sli'd
Hard Disk:	2x 1tb / 2x 1tb / 250 gb
Optical Drive:	Samsung Sata dvd burner / Sony dvd burner / Sony dvd burner
CRT/LCD Model:	Hp W2207H 22" LCD / Acer 20" Led/ Viewsonic 19" Lcd
Case:	Chieftec Dragon Blue / Chieftec Dragon Blue / Koolance PC3-720BK
Sound Card:	Onboard Hd Audio / Onboard Hd Audio / Creative Sb Audigy 2 ZS Platinum
PSU:	Corsair TX 750 watt / Corsair TX 650 watt / Apevia 700 watt
Software:	Win 7 pro 64 bit / Win Vista Home prem. 64 bit / Win xp Pro Sp3

Jan 23, 2013, 12:28 AM	#6
andrewsmc Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Pikeville NC Posts: 822 (0.48/day) Thanks: 191 Thanked 68 Times in 59 Posts System Specs	Link to "Cloning" info plz? __________________ Heat = http://www.heatware.com/eval.php?id=68277 Ebay = http://myworld.ebay.com/andrewsmclor

System Name:	In the works
Processor:	I5 2500K@4.5Ghz 24/7 with H60 Hydro
Motherboard:	BIOSTAR TZ77XE3
Cooling:	5x120mm
Memory:	16GB Sniper Gskill 1833
Video Card:	PNY 550Ti OC2
Hard Disk:	1x-120GB Vector3 SSD 1x- 120GB Mushkin Chronos
Optical Drive:	ASUS 24X DVD Burner
CRT/LCD Model:	27" Acer 1920x1080
Case:	Corsair Carbide 200R
PSU:	OCZ Power 600W Modular
Software:	Win7 & Win8

Jan 23, 2013, 12:38 AM	#7
Heldelance Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 106 (0.05/day) Thanks: 18 Thanked 6 Times in 4 Posts System Specs	I'm guessing he means imaging the drive. I think I'll just go for the fresh install that way there aren't too many problems. Better start to list the stuff I need to D/L (can't find the MB CDs...)

Jan 23, 2013, 12:45 AM	#8
Jetster Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Oregon Posts: 2,875 (2.35/day) Thanks: 935 Thanked 865 Times in 633 Posts System Specs	Cloning to an SSD is not a good idea. When you install 7 to an SSD it make changes to the system to optimize the system for an SSD

System Name:	Delta // HTPC
Processor:	Intel i7 3770K // Intel i3 550 3.2Ghz
Motherboard:	ASRock Z77 Extreme6 // Gigabyte GA-H55M-S2H Socket 1156
Cooling:	Corsair H100 // SILVERSTONE NT07-1156 90mm
Memory:	Corsair Vengeance 1866 16gb //Corsair DDR3 1600 4 Gb
Video Card:	HIS 7950 3 Gb //Sapphire 6670 1 Gb
Hard Disk:	Samsung 840 250 SSD, WD Caviar Blue 500// Corsair M4 64 Gb Solid State, SAMSUNG F4 2 Tb, WD 1 Tb
Optical Drive:	LG DVDR 24X // Lite on DVDR 24X
CRT/LCD Model:	HP 23xi IPS 1080p" // 50" Samsung Plasma 720p
Case:	Corsair Obsidian Series 550D // Silverstone Granada GD05
Sound Card:	ASUS Xonar DS // HDMI Bit Stream to Yamaha RX V571
PSU:	Seagate M12II 750 // Corsair CX 430
Software:	Windows 7 64bit // Windows 7 64bit with XBMC Eden
Benchmarks:	I scored P9327 in 3DMark 11

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
re-installing windows on laptop	m32500	General Software	9	Apr 8, 2012 07:06 AM
Installing windows on netbooks	Darkgundam111	General Hardware	9	Nov 21, 2010 01:48 PM
Installing Windows 7 on a Server?	OrbitzXT	General Hardware	7	Sep 8, 2010 02:34 PM
installing windows	dafry	General Software	4	Aug 8, 2007 10:48 AM
Help installing windows xp	SiCk	General Software	3	Jun 19, 2006 06:26 AM