Resetting Windows 7 without affecting the data

-4

I want to reset my PC – basically I want to factory reset it so that all these problems and sluggishness of the PC and frequent BSODs go away.

However I have a lot of data on the same drive on which the OS is installed. I can't make another partition to move data in to because HP already has made two partitions, one contains Recovery Image and other contains HP_TOOLs (I don't know what that is).

Is there a way to reset the whole OS so that all the junk software and drivers that I installed or 3rd party software are uninstalled without affecting my important data?

Umer Farooq

Posted 2013-04-08T10:39:07.170

Reputation: 227

2Have you tried a System Restore to the earliest time available? – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 – 2013-04-08T11:36:17.477

1Download a copy of Windows 7. Install Windows 7 over your current installation. You will need to backup your data files yourself. There is no other way to "reset" Windows 7 that feature was added in Windows 8. – Ramhound – 2013-04-08T11:38:41.950

It is not as easy as clicking a button. You need to backup you data you want to keep and then put the Windows 7 CD click on install, format the hard drive and then proceed with the installation. – Devid – 2013-04-08T11:45:04.520

If you don't have room for your important data, where do you store your backups? – Marcks Thomas – 2013-04-08T11:59:08.013

Answers

As you are experiencing frequent BSODs I recommend that you start "System Restore" from a command prompt window in "safe mode with command prompt":

Start your computer in safe mode with command prompt.
At the command prompt, type rstrui.exe, and then press ENTER. Administrator permission required If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

Simon

Posted 2013-04-08T10:39:07.170

Reputation: 3 831

If there isn't much data you need to backup you could use an online storage site like Microsoft Skydrive, Dropbox, or Google Drive; Take your pick.

If you have a lot of data that cannot be uploaded here then you could use an external hard drive to backup your data.

If the PC isn't booting up correctly you could use a friends PC, download and write to disc a program called Knoppix. Start up the PC with this disc and it will run the OS from the disc (Yes it will look weird as it is Linux, not Windows). You can then backup any data that isn't corrupted to an external HD and proceed with a clean install of Windows with your windows disc (or as above us an online storage depending on your requirements).

Skepi

Posted 2013-04-08T10:39:07.170

Reputation: 111

If you can run the computer for a while without crashes the Easy Transfer wizard might be useful to keep your files when reinstalling.

You can use the Windows Easy Transfer wizard available in Windows 7 to copy all your documents and files to an external USB disk. It will create a kind of archive with the files you select in the wizard. After the wizard has stored your files you reinstall the computer using the recovery partition Tools provided by HP and then import your files again by running the Easy Transfer wizard again using to archive on your USB disk drive. Your "new" computer where you want to transfer files to will in this case be the same computer but with a fresh Windows 7 install from the HP recovery partition.

Per Salmi

Posted 2013-04-08T10:39:07.170

Reputation: 749