Going for a new Windows 8 installation, advice needed on hard drive

Greetings from Malaysia. Currently I have W7 32 bit installed on my computer (yeah 32 bit accidentally installed a few years back and didn't really bother to change then) and I decided to upgrade to W8 64 bit. I know in order to upgrade to 64 bit OS I need to do a fresh install. First, let me show my current hard drives



I have 2 hard drives on my computer, 80gb HDD and 500gb HDD. I made 3 partitions from the 80gb hard drive which are system reserved(B), Local Disk(C) which contains my applications and softwares and Local Disk(D) which contains my small junk softwares while my 500gb HDD stays only on one partition which is stuff(H) and contains my games only. I installed my W7 in Local Disk(C). If I want to install my W8 in my Local Disk(C), it means that I have to reformat my 80gb hard drive and it will erase Local Disk(C) and Local Disk(D) am I right? However during installation, I don't want my Stuff(H) to get deleted. So what should I do with my 500GB hard drive? Should I unplugged it during my w8 installation and plug it back when the new windows is installed? Or should I just leave it plugged during the installation? I do not want all my games to be deleted cause it will take such a long time to install all of them back. So which method should I use in order to keep all my games on my 500GB hard drive? If I unplug during installation and plug it back on new windows, will the windows ask me to format my 500GB hard drive in order to use it? If anyone knows any other method that might save my 500GB hard drive from getting formatted I appreciate it. Sorry for my bad english as it's not my main language

You should always unplug all other HD's during Clean Install Windows 7.
Be sure to delete all partitions on the target HD using Drive Options shown in Steps 6 and 7, create and format new ones as you wish.

If your games are installed they most likely need reinstall to to the new OS once you install it. Some games will run from their .exe file but games intended to be installed programs should be installed, even if you direct the Program files to the second HD.

Since the modern method is to rely for reinstalls on a backup image saved externally it's best with a large enough HD to install programs to C so that they are part of the image. Data is more easily linked from a second drive as shown in User Folders - Change Default Location or Library - Include a Folder - Windows 7 Forums. This way if you must reimage the HD or its replacement your data is waiting and current in its own partition.

So basically it is safe to unplug my 500GB drive and plug it once my Windows 8 is installed and I wont lose my games in it?

AddRAM said:

What actual windows 8 disc do you have ? Retail or upgrade ? You could make a partition on H and install it there, if you don`t want to get rid of 7. Correct me if I`m wrong people.

Have you used 8 yet ? Have you taken a good hard look at it ?

It's retail. The thing is I need to get rid of my W7 as it is 32 bit and I can only install max 4gb ram while my comp has 16gb ram in it because I need more ram to do my video editing etc as well as more multitasking purpose. So 64 bit is my only choice. Doesn't matter whether it's W7 or W8 as long as it's a 64 bit OS but still in the end I have to do a fresh install since 32 and 64 bit are completely different :/. Yeah I've seen W8 in action. it's okay but in terms of flexibility I still prefer W7 so I can also install W7 64 bit to replace my 32 bit. I'll look forward in future and see whether W8 will improve by then

AddRAM said:

Yes, unplug it. But you will have to reinstall your programs and games.

So just install 7 64 bit, you already own it, and take 8 back for a full refund. Unless you`ve opened it up already.

I haven't opened it up yet so I'll send it for a full refund then. Thanks for the tips!

gregrocker said:

Nothing on another HD is wiped out during install to another HD, and the other HD should be readable when you reconnect. it.

But are these games on the separate HD installed to WIn7 now, or are they merely stored on the HD, or run from it even though they're not installed to Win7 now?

Games are programs that should be installed to the OS to be run correctly.

Have you tried Win8 so that you know you want it?

The drive is an internal drive and all my games are copied from my previous drive that has burnt out. All of them work perfectly. So I guess when I have my new W7 64 the windows should be able to read those games without any problem. Thanks for the help! And yeah i tried W8 on my dad's laptop but I still love W7 so I'll just install W7 64

If you don't have the game installers on the HD then you'll have to locate them to reinstall them. Copying their installed Program files is not enough. Some games may run from their .exe file but it isn't the correct way - they should be installed to the OS.

Please clarify what you have on the HD - games installed to the OS, the game installers (downloads, copies of CD's, etc). How are you running those same games now on Win7?

Since you've wisely decided to stick with Win7, use the latest 64 bit official isntaller and follow the same steps given here to get a perfect Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7