Separating OS from data files HELP

doherty420

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5:58 AM
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4
So i'm trying to upgrade my OS to Windows 7 Ultimate and after doing a bit of research, it seems I have to separate my OS files from my data and program files. Now i've already partitioned my hard drive into 2 separate disks/drives but the only problem is, i have no idea which files i should move to the new drive in order to separate my OS files from the others. Can anyone help me out?
I've attached a screen shot of my C drive if anyone can point out which files i need to transfer
Cheers :)
 

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My Computer

OS
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
Usually, it's just in your "users" directory under your name.... Documents, pictures, downloads, music, etc.... Those should be the majority of it unless you have specifically created a folder and put files into it...
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Custom build
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 x64
CPU
i7 950 4ghz
Motherboard
EVGA x58 FTW3
Memory
6GB G.Skill pc12800
Graphics Card(s)
EVGA GTX 580 SC
Sound Card
Xfi Titanium
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Samsung 24"
Screen Resolution
1920x1200
Hard Drives
Vertex 3 SSD 120Gb x2 RAID 0
4 x 1TB WD Black RAID 0
PSU
Thermaltake 850
Case
Mountain Mods U2-UFO Horizon
Cooling
Custom watercooling
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100 down 5 up
So should i just move 'users' to the new drive? Also should i move my program files aswell? Thanks for the fast reply :)
 

My Computer

OS
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
    ALWAYS UNDER CONSTRUCTION
    OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    CPU
    Ryzen 9 5900X
    Motherboard
    Asus X570 Crosshair Viii Hero
    Memory
    32GB G Skill DDR4-3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA RTX 3080 FTW 3 Ultra
    Sound Card
    On Board/Sennheiser PC37X Headset
    Monitor(s) Displays
    3 X Asus 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    2 X 1 TB NVME drives
    PSU
    EVGA 850
    Case
    Phanteks Eclipse P400A
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    EVGA 280 AIO
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    Logitech G510s/ Logitech G13
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    Logitech G502
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    24/1
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    ESET/MBAM Pro/SAS Pro
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    Chrome/ Firefox/ Edge
  • Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model Number
    Dell 16 Plus
    OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    CPU
    Intel Ultra 9 288V
    Memory
    32 GB LPDDR5X 8533
    Monitor(s) Displays
    16" Mini-LED HDR600 Touch 90 Hz
    Screen Resolution
    2560X1600
    Hard Drives
    1 TB NVME
Just to clarify:
You normally don't (can't*) install a new operating system without re-installing all of your programs, as well as drivers and utilities. So forget saving those.

"Your data" is then all of the saved files (documents, pictures, music, bookmarks, address books, etc) you created while using those programs. You should know to what folders you have saved these things.

You want to 'back up' or move "your data". Plan on reinstalling everything else.

(*you can, to a certain degree, but this is an advanced OS installation)
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Home Built - Jan 2013
OS
Windows 7 64 Bit Home Premium SP1
CPU
i7-3820
Motherboard
Asus P9X79-PRO - Bios 4608
Memory
GSkill F3-14900CL9Q - 16GB
Graphics Card(s)
EVGA GeForce GTX660 - Driver 352.86
Sound Card
On board Realtek ALC898
Monitor(s) Displays
Acer S271HL
Screen Resolution
1920 x 1080
Hard Drives
#1- Samsung 840 Pro Series
#2- Western Digital WD1002FAEX Sata3 Black
#3- Western Digital WD1002FAEX Sata3 Black
PSU
Corsair CMPSU-850TX-V2 - 850 watt (by Seasonic)
Case
Corsair Obsidian 550D
Cooling
Standard 3 120mm case fans, Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
Keyboard
MS KC-0405
Mouse
Intellimouse 5-button
Internet Speed
56 Mbits/Sec (on a good day)
Antivirus
Avast & Malwarebytes
Browser
Firefox
Other Info
Asus DVD - DRW-24B1ST 24X
If you don't want to move your user directory you can use the Libraries feature to group together files on different drives. This is my videos library.

screenshot98_2012-01-12.png
 

My Computer

Computer type
Laptop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Hewlett-Packard/G62-107SA Notebook
OS
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Service Pack 1
CPU
Intel(R) Core(TM) i3 CPU M 330 @ 2.13GHz
Motherboard
Hewlett-Packard 1425
Memory
8 GB DDR3
Graphics Card(s)
Intel(R) HD Graphics
Sound Card
Realtek High Definition Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
Builtin
Screen Resolution
1366 x 768 x 32 bits (4294967296 colors) @ 60 Hz
Hard Drives
250 GB SATA Hard Disk Drive 7200 rpm
2TB Seagate GoFlex USB 2 Drive
1TB Iomega Prestige USB 2 Drive
1.5TB Iomega Prestige USB 2 Drive (Samsung)
2TB WD MyBook Live NAS.
Mouse
Logitech Anywhere MX
Internet Speed
152 Mbs download 10 Mbs upload
Antivirus
Norton 360
Browser
Chrome
Your sig indicates you're running Win7 Home Premium. If all you're doing is using the Anytime Upgrade to upgrade that to Ultimate, you shouldn't have to do anything special. The upgrade will replace some system files and add new functionality.
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Custom
OS
Win7 Pro 32-bit, Win8 Pro 32-bit
CPU
AMD Phenom II X6 1090T
Motherboard
Gigabyte
Memory
4GB ddr3 1300
Graphics Card(s)
AMD HD 4290 onboard
Sound Card
Builtin Realtek HD Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung 24" widescreen, LG 23" widescreen
Screen Resolution
1920x1200/1920x1080
Hard Drives
Kingston 256GB SSD
Keyboard
Logitech Illuminated Keyboard
Mouse
Logitech M705 wireless mouse
Antivirus
Norton Av 2013
Browser
IE v10
Sorted it and installed the new windows thanks guys :D just one problem because i had to create a new user, i now have no documents or anything as my data files are saved to the partitioned drive/disk so how do i move my data files to the new account?
 

My Computer

OS
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
You can either copy the user files from the data drive back to your C drive, or read the link in post #4 about moving user files and move them to your data drive in the corresponding folders.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
    ALWAYS UNDER CONSTRUCTION
    OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    CPU
    Ryzen 9 5900X
    Motherboard
    Asus X570 Crosshair Viii Hero
    Memory
    32GB G Skill DDR4-3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA RTX 3080 FTW 3 Ultra
    Sound Card
    On Board/Sennheiser PC37X Headset
    Monitor(s) Displays
    3 X Asus 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    2 X 1 TB NVME drives
    PSU
    EVGA 850
    Case
    Phanteks Eclipse P400A
    Cooling
    EVGA 280 AIO
    Keyboard
    Logitech G510s/ Logitech G13
    Mouse
    Logitech G502
    Internet Speed
    24/1
    Antivirus
    ESET/MBAM Pro/SAS Pro
    Browser
    Chrome/ Firefox/ Edge
  • Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model Number
    Dell 16 Plus
    OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    CPU
    Intel Ultra 9 288V
    Memory
    32 GB LPDDR5X 8533
    Monitor(s) Displays
    16" Mini-LED HDR600 Touch 90 Hz
    Screen Resolution
    2560X1600
    Hard Drives
    1 TB NVME
From the new user account, open the data partition from Computer and right click on each top folder and INCLUDE them into the appropriate library.
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP, Dell, Gateway, Toshiba - 4 laptops and 2 desktops
OS
Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
CPU
from 1.6GHz Duo to i7
Monitor(s) Displays
2x HP w2207
Hard Drives
5x HDD, 7x SSD, 12x Externals
Keyboard
with trackball - no mices
Mouse
Trackball mice
Internet Speed
DSL 6000
From one problem to the next :( it was working fine and now when i try to log in, it just logs me back out straight away :(
on my laptop btw
 

My Computer

OS
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
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