Can I install Windows 10 without losing files? Currently running Windows 7

[Piyush Jain3]

I have a windows 7 laptop and wants to try windows 10.. But I ve lot of movies on my laptop... My question is can I install windows 10 without loosing movies and music stored on my laptop... Can you plz guide me

 

[Harrie-S]

Basically you will not loose files but it is a preview so make a back up
See also below link.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/preview-faq#faq=tab0

 

[dKp1977]

I have a windows 7 laptop and wants to try windows 10.. But I ve lot of movies on my laptop... My question is can I install windows 10 without loosing movies and music stored on my laptop... Can you plz guide me

Yes you can. I don't even remember any Windows version that required an entirely fresh install. I admit though that it was quite cumbersome to get around that back in the days.
Anyways, just launch the installer right from the DVD (or mounted ISO or even unpacked ISO) and let the setup guide you. It'll automatically detect any previously installed Windows version on your computer (or at least the partition you picked as installation destination). When being asked, just choose the option that you want to keep your files and you're good.

Note:

1) you'll find a folder called windows.old afterwards. You cannot completely delete it on your own, instead you have to use cleandisk and check "remove old windows installation". You could also just leave it in place, but it's gonna take quite some precious storage space.

2) Depending on where you had your files (stored in a library), you may possibly have to reorganize them. If they previously were in any folder not related to the user (e.g. c:\myOwnFolder\myFiles), they're still there. If they were sorted under user/music for example, you should check if the recently installed Windows imported them properly.

 

[Piyush Jain3]

Yes you can. I don't even remember any Windows version that required an entirely fresh install. I admit though that it was quite cumbersome to get around that back in the days.
Anyways, just launch the installer right from the DVD (or mounted ISO or even unpacked ISO) and let the setup guide you. It'll automatically detect any previously installed Windows version on your computer (or at least the partition you picked as installation destination). When being asked, just choose the option that you want to keep your files and you're good.

Note:

1) you'll find a folder called windows.old afterwards. You cannot completely delete it on your own, instead you have to use cleandisk and check "remove old windows installation". You could also just leave it in place, but it's gonna take quite some precious storage space.

2) Depending on where you had your files (stored in a library), you may possibly have to reorganize them. If they previously were in any folder not related to the user (e.g. c:\myOwnFolder\myFiles), they're still there. If they were sorted under user/music for example, you should check if the recently installed Windows imported them properly.

Is there a video available... M still confused... Thankyou very much.. My movies are on D drive... Can you guide me through a video plz

 

[AV2RY]

I don't know maybe I was the only one. But I had alot of problems with W10 on my HP dv7 (6163cl) laptop. It would constantly shutdown for no reason, sometimes after connecting to internet, heat up, and lots of errors would pop up -something like "computer needs to be shut down". I had W7. And there is no way to revert back to W7, only by reinstalling it.

 

[Piyush Jain3]

May be I should wait for consumer preview

 

[dKp1977]

Is there a video available... M still confused... Thankyou very much.. My movies are on D drive... Can you guide me through a video plz

I'm no search query bot, man. If you need to find a video, I'm sure you know how to handle Bing, Google and/or YouTube yourself. Anyways, if the files you're concerned about are stored on a different partition or even hard drive than that you're installing Windows on, there's no need to worry.

Regarding issues with the OS itself.. Of course there are occasional hiccups and problems. This is a preview.. The current version is even just a tech preview meant for developers and not a broader audience. But even the consumer preview won't be perfect. Anybody using these should be well aware of the fact that this is an unfinished product, hence bearing its risks.

 

[Piyush Jain3]

I'm no search query bot, man. If you need to find a video, I'm sure you know how to handle Bing, Google and/or YouTube yourself. Anyways, if the files you're concerned about are stored on a different partition or even hard drive than that you're installing Windows on, there's no need to worry.

Regarding issues with the OS itself.. Of course there are occasional hiccups and problems. This is a preview.. The current version is even just a tech preview meant for developers and not a broader audience. But even the consumer preview won't be perfect. Anybody using these should be well aware of the fact that this is an unfinished product, hence bearing its risks.

Thankyou very much

 

[a5cent]

I want to add that in its current state, W10 TP is not intended for users who don't know exactly what they are doing (or might want a video tutorial). It's intended for developers and experts who know how to troubleshoot serious problems, and recover from errors that may lead to data loss. It's also NOT intended to be installed on your primary machine, but on a VM for testing purposes. Of course you can ignore all those warnings, but realize you have nobody but yourself to blame if something goes seriously wrong.

Personally, I'd recommend you wait for the consumer preview. That's just around the corner, and the UI will then represent at least somewhat of a finished product.

Finally, best results are achieved with a clean install, rather than updating your current installation.

Whatever you do, I wish you good luck!

 

[milkyway]

you won't lose files IF you are currently working with Windows in english! If you are using another language you will lose all your programs/apps

 

[davidhk129]

I have a windows 7 laptop and wants to try windows 10.. But I ve lot of movies on my laptop... My question is can I install windows 10 without loosing movies and music stored on my laptop... Can you plz guide me

It is not advisable to install a "beta" version of a new OS over an well developed, well established OS such as Windows 7.
Microsoft have issued a similar warning to anyone who wants to try the new Win 10 TP.
excerpt : Source
Remember, trying out an early build like this can be risky. That's why we recommend that you don't install the preview on your primary home or business PC. Unexpected PC crashes could damage or even delete your files, so you should back up everything.

2 suggestions if you want to install Win 10 TP:
1. Install it to a virtual machine. You will then have a "guest" OS running Win 10 TP, and a "host" OS running Win 7. Your movie and music files stay with your Win 7 and will not be affected by Win 10 TP.
2. ( My preference ). Dual boot your Win 7 with Win 10 TP. Set up a new partition to install Win 10 TP. You will then have 2 OSes installed and you can toggle between the 2. Again, your movie and music files are untouched.

MS will be holding an event on Jan 21st. Rumour has it a new build will be released on or after the event. I STRONGLY suggest that you wait a few more weeks before you jump in.
We are quite close to the possible release of Win 10 Consumer Preview. Please wait.

 

[Piyush Jain3]

I want to add that in its current state, W10 TP is not intended for users who don't know exactly what they are doing (or might want a video tutorial). It's intended for developers and experts who know how to troubleshoot serious problems, and recover from errors that may lead to data loss. It's also NOT intended to be installed on your primary machine, but on a VM for testing purposes. Of course you can ignore all those warnings, but realize you have nobody but yourself to blame if something goes seriously wrong.

Personally, I'd recommend you wait for the consumer preview. That's just around the corner, and the UI will then represent at least somewhat of a finished product.

Finally, best results are achieved with a clean install, rather than updating your current installation.

Whatever you do, I wish you good luck!

Thanks

 

[Piyush Jain3]

It is not advisable to install a "beta" version of a new OS over an well developed, well established OS such as Windows 7.
Microsoft have issued a similar warning to anyone who wants to try the new Win 10 TP.
excerpt : Source
Remember, trying out an early build like this can be risky. That's why we recommend that you don't install the preview on your primary home or business PC. Unexpected PC crashes could damage or even delete your files, so you should back up everything.

2 suggestions if you want to install Win 10 TP:
1. Install it to a virtual machine. You will then have a "guest" OS running Win 10 TP, and a "host" OS running Win 7. Your movie and music files stay with your Win 7 and will not be affected by Win 10 TP.
2. ( My preference ). Dual boot your Win 7 with Win 10 TP. Set up a new partition to install Win 10 TP. You will then have 2 OSes installed and you can toggle between the 2. Again, your movie and music files are untouched.

MS will be holding an event on Jan 21st. Rumour has it a new build will be released on or after the event. I STRONGLY suggest that you wait a few more weeks before you jump in.
We are quite close to the possible release of Win 10 Consumer Preview. Please wait.

Thankyou for your advise, I will definitely now wait for few weeks...

 

[Jan Tomsic]

Install it in a virtual machine until RTM is released, it's not worth the trouble running beta OS, ESPECIALLY on a machine with sensitive data. Whatever you do, always backup your data first, even though things are supposed to go well, something may go wrong and you're better off having backup from start. External hard drives are really not that expensive, make a backup and play with your laptop, and if you don't like it, return it back to previous state.

If you install W10 as a virtual machine, than you don't really need to backup your pc first (though it's still advisable, hard drives fail, that's a fact), but if you dual boot, make a backup first, just in case.

People divide into two groups: those, who make regular backups, and those, who haven't lost their data yet.

 

[davidhk129]

If you install W10 as a virtual machine, than you don't really need to backup your pc first (though it's still advisable, hard drives fail, that's a fact), but if you dual boot, make a backup first, just in case.

]

Is that your personal opinion or is it a fact ?
If it is a fact, please show me the article that says........if doing dual boot, one should do a back up, while " you don't really need to " if using a virtual machine.
Thank you.

 

[jasqid]

Upload all your files to OneDrive and begin.

 

[dKp1977]

Is that your personal opinion or is it a fact ?
If it is a fact, please show me the article that says........if doing dual boot, one should do a back up, while " you don't really need to " if using a virtual machine.
Thank you.

I'm wondering why you're asking for an article or any other proof for something very obvious. oO
When installed in a virtual machine, the entire OS including every single application installed in it is nothing but a single file on your hard disk (well, maybe 3 files, depending on what VM solution you're using). There's no way the VM can do any harm to its host operating system.
Dual Boots don't necessarily need any backups in the first place, if you're installing the secondary OS on a different hard drive. But since it still modifies the master boot record, there's a tiny risk coming with it.
If you choose to install the second OS on the same HD but different partition, the risk of possible issues increases. And if you're more like the living-on-the-edge kinda guy, you could install the secondary OS right on the very same partition as the primary OS. This should work well too, but with an even higher risk of running into troubles.
Where the VM way is the only one where absolutely no backup is needed or even recommended, every other way of messing around with another OS (or version) always bears certain risks, hence making backups beforehand is always something worth considering.

 

[berty6294]

Rule of thumb, if you are worried about losing something, it should be backed up.

Use a VM. Easiest, least risky, and very undoable.

 

[Piyush Jain3]

I'll go for VM.. as it's the most safe option

 

[Jan Tomsic]

Is that your personal opinion or is it a fact ?
If it is a fact, please show me the article that says........if doing dual boot, one should do a back up, while " you don't really need to " if using a virtual machine.
Thank you.

Sorry, I chose my words wrong, I meant to say to just generally make backups of your data. Not at all related to Windwos 10 or virtual machines, just plain simple, make backups. Whatever you're doing, make backups. If you either already do backup or simply don't care about data at all, then you're fine with no backup.