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If I reinstall my windows 11 OS, will all programs or/and files disappear?

Anonymous
2023-10-29T21:11:44+00:00

So, my pc has been rebooting itself randomly, and it usually doesn't give me enough time to do anything, so I've decided to simply reinstall the OS via a USB.

Now, I'd like to know beforehand, if reinstalling windows will mean I'll have to reinstall all my programs, or even worse, my files will be gone.

I'd also like to know if switching to Windows 10, will also either uninstall or delete all files and programs, since it is something I've wanted to do for a while.

That's all, thanks.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Install and upgrade

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  1. Igor Leyko 110.6K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2023-10-29T21:47:22+00:00

    Hi Eric,

    My name is Igor, it's a pleasure for me to help others and I'll do all my best to help you.

    Reinstall will remove all your apps. Files may be saved if a disk will not be reformatted.

    but before reinstalling please check system journal (Event Viewer) for possible errors at these moments, especially Kernel-Power errors. DistributedCOM errors should be ignored.

    Or save system journal to evtx file and share it to OneDrive for analysis.

    May be reinstall will not solve your problem.

    3 people found this answer helpful.
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  2. MR_MEOW 3,536 Reputation points
    2023-10-29T22:01:55+00:00

    Not every time. It Sometimes makes a Windows.old foder but I wouldn't count on it to do so. Usally an install will delete everything including your important cat photos. If You have a external hdd to save your files to it would be wise to use it. Make sure you have a USB "stick" and a USB "Drive". The media creation tool wipes the drive cleean. Lets try a Temp fix and do a backup right meow. 🐈. Follow 🐈 Very Closely > Full Power off PC :: Plug in Usb HDD that has free space: Power on PC On the login screen [hold leftshift] + [left mouse click] on powericon and choose restart: Yes don't letgo of the shift button. When PC resatarts choose command in the recovery options. Back up important cat photos= cmd.exe notepad.exe Choose the dropdown bar in note pad and choose all files you want then try to copy paste to usb [ Note There is no Copy progress bar it is normal. 30mb's is a safe calulation for data written] Reclick on cmd.exe and open notepad.exe again by pressing up arrow then enter and check to see if the files are on your drive. Once it is.

    back to cmd.exe msconfig.exe

    Is it set to Normal ?

    If no choose Normal and OK and Yes restart. See if Windows magicly works now.

    If Yes Choose diagnostic and OK and Yes restart.

    If it is still rebooting do the shfitkey reboot again and choose reset PC.

    🐈

    2 people found this answer helpful.
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  3. Anonymous
    2023-10-30T21:11:14+00:00

    At the end, there was a very subtle problem with the electricty system and it wasn't a pc problem at all. I'm terribly sorry for wasting your time, you all. Again, sorry and thanks for trying to help.

    1 person found this answer helpful.
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  4. Igor Leyko 110.6K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2023-10-29T22:20:11+00:00

    Please check system journal. To check system journal, right-click Start, select Event Viewer, expand Windows at the left and select System journal. Then look for error messages (events). DistributedCOM errors should be ignored.

    You may right-click on System and select "Save…" to get evtx file. Do not use any filtering, informational events may be meaningful too.

    Try to repair system files by

    DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

    command from Windows Terminal (admin) environment.

    1 person found this answer helpful.
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  5. Anonymous
    2023-10-29T22:04:09+00:00

    Hi Igor,

    Well, this started happening right after an electricity issue in my area. Seems obvious that would be the issue but it supposedly got fixed. All electric devices work just normally and I don't think that'd 100% be the case. Plus, the computer was off when the problems happened.

    I'd be patient and wait, but I was just worried because I had to do something on it for tomorrow.

    Also, I thought it'd be a Windows issue because it also would reboot specifically after opening up an application (then again, this was after the problems around my area)

    I will do what you just told me right away, thanks.

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