Clean install advice please

I upgraded my laptops a few weeks ago and, today, I've upgraded my Desktop PC.
Before I start adding the programs I need, I'm wondering about doing a clean install rather than waiting for weeks and starting all over again.
My main concern is that when I installed Windows 7 Home, I partitioned my C: drive to give me a D: drive for my files and an E: drive for long term storage (mainly photos and home movies).

I know that there is some choice about partitions with a clean install but I only have the one actual hard drive and don't want to lose D: and E: - even though most of the contents are uploaded to OneDrive, Dropbox, etc.

Advice would be much appreciated please before I go ahead with a clean install.

Are you able to back up the contents of D: and E: somewhere, then install a fresh OS and create those partitions later and copy the data back to them?

I had backups on Acronis but I had to uninstall this before I upgraded. I really don't want to buy another later version of Acronis so I don't suppose I can restore from the backups I have on my external drive.

janey6 said:

I had backups on Acronis but I had to uninstall this before I upgraded. I really don't want to buy another later version of Acronis so I don't suppose I can restore from the backups I have on my external drive.

Oops. It's a bit late for this advice, but you should have created an Acronis tool disk (or USB device) while you had it installed.

I admit that isn't always easy. I have had trouble with it not working on newer hardware. It appears to be Linux based, and there may be a lag getting a version that will work on the latest motherboards. The alternative is to make a Windows PE based version, but that's a more involved process.

If it comes down to it, you can always buy a more recent version of Acronis True Image. That would allow you to mount the old images and conveniently copy off data. Avoiding the aggravation of not being able to do that may be worth it.

I have a 64gb thumb drive. I think I can get my D & E stuff on so it may be OK until I've done the clean install.
Thanks for your advice.

The install process should give you the option to just reformat the c drive, leaving the D and E drives as is even though it is one physical drive.

When you do the clean install, you will boot from the Windows 10 install media (DVD or USB). Select the custom install method. You will get a list of partitions on the hard drive - but only a list of partitions and not drive letters. You will very carefully select each individual partition that is NOT your D or E drive and delete them. You should be left with 1 big unallocated space, the D: drive partition and the E: drive partition. Be very careful - the delete can be undone, but it is tricky and risky.

Then you select the big unallocated space for Windows to install to and let it do it's thing.

It's a very good idea to have the D: drive and E: drive partitions backed up, but there is no need to delete those partitions, format them, or restore them if everything goes properly outlined above.

The above assumes that the D: and E: drive partitions are both located at one end of the hard drive...if they are somewhere in the middle, then it gets a bit more complicated and you'll have to use MiniTool Partition Wizard Free to move things around.