Reloading Win10 without losing data or apps

jeanrouge · 09 Nov 2020

My Win10 installation is misbehaving in various minor ways. I've run sfc/scannow and that turns out clear. A possible solution is to reinstall windows without disturbing apps and existing data. I found what appears to be a pretty clear video on u-Tube but before I go ahead. I just want to check. My version is Win 10 Pro 1909 - the package you can download from the M/S site is 20H2 (a numbering system I've not come across before). Has anyone had experience of re-installing Win10 without losing data? Also the instructions are quite clear - the version numbers have to be the same - so where can I find ver 1909 please?

Megahertz · 09 Nov 2020

You can do a in place upgrade using Ver 1909 (run setup.exe from running windows).
You can also run ver 2004 or 2010 setup.exe from running windows.
(Win ver 2010 is named 20h2 (20 second half)).
It will ask what you want to do. Choose to save data and programs.
Repair Install Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade

As any installation, you should backup your data and / or make a disk image of your current installation, just in case something goes wrong.

If you need to download any win 10 version, use Windows-ISO-Downloader tool

zbook · 09 Nov 2020

If you perform an in place upgrade repair:
a) same version > typically corrects operating system problems (1909 > 1909)
b) newer version > typically corrects operating system and registry problems (1909 > 2004 or 20H2)