Skip to content

Reinstall

Common things to remember when reinstalling a Windows machine.

Use Robocopy

Fast, multi-threaded, stateful copy. Faster that GUI copy.

Remove any existing junctions, otherwise copy with halt on them. Backup any wanted data from the following default locations:

  • c:\Users
  • c:\Programs
  • c:\ProgramData
  • c:\Program Files (x86)
  • c:\Program Files

Copy with robocopy (powershell as admin) 

# Run as administrator
robocopy "{SOURCE} " "{DESTINATION} " /copyall /mt /z /e

Note

There is an escaping issue with ** at the end of a path. Paths with trailing ** (e.g. **"c:\Program Files (x86)\ ") require an extra space to parse the path correctly based on how the strings are passed internally.

Add extra space to all paths as it does not affect outcome and ensures no path errors. Always quote paths.

Dump Existing Registry

Backup the existing registry in case anything is missed after reinstall.

⌘ ➔ regedit ➔ Computer ➔ {RMB} ➔ Export

Gamesave Manager

Backup the installation directory and games database:

  • c:\Program Files (x86)GameSave Manager v3
  • %appdata%\roaming\GameSave Manager 3

Putty

Dump putty settings to reg file. 

# Run as administrator.
regedit /e '%userprofile%\Desktop\putty.reg' 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SimonTatham'

WinSCP

⌘ ➔ winscp ➔ Tools ➔ Export/Backup Configuration

Dump winscp settings to reg file. 

# Run as administrator.
regedit /e '%userprofile%\Desktop\winscp.reg' 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Martin Prikryl\WinSCP 2'

MusicBee

  • Copy any special files from installation directory (e.g. plugins, etc). These are located in c:\Program Files (x86)/MusicBee**.
  • Copy configuration data from %appdata%/roaming/musicbee.

Mumble

Backup the client settings, certificates, and database:

  • %appdata%\Mumble\mumble.sqlite
  • %appdata%\roaming\Mumble

Dump mumble client settings to reg file. 

# Run as administrator.
regedit /e '%userprofile%\Desktop\putty.reg' 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Mumble\Mumble'

Claws-mail

Default installation directory includes configuration and mail data:

  • c:\Program Files (x86)\claws

Gaming

Backup saves and game data from game services.

Origin

Directory contains configuration and saves: c:\Program Files (x86)\Origin.

Uplay

Directory contains configuration and saves: c:\Program Files (x86)\Ubisoft.

Warning

Older Ubisoft games do not back up to their servers even though they say they do.

Steam

Directory contains configuration and saves: c:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\userdata.