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A Windows re-installation is a tedious process. It takes time and once the new installation is in place, you essentially start from scratch. Your user files are wiped and have to be restored, programs need to be re-installed, and personal preferences have to be set up all over again. Since the ‘perfect setup’ is a work in progress, driven by all sorts of updates and new gadgets, creating an image of your operating system is a waste of time. And as time goes by, the nightmare will start all over again. Except if there was a way to re-install your operating system and fix system-based issues without losing all your stuff….
Starting with Windows XP, Microsoft has been offering what is called a “non-destructive reinstall ability” for Windows. It is a way of re-installing the operating system without changing user data, settings, and preferences, including installed programs and drivers. After re-installing Windows with this method, you will log onto your account as if nothing had happened, except that all system files were ‘updated’, which almost equals a fresh installation.

Preface: What You Need

• Windows 7 installation DVD.
• original 25-character product key.
• minimum 12,869MB free space on system drive (C:)
• bootable Windows 7 installation.

If you don’t have an installation DVD for your edition of Windows 7, it’s OK to borrow one or create it with a torrent download. The important thing is that you currently run a genuine copy of Windows 7.

  For the non-destructive installation to work, you must be able to boot into Windows 7 full, not Safe Mode. I also highly recommend to prepare a backup of your data before you attempt to re-install.

Step 1: Uninstall Service Pack 1

Running SP1 can cause issues when performing a non-destructive re-installation with an installation DVD that does not contain SP1. It is thus recommended to uninstall SP1 before you proceed.

• Go to > Start > Control Panel > Programs and Features or > Programs > Uninstall a Program.
• In the left-hand side click > View installed updates
• Select > Service Pack for Microsoft Windows (KB976932) and click > Uninstall.

Step 2: Run Setup In Compatibility Mode :

his step is optional. You can skip it and return to it if needed. The pre-installation compatibility report might not let you proceed due to the following issue:

Your current version of Windows is more recent than the version you are trying to upgrade to. Windows cannot complete upgrade.

To avoid this error :

• Go to > Computer, right-click on the installation DVD and select > Open.
• Right-click on > setup.exe and choose > Properties.
• Switch to the > Compatibility tab and check > Run this program in compatibility mode for:Windows Vista (Service Pack 2) from the list. and pick >
• Click > OK and double-click > setup.exe to launch the installation.

Step 3: Run Setup

When you run the setup.exe from the DVD, Windows will ask whether you want to allow the program to make changes to your computer. Click > Yes to proceed.

Key Step: Select Upgrade Installation Type

Select > Upgrade when asked which type of installation you want.
Finally, you will be asked to enter your product key and after going through a few basic settings and re-starting Windows one more time, you will finally be able to log into your refreshed old account.
When you first log into your account, you will also be asked to activate your account. Do this immediately to prevent restrictions.

Aftermath: Run Updates, Upgrade Internet Explorer & Install SP1

Several things were changed when your system was upgraded. You were reverted to the Service Pack version on your installation DVD (likely pre-SP1) and Internet Explorer was downgraded to version 8 (in case you were running IE9).
Go to > Start > Control Panel > Windows Update or > System and Security > Windows UpdateInstall updates. You will have to reboot and go through this process several times to bring your system up to date. If you don’t see any updates, click on > Check for updates on the left-hand side. and click on >