4 Ways to Reinstall Windows Without Losing Your Games

Want to know how to reinstall Windows without losing your games or apps? A Windows reinstall is a long process that wipes out all faulty, outdated, and unused system drivers. As a result, users often end up losing their apps, saved projects, and other essential data by the end of the installation.

Please provide the English content you want translated, and I'll do my best to translate it into Chinese.

Can I reset my Windows computer and keep my games?

The short answer is no, games will not carry over when you reinstall Windows.

A Reset will only preserve personal files that are saved in the "Downloads" folder, and not any apps or games. For this reason, it's best to remove games or apps before you reset, or back them up just to be safe. After reinstalling Windows, you can download the apps or games you need again.

The good news is that it doesn't take much to prevent this, to back up the data, the games, the apps on your computer.

How to Reinstall Windows Without Losing Your Games or Apps

While there are many ways to reinstall Windows, finding the best one can be a hassle. Here are four of the best ways to reinstall Windows without the headache and without losing your programs.

• Solution 1. Use Professional Backup Software ????
• Solution 2. Create a Bootable USB Flash Drive
• Solution 3. Create a Custom Refresh Image
• Solution 4. Use an ISO Image File

Solution 1: Use Professional Backup Software

Using a backup software is one of the safest ways to protect everything on your PC. This way, you can easily restore your data in case something goes wrong during the Windows installation process. So, if you want to reinstall Windows without losing your games, you can use a professional backup tool, such as Todo Backup.

Todo Backup Home is a practical and user-friendly backup software for Windows 11/10/8/7. It enables you to back up game applications like The Sims, GTA 5, COD Modern Warfare 2, FIFA 23, and more. This way, you can preserve these applications or games using this efficient tool when reinstalling Windows. Additionally, it allows you to create an ISO image from your operating system and perform various types of backups.

Don't hesitate to download it on your Windows computer, and use Todo Backup to safely back up your games.

Reinstalling Windows without losing games involves two parts: backing up your game apps and restoring them. Here's how:

Part 1: Creating a Backup of Your Game App

Step 1: Download and install Todo Backup on your computer. Click the “Create Backup” button on the main screen.

Step Two: You'll want to back up your apps, so click the "Apps data" option.

Select app data to backup

Step 3: You'll see all the apps that can be backed up. (Currently, this supports Outlook, and we're working on adding more apps over time, such as games, Thunderbird, Gmail, Microsoft 365 apps, and so on.) Scroll down to find the app you want to back up, then click OK.

Step 4. Choose the backup location as prompted. It's recommended to select a cloud service, NAS, or external hard drive to protect against computer failures or crashes.

Select the backup save location

5. Click on the Options button, and you can customize the backup. You can set up a schedule to back up daily, weekly, monthly, or by event. It will set up differential or incremental backups based on your needs.

Step 6: When you're done, click Back Up Now to start the backup process. It will take as long as it needs to depending on the size of your source data, but shouldn't be too lengthy.

Part 2: Restore the backup to your computer.

Step 1: Run Todo Backup and click “Browse Recovery”.

Click “Browse to Recover”

Step 2. Point to your backup location and select the backup file you want to restore (a .pbd file created by Todo Backup).

Select the backup file

Step 3: Choose a recovery location. You can recover the data to a specific location or the original location.

4. Click Proceed to begin the restoration process.

Solution 2: Create a bootable USB flash drive

Another great way to protect your data during a Windows reinstall is by creating a bootable USB drive. This will allow you to restore your computer and operating system without losing any data or applications.

Creating a bootable USB flash drive is another useful method for backing up games or apps during a reinstall. While there are many third-party apps that can do this, here's a manual, step-by-step guide.

Step 1. Insert the USB flash drive into your computer.

Step 2. Search for “Command Prompt” and open the app.

Step three: Type “diskpart” and hit Enter.

Step 4. In the Command Prompt window, click on the window for your USB flash drive.

This will create a bootable USB drive and save your apps and games so they don't get deleted.

Solution 3: Create a Custom Refresh Image

If you're worried about losing your games or apps when reinstalling Windows, you can create a custom Refresh image that includes all of your favorite programs and games. You can do this using the PC Settings app built into Windows 8 or 10, which will allow you to save up to 2 GB of data to an external drive before reinstalling Windows. Once you've created the image, you can boot into it to pick up where you left off.

To create a custom refresh page with games and apps, follow these steps:

Step 2. Next, enter the command to create the image at the command prompt.

Step 3. After running the command, save your customized refresh page in the new folder and give it a unique name to finish up.

Solution 4: Use an ISO image file

If your computer has a lot of games, apps, and other files on it, they'll probably be deleted when you reinstall Windows 10. To avoid this, create a Windows 10 ISO image that includes all the programs and files you want to keep, then use it during the installation process.

Step 1. Right-click the Windows 10 ISO file and select “Mount” to proceed.

Step 2. Right-click on the DVD drive in This PC and select Open in new window.

Step Three: Double-click the installer and click “Yes.”

Step 4: Click “Download and install updates,” then click “Next.”

5. Wait for the check for updates to complete, then click Accept when you see the License Agreement.

Step 6: When you see “Ready to install,” you'll notice that you've chosen to “Keep personal files, apps, and Windows settings.” Click Install.

Why would you need to reset or reinstall Windows on your computer?

There are many reasons to reset or reinstall PC Windows, but it's usually to fix problems with the computer.

• A fresh installation of Windows can help recover from a Windows or system crash, restoring all lost data.
• This helps prevent Windows troubleshooting and eliminates any severe Windows errors.
• Following this process ensures that you update outdated applications and enjoy the latest features.
• This is also a necessary step when fixing or replacing other parts of your computer, such as the motherboard or RAM.
• Reinstalling Windows allows you to remove unnecessary junk files and bloatware, improving overall PC performance.

Bottom line

Now you know how to reinstall Windows without losing games. You can use any of the methods provided in this article to help you reinstall Windows while keeping your games or apps. Among these four methods, the Todo Backup tool stands out because it not only aids in reinstalling Windows but also enables you to perform other operations.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Can I reset Windows 10 without losing my games?

Yes! Resetting your computer (also called a "Fresh Start") is a great way to clear out extra software, viruses, and other malware that might be causing issues. Don't worry about losing games or apps — just back up your data before you start!

2. Will resetting remove my game?

Initializing won't remove your game; instead, it ensures that it runs more optimally. If you want to delete the game files from your hard drive, you'll still have to do that manually.

3. Will resetting my computer only affect the C drive?

A reset affects only the C drive, but that doesn't necessarily mean you'll lose all your data. You can use data recovery tools to retrieve data from other drives and external disks.

Which is better – Reset or Reinstall Windows 10?

If the reset process runs into problems, a clean installation of Windows 10 is usually your best bet.