Downgrading Windows 8.1 to 7: Effect on other hard drives

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mkchampion14

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Dec 6, 2010
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Hi guys,
Windows 8.1 has been giving me a lot of problems lately and I think i'm finally fed up and planning on downgrading to Windows 7. I have the disc for 7 and a valid ISO, so correct me if i'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure just wiping my boot drive and installing windows 7 will work just fine.
My storage configuration is an SSD boot drive (Samsung 840 evo 250gb), as well as a 1TB WD black hard drive and a 2TB wd green hard drive, both used for general storage (movies, some games etc.). I know that I'll have to wipe the SSD, but my question is, will changing OS'es affect the data on the other hard drives? Or will the documents/movies/data still be accessible (excluding any programs that I know I'd have to reinstall, of course)?

Thanks!
 
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PhatLloyd
I agree with the above about unplugging the other drives. Also what you'll have to do afterwards is download all the drivers. Also I would suggest moving all media on the SSD to one of the hard drives and also copying your save game data, you don't want to start all over with your games, do you? I would create a backup just in case you lost that important document.

ALSO!! Take into consideration that if you don't format/wipe the drive you will have the convenience of having all your files on your SSD automatically save as Windows.old in the program files. I would personally go with this option so that you have all your files, programs and data on the drive and they'll just need to be copied into the new destination and you won't need...
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ronintexas

ronintexas

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Dec 10, 2012
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When you reinstall the OS, I would suggest unplugging the two hard drives and only leave in the SSD. After the installation and updates/patches applied, and your drivers are all updated (also run the Samsung Magician to optimize the SSD), install the hard drives. You may have to replace the permissions of the folders to "take ownership" of the folders due to different login credentials.

 
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PhatLloyd

PhatLloyd

Honorable
Jul 1, 2014
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I agree with the above about unplugging the other drives. Also what you'll have to do afterwards is download all the drivers. Also I would suggest moving all media on the SSD to one of the hard drives and also copying your save game data, you don't want to start all over with your games, do you? I would create a backup just in case you lost that important document.

ALSO!! Take into consideration that if you don't format/wipe the drive you will have the convenience of having all your files on your SSD automatically save as Windows.old in the program files. I would personally go with this option so that you have all your files, programs and data on the drive and they'll just need to be copied into the new destination and you won't need to download them again.
 
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