Trying to reinstall Windows after mobo installation; how to back up data?

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whiskeyii

Commendable
Dec 31, 2016
6
0
1,510
Hello all!

This might be a ridiculously stupid question, but I guess that just shows how very not tech-savvy I am. I recently had a new motherboard installed to replace one that had been blown out earlier. When the technician booted up my machine, I got error messages about no bootable devices being detected, even though the BIOS clearly recognized my one and only hard drive. His suggestion was to back up my data and reinstall Windows.

Problem is, I'm not sure how to do either of those without an OS in the first place. I do have an external drive; can I back up my data via the BIOS? And how exactly do I go about re-installing my OS if my Windows 10 was installed digitally, via that "Upgrade now for free!" prompt way back when?
 
Solution
azaran
If you have access to a working computer, plug your hard drive in to the working computer (making sure not to boot from it), once its up and running, copy the data over to your external drive. Like Paul said, you can only back up your docs, photos, music, etc. Program files and the OS will need to be reloaded.

If you don't have access to a computer where you can plug your drive in to, you can create a bootable OS on a USB drive. You still need access to a working computer but you don't need to pull anything apart. Download Rufus and a linux distro (Ubuntu is big but its very user friendly), create a bootable OS on to a flash drive with those tools. Boot your computer from the USB, once your booted it shouldn't be hard to move the files...
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Paul NZ

Polypheme
Sep 15, 2014
20,779
3
61,010
Get the mediacreation tool download the ISO and use rufus to extract it to a flash drive. Then boot from it

And no you cant backup in the BIOS

If the mobo isnt identical to the old one, you'll have to do a clean install and reinstall programs

The only things, you can backup are docs, photos, contacts if you use Outlook, or something

 
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Calvin7

Titan
Feb 19, 2013
11,725
334
76,490
Buy another hard drive for $15. You seem to need a new Windows license too. Buy Windows and install it on the $15 hard drive.

After the PC is up and running, you can connect the old hard drive, activate it in Disk Management, rename the old Windows installation to "old", and go in the hard drive and find what you need to back up.
 
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azaran

azaran

Splendid
Feb 17, 2010
3,594
0
26,960
If you have access to a working computer, plug your hard drive in to the working computer (making sure not to boot from it), once its up and running, copy the data over to your external drive. Like Paul said, you can only back up your docs, photos, music, etc. Program files and the OS will need to be reloaded.

If you don't have access to a computer where you can plug your drive in to, you can create a bootable OS on a USB drive. You still need access to a working computer but you don't need to pull anything apart. Download Rufus and a linux distro (Ubuntu is big but its very user friendly), create a bootable OS on to a flash drive with those tools. Boot your computer from the USB, once your booted it shouldn't be hard to move the files you want to keep from your hard drive to your external. Or even something like dropbox if you want to go that route.

Once you have your data backed up, on a computer with internet connection, download and run the installer tool for Windows 10 to install the Windows 10 media on to a flash drive. You can use Rufus to do this to a usb drive as well like Paul mentioned but the download tool can do it for you in the process. Either way, once you have a USB drive with Win10 on it, install it on to your hard drive as a custom install. You're going to be doing a clean install, so if your not familiar with it look up some tutorials online.

Now here's where you may run in to a snag. Technically your OS was licensed out to your old motherboard. The new one may have a problem activating. If it does, you can call in to Microsoft (you'll get a number you can call somewhere in the activation process) and talk to a rep. More often than not, when you explain your old mobo blew out and you had to replace it, they'll be cool with activating it with the motherboard and will step you through the process. Worst case, if they refuse, you can buy a new copy of Windows, but I doubt they'll give you a hard time with it.
 
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Solution
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whiskeyii

Commendable
Dec 31, 2016
6
0
1,510
I gave azaran's solution a shot and got as far as the bootable Ubuntu setup page, but when I tried to install Ubuntu, I got a message about CPU throttling and my monitor went to sleep. From what I can tell, most of the time that's caused by dirty fans or old thermal paste, but the technician both air-dusted my fan and applied new thermal paste when installing my new motherboard, so I'm kind of at a loss here.

I do have a working laptop, though, so I'll try backing up my data using a hard drive adapter before trying a clean install of Windows again.
 
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