Reinstalling Software? Read This First!

Before you reinstall your music player, video player, or other content management program, make sure that the music, movies, and other files associated with that program aren’t deleted when you uninstall it by following the steps below.

Step #1: Locate your files

First, you’ll need to locate the folders in which your files are stored.

Music files are typically stored in a folder that Windows creates specifically for music. In Windows XP, this folder is C:\Documents and Settings\\Documents\Music. In Windows Vista and Windows 7, the music folder is located in C:\Users\\Music.

Movies and videos are normally stored in your user account’s Movies or Videos folder. In XP, this folder is located in C:\Documents and Settings\\My Documents\My Music. In Windows Vista and Windows 7, it is located in C:\Users\\Videos.

Other types of files may be stored in your My Documents folder (C:\Documents and Settings\\Documents for XP, C:\Users\\Documents for Vista and Windows 7), or you may need to look in the program’s Properties or Preferences to discover the default storage location. Preferences and Properties are usually located on the Edit menu or the Options menu within the program.

Step #2: Back up the files

It’s a good idea to back up your important files regularly in case something happens to your computer, but if you don’t have a recent backup, you should copy your files into another folder on your computer (your desktop, for example) or onto an external hard drive. If you are backing up a large volume of data, such as a movie or music library, an external hard drive will probably be the best place to store your backup; if you try to copy an entire library to your desktop, you may run out of space on your computer’s hard drive.

Step #3: Reinstall your software, but choose to keep your files

Once you’ve copied your files to another location, it’s time to go ahead and reinstall your software. Many programs will give you an option to save your existing files and preferences when you reinstall the software, and you should always select this option, even if your files are backed up. Once the installation completes, open the program and make sure that your files are still accessible.

Step #4: If needed, restore your files

If you open your freshly-reinstalled program and find that your files are no longer there, don’t worry! It’s easy to restore your files from the backup you created in Step #2. Just open your backup folder, then copy and paste the files from your backup into their original locations. If you’ve forgotten where the original files were located, you can check in the program’s properties or preferences, or you use the Search option in Windows Explorer to locate the correct folder. To open Windows Explorer, hold down the Windows key and press the E key. The search function is in the upper right corner of the Explorer window.