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I've been trying to upgrade from Windows 8 Pro to 8.1 but been unable to, as all the user folders within my userprofile folder are redirected to another drive and my SSD which serves as C: is way too small for them to be moved back now, only for the upgrade. I've tried creating a new user account and updating through that, but my Store won't display the 8.1 upgrade anymore even although I'm fully updated and the manual upgrade of 8.1 which I've got from MS site says that my system is not compatible with this upgrade. Either way, looks like having a clean upgrade would fix some broken things up.

So I've decided to upgrade through a bootable Windows 8.1 disk but now I'm concerned about the survivability of my data on physical D: and E: HDDs, where they're redirected to through the Location tab. Will the setup process delete them aswell or will they keep intact? The only option I've got if I proceed in the setup is to keep "Nothing". Also, should I start the upgrade process by running the setup on the DVD drive from my Windows 8, or shall I boot directly into it?

Hyperion
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  • You should move them back to the system file before you upgrade in order for the upgrade to be successful. If you boot to the installation disk, and install Windows, you will lose your personal files. You can temporary move your personal files on an external disk, but move your profile back to the system drive, so you can upgrade. If your system hardware is not compatible with Windows 8.1 it will still fail of course so verify that isn't the case before you go to the effort. – Ramhound Jan 16 '16 at 22:45
  • Like I stated, I cannot just move them back to the system drive, since it's a small SSD. And doing an upgrade that keeps the installed programs and settings isn't an option anymore since I checked it's not gonna work for me. I don't have such a large external drive to fit all the data from my D: and E: drives. I am sure my computer is compatible with 8.1, only doing a "safe" install from 8 is not gonna work because something seems to have gone wrong on my current OS, despite my tryings to repair all the corrupted stuff – Hyperion Jan 16 '16 at 22:49
  • If you cannot migrated your data, then you cannot upgrade to Windows 8.1, the installation will continue to fail until you move the profile back to the system drive. You indicated your system was not compatible with Windows 8.1, "MS site says that my system is not compatible with this upgrade.", the hardware requirements did change slightly with the release of Windows 8.1 – Ramhound Jan 16 '16 at 22:52
  • [It does appear you might have another option](http://superuser.com/questions/662600/how-to-upgrade-to-windows-8-1-on-a-machine-with-a-users-folder-on-a-separate-dri?rq=1) – Ramhound Jan 16 '16 at 22:53
  • Well that's why I'm trying to do a clean install of 8.1, because I've moved my user data to another drive, and I am totally fine with doing so as I would even welcome cleaning this OS up. Again, I am 100% sure this is not caused by any hardware requirements, but my current OS being screwed up, which is why I want to do a clean upgrade in the first case. I didn't get these compatibility messages a few updates back, when I was getting only the regular error message of having user data redirected to another folder, but now I've decided to do a clean upgrade. It won't even boot into safe mode... – Hyperion Jan 16 '16 at 23:10
  • Thanks for the guide link, but I already found that one and it isn't relevant to my case anymore – Hyperion Jan 16 '16 at 23:20
  • Since your personal files are on another disk you can simply install Windows 8.1 Professional again, without risking your personal data. Once you upgrade that new installation, move your personal files from your old profile to the new profile, after you move the new profile to your external storage. – Ramhound Jan 16 '16 at 23:41
  • Thank you for reassuring me, I was only worried whether Windows setup cares about any links to other drives or not, especially the user subfolders (Music, Pictures, etc.), if I start the setup on the DVD from Windows. I think you should write it as an answer so that I could select it and other people looking for the answer aswell won't need to read through this discussion. – Hyperion Jan 17 '16 at 00:05

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