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I had on my PC an insider version of Windows 10, I tried to install the latest one to date (October 2020 version), I was only offered to do a clean install so I copied the folders I need to an external storage (these folders are on the root of the drive like C:\Songs and C:\Downloads and went on with it, when finished that clean install, I found the folders I left earlier still in their places which is odd considering that in a clean install of an OS, the hard disk is formatted and completely erased. Any explanation about this behavior?

user10191234
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1 Answers1

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I tried to install the latest one to date (October 2020 version), I was only offered to do a clean install

When you do this via the Microsoft methods (including Insider), it will always endeavor to keep files.

That has happen to me and obviously what happened to you as well.

John
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  • I am not sad, but can I take it as a rule, I wouldn't want to trust that my files will remain only to find them deleted, does Microsoft provide any details? – user10191234 Oct 31 '20 at 21:49
  • See: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-insider/build-expiration In Point 5 (During setup, select the Change what to keep option, and then choose Nothing on the next screen to complete a clean install) I think the Default in the process is to keep data. That is what I have seen. – John Oct 31 '20 at 21:56
  • do you have any backups that it could have restored? – Coderxyz Oct 31 '20 at 21:57
  • In the situation I was in (Insider machine with no critical data and so no backup) I made a user error, the machine blue screened, to me back to production windows, I set the Insider setting again, restarted back on an Insider Version and my data was all there. Microsoft will always keep data if it can. – John Oct 31 '20 at 22:03
  • @user10191234 - Please do not forget to follow up on the question you linked to. – John Oct 31 '20 at 22:24
  • So this behavior is from Insider to Insider and Insider to mainstream. – user10191234 Nov 01 '20 at 06:31
  • What I described is true (if the data can be saved) for any supported version of Windows 10. – John Nov 01 '20 at 10:55