Do you have to remove every file from the target drive prior to installing Windows 11 on a fresh setup?
Do you have to remove every file from the target drive prior to installing Windows 11 on a fresh setup?
I'll be setting up Windows 11 Home from a USB on my build using a 1TB M.2 SSD that was previously used as a backup. The drive contains mostly games and some other files. Should I clear all those files before installing Windows 11, which will become the boot drive? Also, I have a brand new 1TB SATA SSD that hasn't been initialized or formatted yet—do I need to wait until Windows 11 is installed before placing this second SSD?
if all those files are in one big partition, you can shrink that partition and make a second partition which you can install windows onto. (if the drive has 2 partitions, and the second partition is empty, you can install windows onto the second partition without any tinkering. [assuming it has sufficient space for a windows install]
deletion is not needed. make sure you select "Custom: Install windows only" when prompted in the setup and if your drive doesn't have 2 partitions already you can do the shrinking and stuff from the installation media itself. when it asks for where to install windows onto, simply select the partition where the data is on, and shrink it. after that you'll get an Unallocated partition. create a new partition from that unallocated partition, then select that partitional as to where windows will be installed and click next. easy.
Refer:
Clean installing Windows > Resizing/Formatting partitions
Not necessary, nothing will happen if you put the SSD before installing windows. as long as you chose the correct place where to install windows onto. (adding 2 drives may make it hard to figure out which is which cause both are 1tb)
Ofcourse, please DO NOT put the drive *while* windows is still in the installing screen