How do I restore my personal files after Windows 7 custom installation?

If you perform a custom installation of Windows 7, your files, settings, and programs are deleted. If you do not format your hard disk drive when you install Windows 7 o'clock, you should be able to retrieve files from the Windows.old folder.

To retrieve a file from the Windows.old folder:

1. Click the Start button, and then click Computer.

2. Double-click the drive with Windows installed (usually C:).

3. Double-click the "Windows.old" folder.

4. Double-click the Users folder.

5. Double-click your username.

6. Open the folder that contains the file you want to retrieve. For example, to retrieve files from the Documents folder, double-click documents.

7. Copy and paste the files you need from each folder into a folder in Windows 7. For example, if I want to place documents in a document library, I should copy them from the Documents folder and paste them into the document library for Windows 7 installations.

8. Repeat steps 5–7 for each user account on the computer.