Should I Do Clean Install Of Windows 10

[This post, originally published in 2019, was updated in March 2021 to reflect contempo changes in Windows x.]

Among Windows experts, a clean install is a time-honored ritual, a way to wipe out accumulated cruft and restore an old PC to new life.

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Y'all tin can find plenty of perfectly adept reasons to practise a make clean install. You might be repurposing an old but still serviceable PC for utilise by someone else in your family or your arrangement. Maybe you lot've decided to supplant a conventional difficult disk drive with a fast solid-land drive to extend the life of an older PC. Or maybe yous merely want a fresh start.

• The Windows 10 update guide: How to install and manage security and feature updates

A clean install is the ultimate troubleshooting technique, nigh guaranteed to eliminate performance or compatibility bug caused by tertiary-party software, temporary files, configuration errors, and garden-variety malware. Done right, the result is a PC that starts from a known good land, with either the default Windows 10 configuration or a previously tested configuration that includes specific third-party software and drivers.

By my count, there are four means to do a clean install (short of ownership a new PC). Here are the pros and cons of each method, along with some advice on when to employ each 1.

Use a recovery epitome from the OEM

If yous purchased a PC with Windows 10 preinstalled, yous might have the pick to revert to the original image that the manufacturer supplied.

The skilful news is that the saved paradigm includes all the drivers, utilities, and hardware support so that all your devices work as designed, every bit shortly as y'all sign in for the first time.

The bad news is that the saved image also includes whatsoever crapware the manufacturer was paid to preinstall alongside your otherwise pristine Windows ten installation. That might not exist a dealbreaker if you have a business organisation-class PC, with minimal unwanted software, but it tin be a royal pain for a consumer device overstuffed with games and trial versions of software.

Besides the aforementioned crapware, the biggest disadvantage of this pick is that you're likely to end upwards with a Windows installation that'south out of engagement, leading to the need for a tedious full feature update, followed past the latest cumulative update, after your recovery is consummate.

This selection is preferred if you're getting a car prepare to sell, or if you're experiencing hardware issues that require repair or return of a device equally function of a warranty claim.

The option to restore an OEM image might be available from a dedicated partition when y'all starting time your PC in recovery way, or your OEM might include a utility that downloads the latest image from its servers. As an alternative, your OEM might exist able to supply y'all with a bootable recovery epitome that you can install on a USB flash drive. (See "How to go a costless Windows (or Linux) recovery prototype for your OEM PC" for details on where you lot tin can get recovery images for Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Microsoft Surface devices.)

Restore from a backup epitome

Past definition, this choice is only available if you're a well-prepared person who used the legacy Windows Backup programme (Sdclt.exe) or an culling third-party backup program immediately later setting upward your PC when it was brand new.

If yous count yourself among that small group, you are probably reading this article from your lavishly appointed fallout shelter, with a 12-month supply of canned food, medications, and bottled water neatly stacked on the shelves. As a well-prepared person, what you did immediately later on setting up your PC was to create a backup image of your completed Windows installation, in apprehension of the day when something would caput s and you would want to start over.

This pick is peculiarly appealing if you rely on a large drove of third-political party software, including custom device drivers that are not bachelor through Windows Update. Capture that image afterwards completing installation of all those 3rd-party programs just before restoring whatsoever personal information files.

The disadvantages of this technique include the extra time and effort required to create the backup, besides as the organizational chops required to go along that fill-in safe and easily attainable when it'south needed. Equally with an OEM recovery epitome, the backup doesn't necessarily include the most recent feature update. Still, if the image reflects a Windows ten version that you want to use while yous skip one or two successive characteristic updates, you might meet this as a plus.

Apply the Windows 10 Reset This PC selection

This feature, which has been significantly refined since its debut in Windows viii, lays down a completely new copy of your current Windows version, without whatsoever tertiary-political party drivers or software that might be causing bug. You don't demand whatever installation media or production keys, and you don't take to accommodate firmware settings to boot from an alternative device.

Y'all can't reset your PC past blow. The process involves at least 4 steps that crave choices on your part, with one final confirmation that lays out in very clear terms exactly what's about to happen. Yous can dorsum out at any time before yous click that last button.

To kickoff, go to Settings > Update & Security > Recovery. Under the Reset This PC heading, click Go Started.

In the start fix of options, choose Go along My Files (best choice if you lot're planning to reuse the PC yourself) or Remove Everything (if y'all're selling the PC or turning it over to someone else). If you lot cull to remove all files, the next option allows you to wipe the empty space those files occupied so they can't be recovered using disk utility software. (Yous can skip that step if you're resetting the PC for your ain use.)

Start with Windows x version 2004, the Reset This PC feature allows you to choose whether you desire to reinstall Windows using the currently installed copy or download a fresh copy from the cloud. (Note that the Cloud Download pick will employ upwardly to four GB of data.)

The reset process is the best option if you lot want the quickest, least cumbersome way to start fresh. Note that a reset might not work if your system is compromised by malware or if some organisation files are damaged or corrupted.

Reinstall from bootable Windows ten recovery media

This option gives you the well-nigh control over the clean install process. Information technology too requires more boilerplate technical skills and, commonly, some postal service-installation futzing to go all hardware working properly and to ensure that the right features are available.

Information technology's a three-step process:

• First, employ the Media Creation Tool to download the latest installation files from the Download Windows 10page and create a bootable USB flash bulldoze. (For details, see my FAQ, "Windows x updates: How to install, reinstall, upgrade, and activate.")
• Next, find the right combination of keystrokes and/or incantations to boot directly from that drive into the Windows Setup programme. Use the built-in tools to reformat and/or repartition the target drive, if necessary. If you skip the formatting step, your former files remain on the bulldoze in a Windows.old folder.
• Finally, install Windows ten. Assuming y'all're doing then on hardware that's previously been activated, you can skip past the function where you're asked to enter a product fundamental; Windows volition actuate automatically subsequently you lot sign in for the beginning time.

After that's complete, you'll need to use Windows Update to install the latest updates, including hardware drivers for devices that aren't included as part of a standard Windows setup. If yous did the installation without formatting the system drive first, you'll need to clean upward the Windows.one-time folder and and then finish additional setup tasks.

Source: https://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-10-whats-the-right-way-to-do-a-clean-install/

Posted by: kulikowskitheaught.blogspot.com

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