A clean installation of Pattition 10 is the process of erasing the hardware and setting up a new fresh copy of the platform windows 10 clean install disk partition free a computer has a problem. For example, you can resolve performance, memory, startup, shut down, and apps issues using this method. Also, it's perhaps the best approach to remove viruses and other types of malware, and it can help to improve battery life.
In addition, it's an excellent solution to remove preloaded bloatware unnecessary preloaded software from Windows You can use this method to decommission a computer without giving away your data. Or you can set up a new installation after replacing the hard drive.
Furthermore, if you had the same setup for some time, a clean installation is the recommended option to upgrade to the latest version of Clena 10 or upgrade from an older version such as Windows 7 and Windows 10 clean install disk partition free 8. In this Windows 10 guide, we will walk you through the innstall process to perform a clean installation.
As you prepare to proceed with a clean installation of Windows 10, it's recommended to complete some essential tasks to minimize issues and potential data loss. If you already have a backup of the windows 10 clean install disk partition free and files. You have an xlean product key. The device can start from a USB flash drive, and non-essential peripherals are disconnected, then you can skip this part and jump to the bootable media creation and windows 10 clean install disk partition free clean install process.
The install process of Windows 10 deletes everything on the dizk, which means that backing up the entire device or at least partiion files is a crucial step unless you don't have anything important you want to keep. You should create a temporary backup to revert the settings or recover files if something goes wrong during the installation.
You can choose many different solutions, but the easiest way to create a full backup is to use the legacy System Image Backup tool available on Windows It's a deprecated feature, but it continues to work. The tool is also available for Windows 8.
If you need to back up your documents, pictures, and other important files, you can upload the data to OneDrive or another cloud storage service. In case you use OneDrive, you can also use the backup settings page to sync your profile folders, including Documents, Pictures, and Desktop, to the cloud automatically.
Once you complete the steps, OneDrive will back up the files on the Desktop, Documents, and Pictures user folders in the cloud. If you have a lot of data, syncing the files to the cloud can be expensive and take a long time, and the available space may not even be enough. If this is the case, perhaps the best option would be to copy the files to an external USB hard drive.
To create a file backup manually, connect an external drive with enough storage space to your Windows 10 computer, and use these steps:. After you complete the steps, repeat the instructions to back up the remaining accounts as necessary.
In addition to windows 10 clean install disk partition free your files, it's also a widnows idea to create a list of the installed programs with their respective product keys if applicable to know the apps to partitiin after the installation.
If you usually don't sync passwords and bookmarks with an online servicenow's a windows 10 clean install disk partition free time to export your browser credentials and links as you'll need them later to access your online services. In case you don't have windows 10 clean install disk partition free external hard drive or one instal enough space, we recommend the Western Digital Elements Desktop Hard Drive because of its portability, capacity, and price.
Reliable storage. If you're in the market for an external drive to store file backups, look no windows 10 clean install disk partition free than the Western Digital Elements Desktop Hard Drive. Although after windows 10 clean install disk partition free Windows 10, you no longer have to provide a product key for reinstallation in the same computer. Once the new installation completes, the system will automatically reactivate knstall it connects windkws the internet.
After you complete the steps, Windows 10 should automatically reactivate after the clean installation if your current setup is activated.
If you have to set up an installation on a computer that never had an activated version of Windows 10, or you plan to upgrade from Windows 8. Windows 10 can detect and install most drivers automatically. However, it's usually recommended to download at least the essential drivers before the process such as for the network adapter and graphics cardas a precaution, in case the setup fails to add these drivers correctly, especially on custom computer builds.
You can use our guide to install device drivers on Windows If the device already dis Windows 10, the following major update most likely will meet the minimum hardware requirements.
However, if you're about to upgrade a computer running Windows 7 or Windows 8. You can use these instructions to check the device technical specifications to confirm you can do a clean install of Windows It's also dindows to make sure that the computer can boot from a USB flash drive. On computers already running Windows 10 or 8. After you complete the steps, the computer should now be able to start from a USB bootable media.
Once you complete the steps, the device will start from a USB flash drive to proceed with the installation process. Once you complete the steps, the computer can now start from the USB flash drive to upgrade to Windows 10 clean install disk partition free Typically, peripherals are among the most common reason for problems during a Windows 10 installation.
If you have non-essential peripherals connected to the computer such as removable storage and other USB and Wondows devices, printers, scanners, cameras, and othersit's recommended to disconnect them. You only need a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and internet connection. After the setup, you can reconnect windows 10 clean install disk partition free peripherals one at a time to ensure they don't cause any issues.
You will need a USB bootable media to perform a clean installation of Windows Once you complete the steps, the tool will download the files and create an installer with the latest installation files, which you can then use to start the device and configure a fresh copy of Windows Rufus is a free tool with many options to help you create a bootable media of Windows 10 faster.
However, it's important to remember that it's a third-party option, which Microsoft does not support. As a result, windows 10 clean install disk partition free it at your own risk. After you complete the windows 10 clean install disk partition free, Rufus will download the ISO file from the Microsoft servers, and it'll create the bootable media to perform a clean install of Windows The installation process of Windows 10 has two main parts, including the setup and out-of-box experience OOBE.
Dixk the setup process, that's where you will select some of the basic settings, and you'll find the options to erase the hard drive, configure the partitions, and clean install Windows The out-of-box experience happens after the setup is complete, and it's the stage where you'll configure your settings, such as region, wijdows, account, privacy, and other settings.
Warning: This is another friendly reminder that this process will erase everything on the computer. Before windows 10 clean install disk partition free, it's instal, recommended to make a temporary full backup of your PC.
If you plan to decommission the computer, you do not need to continue with the out-of-box experience. If this is an upgrade, continue with the instructions below. After the setup, you have to continue with the out-of-box experience to configure your preferences and create a new account. After you complete the steps, the settings will apply to the clean installation of Windows 10, and you should be able to see the default desktop experience.
Once the installation is complete, it's also good to check that Windows 10 isn't missing any critical updates or drivers and is properly activated. Once you complete the steps, any available updates will automatically download and install. Also, a restart may be required to complete the update process. If some hardware has problems, you may need to manually install the latest drivers from your computer manufacturer's support website.
You can use this guide to install device drivers on Windows On Windows 10, drivers can also be part of the optional updates. If the computer doesn't have all the required drivers, you may be able to download them from Windows Update. After you complete the steps, Windows Update will download and install the missing drivers automatically. In case Windows 10 didn't activate, the device will try to reactivate at a later time.
If you're still having issues after a couple of days, you can use the Activation Troubleshooter to activate. It's now time to reinstall the apps, windows 10 clean install disk partition free your preferred web browser, such as Google ChromeMozilla Firefoxor Opera to browse the web. If you use Spotify opens in new tab or iTunes opens in new tab to listen to tunes while working or surfing the internet, you can download these apps and others from the Microsoft Store. Also, it's now a good time to download and install the Microsoft Office apps opens in new tab to start working with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, and managing your emails with Outlook.
The last thing left to do is to restore your documents from backup. If you previously configured file backup with OneDrive, the data should already be available inside the OneDrive folder, but if the app didn't configure automatically, you can use this guide.
If you have a backup of your files on an external drive, reconnect the storage to restore the data into the default folders Documents, Downloads, Pictures, etc.
Although you can start a clean installation using the Media Creation Tool without a USB media and even the "Reset this PC" option from the recovery settings, these methods have their limitations and do not always work as expected.
The isntall media is the alternative if you want the best possible clean installation method. For more helpful articles, coverage, and answers to common questions about Windows 10 and Windows 11, visit the windiws resources:. Mauro Huculak is technical writer for WindowsCentral. His primary focus is to write comprehensive how-tos to help users get the most out of Windows 10 and its many related technologies.
Windows Central Windows Central. Bulk storage If you're in the market for an external drive to store file backups, look no further than the Western Digital Elements Desktop Hard Drive.
Mauro Huculak. Topics Windows 10 Help. See all comments Still not getting windows 10 upgrade on my pc! Though i have reserved it and the get windows 10 notification appears. Help anybody? Please try our Windows 10 forums! You'll get much better answers there, thanks! Appreciate your help! It means that some peripherals in your PC are not yet compatible with Win This is why they did the whole reservation and wave release.
If the validation tool detects something the will not work it prevents the windows 10 upgrade. You will have to wait untill they sort our the drivers and you'll get your windows.
Feel free to ask back any questions and keep me posted. If you will wait to rate my post, I will keep working with you until it's resolved. The pages appear to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the sites that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP Potentially Unwanted Products. Thoroughly research any product advertised on the sites before you decide to download and install it.
Thanks for your feedback. How satisfied are you with this reply? Then, select the new partition on SSD disk and click Next. Wait until the process ends and set preferences as you like. If your SSD has installed Windows 10 already, you can skip to next step, Windows 10 will get activated after fresh installation. Fresh install Windows 10 will erase all your data on the computer. Besides, it is time-consuming and troublesome. The software is running in " Intelligent Clone " mode by default, which will only clone the used sectors to save space.
Optionally, you can also create an intact copy with sector-by-sector mode. You could find the free trial below. Click " Clone" , then select " System Clone " in the main page.
To clone entire disk, click "Disk Clone" instead. Just select the SSD as the new location, and then click "Next" to continue. Because the program is designed to automatically select system partition and boot related partitions for you. To avoid data leakage, it's suggested to wipe system partition, or clean a hard drive in Windows 10 completely. It seems that you don't need to sign in with your MSA as you said, a local account should work too.
As Zapella said, your hardware info is what matters. Well I didn't perform a clean installation, I just used the media creation tool to upgrade to windows 10, and everything is working like a charm, expect for my display adapter driver, which gave me a low resolution, but I solved it after many trials and finally used windows update to download the latest driver, after I uninstalled the previous one, and I even got two additional updates for windows 10 pro.
You actually don't need the product key. The clean install will activate it automatically, provided you don't change the hardware.
This makes sense Why would Microsoft expect users to extract their key with an archaic 3 rd party program, just to make use of their much advertised free upgrade for the entire populace?
Should be easy right? And it is. Handy article, however I would say it would've been best not to suggest to delete all the partitions off the hard drive lol Just the partition they wish to install on unless they want to clean the hdd "completely". That's the definition of a clean install: deleting absolutely everything, including partitions. Went the manual route for my laptop running Windows 8.
Downloaded the ISO - so I can back that up too for later use if needed - loaded onto a USB stick, and used that to do the in-place upgrade. By the time I made it into Windows 10 settings it was already activated. Then I turned around and did the the clean install - had already fully backed up and was ready, and I had been planning for a clean install anyway - which interestingly went much quicker than the upgrade. Again, activation was already done by the time I checked on it. Pretty good so far, though the system seems a bit sluggish at times.
Might just be initial shakedown happening, or maybe I need to verify the drivers are current. The mfr has drivers for 7 and 8.
ISO will work fine, just make sure you get your license upgraded to a Windows 10 license by first updating through Windows Update, as mentioned in the article. In my case, my desktop and laptop currently run W7 Pro 64 bit. Does the USB get tied to that specific machine which a clean install is performed on?
Thanks J! In total my household has 5 pcs to upgrade, I'm glad I won't have to buy 5 separate USB drive for each pc. And they have to be the same language if I'm not mistaken. Did it thanks! If you do everything right, you'll never need to use any key at all. You don't need to know your windows 10 key. Might as well buy Windows 10 Home. Clean install; all the way. Once I get it clean install only thru gimagex wonder if the media creation tool is like w8's where it'll decrypt the install esd as folder windows payload as I hate being bored with the long drawn out process that the setup app uses.
Hi All, I did a clean install in the same way as its mentioned in the post except taking the key with Magical Jelly Bean, but after the clean install my Windows is not getting activated.
I contacted MS team and got the reply as its due to server slowness issue, but I'm not convinenced becuase its alredy two days my lap in this mode Anyone faced the same issue and got it resolved please post your comments below. As long as you upgraded to W10 first and it showed as activated. If you tried straight clean install without first doing an upgrade, then the only way I've come across for it to work is to rebuild to a clean version of whatever the machine came with don't waste time on the updates for it either, literally bang on the upgrade from a USB as soon as it's activated , then upgrade, then clean install at which point it doesn't need a key as the hwid is registered with MS.
I get the same error code after doing an upgrade of my Windows 10 Developer Preview last night. It was fully updated and activated before I did the upgrade. I upgraded to my own language and it kept only my personal files. The error code means that the key has been blocked. Same here. Did an upgrade from Win 8. This morning massage pops out that Windows is not activated.
It's must be noted that the requirement to get Windows 10 through Windows Update is only if you want to perform a clean install. If you use the ISO tool to install it, you just skip the cd-key and upgrade the installed OS, then it activates itself from within Windows So it's safe and fast to just update it with the ISO tool. Is there any way to recover the Insider activation or something? Exact same issue here. Same with DVDs, is it more than one disc? It does as it has the directories for both.
Download it if you need both, and just check the size before dumping to a USB. Upgrade to win 10 then do a reset Or, you can skip all this, go into the new recovery settings and do a full reset and reinstall Windows 10 automatically Does anyone know if I can upgrade to windows 10 from vista using a clean installation? You can, but your license won't be upgraded.
You will be running a non-Genuine copy of Windows unless you purchase a Windows 10 license key or sign up for the Windows Insider program. The licence wouldn't matter in this case anyway - it's Vista so doesn't get a free upgrade. So purchase a new licence key or have MSDN or go the insider path, and do a clean install from there.
Doesn't Windows, since Windows 8, have built in Refresh and Restore options, the latter of which basically formats the hard drive and reinstall Windows automatically? Correct me if I'm wrong.
Definitely a fresh install for me. New components may be on the cards too. While this is closer to a clean install I don't consider it completely clean. I don't lik my OS drives to be quick formatted. I have not seen that anybody mentioned it, but for all students that have access to free Microsoft software via Dreamspark, you can download Win10 iso, put it on the USB or DVD and install clean copy on your system, like usually You will get a new serial key, independent of your previous downloads Win 7 or 8.
During clean install, we would definitely format the previous partition then why we need to first upgrade previous version to Windows 10? It means during clean install you don't need to give installation key and windows will be activated by itself. First sorry for my english-I'm from Poland.
I done clean installation exactly like you, but I don't downloaded Windows 10 twice, I only downloaded once and check prepare pendrive. Why did Edge disappear? Taskbar was unresponsive and I fixed that, but Edge disappeared? It looks like it just uninstalled. I can find the shortcut but it doesn't open anything. Please help!
So what if I have windows XP. Can't I install windows 10 by just purchasing windows 10 and installing it after a format of the hard drive. Does an upgrade write this over? Doesn't matter in my case, yet wondering. The product key is tied to the motherboard bios right? So if I clean install Windows 10 on a new hard drive will it find the product key?
How to download "get windows 10 app". I upgraded to Windows 10 via Windows update but I performed the reinstallation of windows 10 from the settings app and selecting the restore option, choosing to delete everything. Is this thing giving the same result of the formatting option said in the article? Or maybe there is still some windows 8. Once i upgraded my network connection didn't work perfectly I try to install the new versions of the drivers for my mother board but it didn't work Officially I don have internet connection on Windows That's easy enough BUT what are you all doing about booting off of a thumb drive on a surface pro?
Mine isn't doing it. For devices with UEFI security you have to set up your usb stick in a different way. Have a look on Google. Even specific ones for the SP3. Sent from mobile. Im interested to know how to clean install win 10 on surface 3 and pro 3. I called ms and they didnt really provide a solution. I'd like to of course have everything intact so when I do a reset it still works perfectly.
Can I use my windows 7 product key, after upgrading and then doing a clean install for win 10? As mentioned by several users above, you don't need to enter the product key during the clean install after you have performed the upgrade first. Microsoft may have associated you're hardware information as licensed. My test procedure: 1. Clean install a Windows 7 with OEM product key on my machine label 2. Upgrade activated Win7 to Win10 using the Windows update method 3. Format already installed Win10 4.
Perform a clean install of Windows 10 with USB 5. Do not enter skip any product key during the installation process 6. After the installation is completed, Windows 10 is already activated.
I already did an upgrade of my Windows 8. So if I do a fresh install of Windows 10 in this machine, I need to use my key for Windows 8. Can I also use this new cd key to make a fresh installation of Windows 10? You do not use your key from 8. After the upgrade, make sure that the upgraded W10 is activated. Once activated, you can then do a clean install of W10, and when asked for a key simply skip entering it. Once the clean install is completed, it should already be activated. Because the activation server will recognize your hardware and activate it.
Changed your hardware? I just did a factory reset and windows 10 upgrade was automatic. Works perfectly I dnt get update but tray r showing. Right-click the unallocated space on the drive and select the New Simple Volume option. Specify partition size for a new drive Click the Next button.
Assign a drive letter to the new partition on Windows 10 Click the Next button. New partition format settings on Windows 10 Clear the Enable file and folder compression option. After you complete the steps, the partition should format with the settings you specified, and it should now be available for use in File Explorer.
To ease your burden, you can try free back up software - EaseUS Todo Backup Free to create a full back up your data every day by creating an automatic backup plan. It's essential that you should always be careful with operations that will remove data and files on your computer. For example, you need to make sure that you don't delete wrong files, format a false storage device, or wipe a wrong hard drive or partition.
As we know that viruses or malware infection may cause unexpected data loss issues on your storage devices, like GPT disk partition. We suggest you always install reliable antivirus software to scan and clean up your computer and devices regularly. On this page, we included the whole process to guide you to install Windows 10 on a GPT disk partition. To complete the whole process, you need to execute the following operations:. During the process, If you are faced with "The selected disk is the GPT partition style" error, you can refer to Part 1 to convert the disk to GPT with the help of reliable partition manager software and continue installing Windows By the way, to avoid data loss, it is also of great importance to create a regular backup of your GPT partition data.
If you have more questions about Windows installation, check out the questions and answers as listed below:. If you want to manually create more partitions, you can manage GPT partitions on your own. In short, GPT disk support to create up to partitions. Daisy is the Senior editor of the writing team for EaseUS.
She has been working in EaseUS for over ten years, starting from a technical writer to a team leader of the content group. As a professional author for over 10 years, she writes a lot to help people overcome their tech troubles.