How To Do A Clean Install Of Windows 10

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It sure seems like doing a clean install gets more complicated with each new version of Windows.

Windows 10 is an unusual release for Microsoft: if you have a licensed version of Windows 7 or 8/8.1, it will very easily upgrade to Windows 10—you don't even need to enter a licence key. Clean installations, however, are a bit trickier: you do need to enter a licence key, and your Windows 7/8 key probably won't work.
 
Seems we are all being given the same 3-4 generic keys so the whole key/activation seems to be a waste of time.
 
Still don't fully understand what my key is though... It sounds like we are just skipping using a key all together once the media is made. I guess its matching the activation back to us by hardware ID? If so that's really crappy as I know a lot of us upgrade fairly often.
 
Belarc Advisor etc. will tell you the key.

Seems we all seem to have the same three or four keys.

Unless MS has screwed it up.
 
just use Generic keys. for clean installation
Windows 10 will activate itself once it is online

that is if you have upgraded first :)

for Retail keys:
if you change your motherboard/system. then you have to install Windows 7 or 8.1, then upgrade to windows 10 again. then the windows activation servers will know that this is now the machine. and it will be attached to that motherboard. then clean installing will be a breeze again.

read it somewhere :)
and tried and it indeed it works

much easier than windows XP/7/8/8.1 :)
 
SpasTas0917 said:
just use Generic keys. for clean installation
Windows 10 will activate itself once it is online

that is if you have upgraded first :)
Click to expand...

No key is needed for clean install if you have upgraded and activated previously. Just skip both times.
 
Yeah...It saves your keys on the microsoft side of things...and it's locked to your hardware when you re-install so the second time ( and future ones) you do it you can get a clean install.

It's going to cause problems when you want you upgrade your hardware thou....prob have to go through M$'s stupid telephone number code thing.

We'll see how it plays out in the long run.
 
The telephone activation system has had a load of new stuff added in so it now takes even longer. Was just about bearable before.

I found myself screaming "GET ON WITH IT!!!!" yesterday when I called up.

Yayyyy!
 
Bought a new computer for Win10 and I am going to have to install Win7, activate, install SP1, God only knows what other patches, upgrade to Win10, then do a fresh install :mad:
 
panhead said:
Bought a new computer for Win10 and I am going to have to install Win7, activate, install SP1, God only knows what other patches, upgrade to Win10, then do a fresh install :mad:
Click to expand...

I feel for you! Back before MS allowed upgrade keys for Windows 8 to go straight into the 8.1 ISO I was having to install Windows 8 preview, then install 8 Pro upgrade then do the updates and then slap 8.1 over the top.

Took a whole day to build a machine.
 
panhead said:
Bought a new computer for Win10 and I am going to have to install Win7, activate, install SP1, God only knows what other patches, upgrade to Win10, then do a fresh install :mad:
Click to expand...

You shouldn't have to do all of those things. You can just install Windows 7, activate it during the install, download an ISO of Windows 10 - and then toss it on. No SP needed.
During the initial upgrade install of Windows 10, tell it to "keep no files or settings" and you're 99% a clean install right then.
 
Domingo said:
You shouldn't have to do all of those things. You can just install Windows 7, activate it during the install, download an ISO of Windows 10 - and then toss it on. No SP needed.
During the initial upgrade install of Windows 10, tell it to "keep no files or settings" and you're 99% a clean install right then.
Click to expand...

99% isn't 100%

This whole process is still ridiculous
 
You're getting a free upgrade. Is having to do a minimal proof install of Windows 7 only once too much for MS to ask to prove you own a qualifying OS?

If you want a one shot clean install from day one you have that option. Buy a full copy of Win 10.

My only beef is needing to be able to pull the license code after the upgrade. I change hardware a LOT and don't want to rely on MS to figure out if my system is the same or not.
 
Advil said:
You're getting a free upgrade. Is having to do a minimal proof install of Windows 7 only once too much for MS to ask to prove you own a qualifying OS?

If you want a one shot clean install from day one you have that option. Buy a full copy of Win 10.

My only beef is needing to be able to pull the license code after the upgrade. I change hardware a LOT and don't want to rely on MS to figure out if my system is the same or not.
Click to expand...

Windows isn't free and it never has been. Windows 10 happens to be an upgrade without monetary cost (privacy cost aside). Windows just becomes more an more controlling and restricting of user behavior. Which is consistent with proprietary operating systems.
 
Can't you just buy retail windows 10 and clean install it on a new machine?
 
If their goal is to get everyone on the latest and greatest Windows version, why not just make it free to anyone that has a copy of Windows. I have 2 copies of 8, so no worries, but be a really cool thing for MS to do IMO.
 
Advil said:
You're getting a free upgrade. Is having to do a minimal proof install of Windows 7 only once too much for MS to ask to prove you own a qualifying OS?

If you want a one shot clean install from day one you have that option. Buy a full copy of Win 10.

My only beef is needing to be able to pull the license code after the upgrade. I change hardware a LOT and don't want to rely on MS to figure out if my system is the same or not.
Click to expand...

When I've got 25-30 systems to upgrade between my own systems and friends/family...yes, the whole process is absolutely asinine and time consuming. It's crap like this that drives paying consumers to piracy
 
daglesj said:
I feel for you! Back before MS allowed upgrade keys for Windows 8 to go straight into the 8.1 ISO I was having to install Windows 8 preview, then install 8 Pro upgrade then do the updates and then slap 8.1 over the top.

Took a whole day to build a machine.
Click to expand...
I must have an old ISO or something because I still had to install 8, patch it (over 144), then install 8.1 (patch that), and then hopefully install Windows 10.

I couldn't use my Win 8 key with 8.1. Currently halfway through 8.1 patching.

Maybe I don't have to patch but I don't want to use the Win 10 ISO and get it installed and find out that since I didn't update through the store my copy isn't activated. I couldn't update 8 to 8.1 with an ISO with my key, I had to do it through the store this morning.
 
Here is a guide I wrote for work:
This process will take 1-3 hours depending on your internet connection. Back up first
Please head to this page from Microsoft: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
Download and run the 64-bit version
Select """"""""Create installation media for another PC""""""""
Select """"Windows 10 Home"""" 64-Bit
Please follow the rest of the instructions to finish the USB creation.
After the download is complete and the media is created, select Finish.
Navigate to the USB drive and run setup.exe from the USB
Follow the prompts and directions from there.
 
I'm going to wait until they give you the option to have rounded out, smaller tiles. Otherwise, I like Win7 Pro. :)
 
im_electronic said:
Here is a guide I wrote for work:
This process will take 1-3 hours depending on your internet connection. Back up first
Please head to this page from Microsoft: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
Download and run the 64-bit version
Select """"""""Create installation media for another PC""""""""
Select """"Windows 10 Home"""" 64-Bit
Please follow the rest of the instructions to finish the USB creation.
After the download is complete and the media is created, select Finish.
Navigate to the USB drive and run setup.exe from the USB
Follow the prompts and directions from there.
Click to expand...

If I had win 7 pro or 8 pro before, doesn't that mean I have 10 pro?
 
Does anyone know if the tool they give you to make install media can create bootable UEFI installation? I'm trying to get a UEFI install going so I can use all of my 3TB on my spare rig.
 
LigTasm said:
Does anyone know if the tool they give you to make install media can create bootable UEFI installation? I'm trying to get a UEFI install going so I can use all of my 3TB on my spare rig.
Click to expand...

I used Rufus to make a Windows 10 UEFI boot thumb drive because I was installing onto a computer with an eMMC drive. That was the "insider" version of Windows 10 so I assume it will work with the full retail. If you don't have any luck with the Microsoft tool try Rufus.
 
Product Keys are passe now with Windows 10, the hardware hash - the unique fingerprint of the hardware the OS is installed on - is now what one might consider the "Product Key" in the long run - and is stored on Microsoft's servers. At any point and on the same hardware you can clean install Windows 10 (assuming you performed the upgrade install FIRST which is what the offer is: a free upgrade to Windows 10) anytime and as often as you feel necessary and you don't have to put in a Product Key (skip it both times during the install when it's requested).

As soon as the clean install is online, it'll contact Microsoft, say "Hey, it's me again, here's my fingerprint..." and when it matches what Microsoft has stored, it'll activate - no user intervention required, no "Activate now" button to press, etc.

It's just done automagically in the background.

No more Product Keys to worry about, no more Product Keys to pass around, no more Product Key keygens, etc - that's all a moot issue from now on. The only time Product Keys will be relevant is for Enterprise editions (because they're MAKs) and for true actual Retail purchases (included in the box with a COA).
 
LigTasm said:
Does anyone know if the tool they give you to make install media can create bootable UEFI installation? I'm trying to get a UEFI install going so I can use all of my 3TB on my spare rig.
Click to expand...

If your system is set for UEFI operation, making the USB stick using the Windows USB/DVD Download Tool will give you the capability to do a UEFI install if needed (there's an efi folder on the stick when it's made which will be detected during the boot process from the stick and you can take it from there. There are other tools that can create a stick in a similar manner but my recommendation is to use the tools Microsoft has already created and been using for several years now for that purpose.
 
LigTasm said:
Does anyone know if the tool they give you to make install media can create bootable UEFI installation? I'm trying to get a UEFI install going so I can use all of my 3TB on my spare rig.
Click to expand...




Rufus is good to make a boot disk, but I've found that it won't delete the partition to make a proper uefi boot disk. This is how to get around that.

1. Open a elevated command prompt and type diskpart
2. type list disk. note the number of the usb drive you want to erase.
3. type select disk x, X meaning the number of the usb drive.
4. type clean
5. You can then use rufus or the official tool to make the disc. If you use rufus, make sure it's set for uefi, not thae uefi with bios compatibility.
 
Just read the article and he made it harder than it has to be. If it's your first time, yes you do the upgrade from 7, but instead of choosing a upgrade you choose to not copy data. That way you aren't wasting a hour while the installer copies over your files and apps. Then you can go into update and security in the setting panel and choose "reset this PC" to get rid of the windows.old if you want.
 
You can just use good old Disk clean up to get rid of the previous build.
 
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