Windows 10 clean install keep files free download. How to do a clean install of Windows 10: Which option is best for you?

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
If you don’t have install media, see instructions: How to download official Windows 10 ISO files. Review the following guide for instructions and details. In the first set of options, choose Keep My Files (best choice if you’re planning to reuse the PC yourself) or Remove Everything (if you’re. Method 1: Repair install Windows 10/11 without losing any data; Method 2: Fresh install.
 
 

Windows 10 clean install keep files free download. Download Windows 10

 
If you had an activated Windows 10, Http://replace.me/9068.txt will activate automatically after clean installing. In my experience, this can prevent a large number of compatibility-related glitches in the Windows setup process.

HP PCs – Installing the latest version of Windows 10 | HP® Customer Support

You need to be an administrator to run this tool. On the License terms page, if you accept the license terms, select Accept. On the What do you want to do? Your copy of Windows 10 will automatically activate later using your digital license. Select Change what to keep to set whether you would like to Keep personal files and apps , or Keep personal files only , or choose to keep Nothing during the upgrade.

It might take some time to install Windows 10, and your PC will restart a few times. Before you download the tool make sure you have: An internet connection internet service provider fees may apply.

Sufficient data storage available on a computer, USB or external drive for the download. System requirements. Make sure the PC meets the system requirements for Windows We also recommend going to the PC manufacturer’s website for additional info about updated drivers and hardware compatibility.

Language in Windows. You’ll need to choose the same language when you install Windows Edition of Windows. You should also choose the same edition of Windows. For more info, go to the Volume Licensing Service Center. Microsoft Office products. If you just purchased a new device that includes Office , we recommend redeeming installing Office before upgrading to Windows For more information, check How to upgrade to Windows 10 on new devices that include Office Using the tool to create installation media: Select Download tool now , and select Run.

If you agree to the license terms, select Accept. Any content on the flash drive will be deleted. Any image, link, or discussion of nudity. Any behavior that is insulting, rude, vulgar, desecrating, or showing disrespect. Any behavior that appears to violate End user license agreements, including providing product keys or links to pirated software.

Unsolicited bulk mail or bulk advertising. Any link to or advocacy of virus, spyware, malware, or phishing sites. Any other inappropriate content or behavior as defined by the Terms of Use or Code of Conduct.

Any image, link, or discussion related to child pornography, child nudity, or other child abuse or exploitation. Details required : characters remaining Cancel Submit 48 people found this comment helpful.

Was this comment helpful? Try making your hard disk be the default boot device in the BIOS and see if allows you to boot into Windows 10 without going into setup again. I’m not sure what you mean by “default boot device”. My boot order is DVD then hard drive. The hard drive had an old Windows 8. When I tried to install a bunch of updates, I could no longer boot from the hard drive. That’s when I decided to just scrap 8. But I’m not sure that’s my problem. If I pull the DVD and try to boot off the hard drive I get this error, in plain text on a black background:.

Details required : characters remaining Cancel Submit 14 people found this comment helpful. If you are in the OOBE for Windows 10, why would you need to be booting from the Windows 10 install media again except for installing Windows 10 again?

When this phase of setup is complete, Windows will automatically restart and reboot into setup again. Which means, all necessary files would have already been copied from the disc to facilitate the installation. As I said, and you quoted, I’m in the step before where I see the “Windows needs to restart..

I now have the Tech Preview running. Thanks for writing this up. Disappointed to hear that I cannot use the upgrade to do a clean install initially. Hope that changes, but probably won’t hold my breath.. I did the free upgrade of my Windows 7 and now want to reinstall Windows 10 using a clean install.

I’m a bit anxious from nature so I first looked up whether my installation of Win10 is activated and which product key is used. More curious:. I got even another key which is neither my Win7 key nor the Insider Preview key. What key should I put in when I’m prompted to activate Windows 10 after the clean install?

Details required : characters remaining Cancel Submit 17 people found this comment helpful. What, when my hardware changes? Yes there’s much information about that but only from 3rd-party. Do I need to do the upgrade again? Do I still get the free upgrade? If not, can I at least use my ‘old’ Windows which I before used to upgrade to Win10 or is the license not valid anymore you say one can only ‘go back’ 30days lonng.

How’s all that with Germany: Here a hardware-change afaik cannot ‘invalidate’ the license. Choose where you want to search below Search Search the Community.

What is the Digital Entitlement or Digital License? Learn more here The Windows logo will appear on screen, this might be here for a while, as long as you see the animating dots, everything should be ok.

Select your Language, Time and Keyboard method then click Next. Click Install now Windows 10 setup will prompt you for a product key during installation a couple times. The copy of Windows 10 you download and upgrade from will correspond with the edition of Windows you have installed, if it does not, this is why you might be experiencing problems activating: Windows 7 Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Windows 8.

Select the drive then click New NOTE : If you have multiple partitions listed, select each one starting at the bottom , then click delete until there is only a single one unallocated drive displayed in the window.

Just sign in at Office. If you use a standalone email client, you need to add account information to it. After installing Office , you have access to Microsoft Outlook, and running Outlook for the first time prompts you to enter your email accounts. I also recommend adding your email accounts to the built-in Mail and Calendar client in Windows 10, even if you plan to always use a browser for a web-based account such as Gmail.

Add your Gmail account and set the option to sync just your calendar and contacts. With those settings, you can see your calendar in agenda format any time by clicking the date in the taskbar.

Thanks to the Files On-Demand feature, you can browse, edit, and manage all of your OneDrive files as if they were stored locally. To set up OneDrive, click its File Explorer icon and sign in using either your personal Microsoft account of the work account associated with your Office Business or Enterprise account. When that update’s installed, you can configure which files and folders you want to keep synced to your local PC and which should stay in the cloud until they’re needed.

A relatively new OneDrive feature makes it possible to back up your Desktop, Documents, and Pictures to your personal OneDrive account. Click to select or clear any folder if you want to sync only the Documents folder, for example and then click Start Protection.

Your existing files are moved to the new location, merged with any files that are already there, and then synced on the local device. If you prefer Dropbox, Box, or Google Drive, download the sync client for that service, sign in with your account, and begin syncing. Windows 10 does a respectable job of finding and installing generic drivers for just about every component in a modern PC.

Still, it’s worth checking to see if your system has any obscure devices that require custom drivers to unlock their full set of features.

First things first, though. Before installing a new driver or making any other system changes, make sure System Restore is enabled. If the entry to the right of your system drive says On, you’re set. It’s worth checking the manufacturer’s page for the PC you’re upgrading to see if there are any custom drivers or utilities that need to be installed.

The same holds true for peripherals. For a Microsoft keyboard or mouse, for example, you might need to install the Microsoft Mouse and Keyboard Center software shown here.

If you have an all-in-one printer or scanner that requires special control software, this is a good time to download the latest version and confirm that all the hardware is working properly. When you install Windows 10 Pro on a new PC and sign in with a local account or a Microsoft account, you get more than you bargained for.

Specifically, you get some unexpected and probably unwanted third-party apps splattered onto your Start menu, including Candy Crush Soda Saga, Bubble Witch 3 Saga, and March of Empires. They don’t take up much room, but they’re worth clearing away if you’re not going to use them. The easiest way to avoid this crapware is to sign in with an Active Directory domain or Azure AD account.

If that’s not an option, open Start and right-click the tile for any app you want to remove. The menu option varies depending on whether the app is actually installed or is just a shortcut.

You can also remove some but not all of the Microsoft apps preinstalled with Windows For a full list, see: Windows 10 apps: Which are worth keeping? Which ones should you dump? After going through all the work of crafting a clean install, it would be a shame to have to do it all over again after a data disaster such as a system drive failure.

The much less painful alternative is to restore that drive from an image-based backup. You’ll need an external hard disk—at least as large as the amount of space in use on the system drive and ideally the same size as your system drive.

The capability to back up and restore a system image is in the Windows 7 Backup and Restore program, which is included with Windows 10, albeit well hidden. As an alternative, you can run the command Sdclt. Click Create A System Image from the column on the left, choose your external hard disk as the location where you want to save the backup, and then click Next.

On the following page, all partitions on the system drive should be selected. Click Next and then click Start Backup. For detailed instructions on how to use this old but still useful utility, see my Windows 10 tip: Create a full image backup using this hidden tool. After that task is done, consider using File History for ongoing backups. File History saves copies of data files at regular intervals every hour, by default giving you the option to roll back to an earlier version of an individual file or restore all data from a system after you reinstall Windows.

In the first set of options, choose Keep My Files best choice if you’re planning to reuse the PC yourself or Remove Everything if you’re selling the PC or turning it over to someone else. If you choose 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.

You can skip that step if you’re resetting the PC for your own use. Looking for technical information about Windows 10 releases, new features, known issues, troubleshooting, and tech support? Start here. Beginning with Windows 10 version , the Reset This PC feature allows you to choose whether you want to reinstall Windows using the currently installed copy or download a fresh copy from the cloud.

Note that the Cloud Download option will use up to 4 GB of data. The reset process is the best option if you 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 system files are damaged or corrupted. This option gives you the most control over the clean install process. It also requires more than average technical skills and, usually, some post-installation futzing to get all hardware working properly and to ensure that the right features are available.

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 you did the installation without formatting the system drive first, you’ll need to clean up the Windows. A clean install is the ultimate troubleshooting technique, but it’s also the best way to repurpose a device you no longer need or to get a fresh start.

By my count, there are four ways to do a clean install. Here are the pros and cons of each.