How to clean install Windows 10 from USB
There are many reasons to do a fresh install of Windows 10. Rebooting problems are the most common. In this example a HP Pavilion Laptop will not turn on and when it does it will not accept any password.
First we must try Advanced options by clicking 'Windows Key' plus 'b' and 'Power' then hit 'F2'. If System Restore keeps looping to a critical error it is time for a fresh install of Windows 10.
First we must try Advanced options by clicking 'Windows Key' plus 'b' and 'Power' then hit 'F2'. If System Restore keeps looping to a critical error it is time for a fresh install of Windows 10.
Download Bootable Windows 10 to a USB
- Download the latest Windows 10 Media Creation Tool from here.
- Follow the Instructions to create installation media to USB to install on a different computer.
- Once downloaded, run the tool. When asked “What do you want to do?“, select the “Create installation media for another PC” and click “Next“.
- Select the relevant language and Windows 1o version from the selection field. There’s also an option to select 32-bit or 64-bit variant of Windows. Select your desired choices and Click “Next“.
- Insert the necessary USB flash drive into a free USB port on the computer. Make sure the drive is formatted correctly and has at least 4GB of available storage space. It’s best to actually use an entirely empty drive for this process as all the existing content will be overwritten.
- Make sure that “USB flash drive” is selected, and click “Next“.
- The tool will then download the relevant files and create a USB bootable version of Windows 10. Hit the “Finish” button when done to end the process.
- You can now use this USB flash drive during initial boot of your PC and do a fresh clean install of Windows 10.
How to use the USB installation to install Windows 10
- Ensure that the computer is switched OFF
- Attach the USB flash drive on the PC where you want to install Windows 10.
- Restart your PC.
- If your PC does not automatically boot to the USB, you might have to open a boot menu or change the boot order in your PC's BIOS or UEFI settings. To open a boot menu or change the boot order, you'll typically need to press a key (such as F2, F12, Delete, or Esc) immediately after you turn on your PC. For this laptop we held the 'Power' button and clicked on F10 until the BIOS menu appeared on screen.
- Choose USB
- Use the arrows and Enter button to confirm the setup.
- After this, your computer should be able to restart straight into the Windows installer.
- After rebooting you should see the Language select screen. From here, simply select your desired language, time and currency format, and keyboard input. Then press Next to continue.
- On the next screen simply press the “Install now” button.
- You’ll need to agree to the Microsoft EULA before you can continue. Read it (…or not) and tick the checkbox before pressing “Next”.
- To perform a clean install, you’ll need to select the “Custom: Install Windows only” option.
This next part may be a bit tricky if you have multiple hard drives or partitions. You’ll need to delete the 'primary partition' and the 'system partition'. To ensure a 100% clean install it’s better to fully delete these instead of just formatting them.
After deleting both partitions you should be left with some unallocated space. Select it and click the “New” button to create a new partition.
By default, Windows inputs the maximum available space for the partition, press “Apply“.
After creating the new partition(s), select the primary one and press “Next”. The Windows setup should now begin.
Warning: If the “Press any key to boot from USB/DVD…” screen appears while restarting DO NOT PRESS ANY KEY! Pressing one will result in starting the install all over again.
After creating the new partition(s), select the primary one and press “Next”. The Windows setup should now begin.
Warning: If the “Press any key to boot from USB/DVD…” screen appears while restarting DO NOT PRESS ANY KEY! Pressing one will result in starting the install all over again.
Do I need a product key to reinstall Windows 10?
Since Microsoft has your computer’s ‘digital signature’ from the initial upgrade it recognises the combination of components when you do a clean install and automatically activates Windows. This means you can safely skip the screen which asks for a product key at the start of the installation process.
It’s just frustrating that there’s no message to tell you this: the screen is primarily for those installing a version of Windows 10 they’ve purchased and which therefore still requires a key.
So, even if you skip that screen on installation, Windows 10 should activate as long as you haven’t made any major changes to your PC. Upgrading from a hard disk to an SSD won’t affect anything, nor will changing your graphics card. However, upgrading your motherboard and processor will probably count as ‘significant’ and you’ll have to ring Microsoft’s support line if you find that Windows is no longer activated, or you’re reinstalling it.
Since Microsoft has your computer’s ‘digital signature’ from the initial upgrade it recognises the combination of components when you do a clean install and automatically activates Windows. This means you can safely skip the screen which asks for a product key at the start of the installation process.
It’s just frustrating that there’s no message to tell you this: the screen is primarily for those installing a version of Windows 10 they’ve purchased and which therefore still requires a key.
So, even if you skip that screen on installation, Windows 10 should activate as long as you haven’t made any major changes to your PC. Upgrading from a hard disk to an SSD won’t affect anything, nor will changing your graphics card. However, upgrading your motherboard and processor will probably count as ‘significant’ and you’ll have to ring Microsoft’s support line if you find that Windows is no longer activated, or you’re reinstalling it.
Sources:
https://www.redmondpie.com/how-to-create-bootable-windows-10-usb-flash-drive-guide
https://www.groovypost.com/howto/clean-install-Windows-10/
https://www.redmondpie.com/how-to-create-bootable-windows-10-usb-flash-drive-guide
https://www.groovypost.com/howto/clean-install-Windows-10/