The ultimate guide to reinstalling Windows lan Evenden takes on possibly the most boring yet essential task it’s possible to carry out on your PC. ny ener ond Prnrcrs) oor eeory eee ee Tet eee es common ishardware change~ days. And while a complete Serer ste ere Str ee et Perens Pe er er ees Pare rer eee Sorte ae eT A TTY and CPUs, i's worth doingitto your documents ifyou're not so. squeeze the maximum Peete ee eas pe eeeeetet seeea ere is nota diseussion of Loree Retr ene Dee ey right but how to doit. While See ee ee cee inside the operating system,a they allrely on being able o Tee eas ea ee ae eee en er oes inert cenit nt ames Ea eta runs. Maybe Windowsisjust_ connection. Do not let your PC lunbearablyslow, and youdon't _getso bad that you can’ fire up Panes eeeGetting stuck in you need v0 completely wipe your system and start again, there’ a bit of work todo Bist. You need a Windows PC, USB stick that’s BGB or larger (ora blank DVD-R in a writable drive), land the Media Creation too! fom www.mierosoft.com/en-us/ software-download/ windows10. Rum i, choose “create Installation Media, follow the promprs. ‘When it comes to full reinstall of Windows 10, ou will ned your product ey, oratleasta digital Ficense linked to your Microsoft account, Check “Settings > Update Security > Activation” Ifyousee the message "Windows is activated ‘with a digital licence” this means you're digitally signed, but you Should link that lense o your Mierosoe account in ease of installation feues or future hardware changes. Head to ‘Settings > Accounts > Your Info" sign in with your Mirosot« account fetails,and the message should change to "Windowsis activated witha digital licence associated with your Microsoft account.” [e’salso worth making a note of any product keys for your software “youcanereatealistofall the programs installed on your PC with ‘Powershell command, Run tas ‘an administrator, and type: Get-itemProperty HKLM Software\WowG432Node\ MerosottWindows\ CurrentVersion\ninstall\*| Select-Object Publisher, InstaliDate | Forms Table -AutoSize > CA\software.tt This creates fil called software. in the root of your © Arive with is of al your installed ad Aetiation ‘programs, sowhen you come to Feinsal them you won't forget one ‘Thine party freeware app DProdukey (wrw.nirsoft.net) will dligout your Windows product key And those for many otter programs. However, both Windows Wand Malwarebytes flagitas potentially harmful, and Windows refusestorunit,so we couldn't possibly tel you to go to "Windows Security” in*Sertings,” then choose “Appand Browser Control" tallow {to run anyway. That’sat your own, ris, obviously. Also, consider using password manager to safely hold allyour passwords, so you dont ‘need to worry about any that are sored on your PC geting lost We Tike Biewarden, as t's open source and free. ‘The last thing todo, if you've not Deen doing tall along, ito get Dacked up While it's possible to do an upgrade in pace of Windows 10, reainingall your documents bat replacing the OS and losing your Apps, i's noe a 100-percent Select anguage, architecture and ection foolproof process. Take a backup justin ease, tthe very least, ‘hove allyour documents onto an ‘external drive aslosing precious lgital memories an be heartbreaking In medias res By now, the Media Creation tol should have downloaded 10.and be ereating your ion media. The process is completely automatic, so you don't have to doanything except ‘watch the progress percentage {gethigher and higher. Eventually you'll get a message saying that ‘yout USB lash drive is eady, and 4°Finish button, Click and the installer leans up after itself and exits. Youre left witha bootable USB drive that you can use in a fev different ways Firstly, you can use ito perform an upgrade to your current machine. Double-click the Setup fle on your installation medium, and youl be aken tothe ‘Windows 10 setup app, which willinsal the OS over the top of ‘whatever you're running. Youve made your install medium from the latest version, But itchecks for updates anyway, before asking you what you'd ike to kep. Thisis important as it determines the extent ofthe cleansing that’s bout to happen to your system. Choose "Keep personal ies ‘and app ifyou watt come Dacktoa PC that hopefully funcsons better shan before, but Tools much the same and stil has allthe same aps installed ont “Keep personal files only"isa deeper wipe that takes outall your apps but retains your documents. “Nothing” isthe seorched-earth ‘option a good cholee youre_ ______ Going thraugh the Windows setup gives 14 tepteean owen, =) reinstaling before selling your PC z= Irlenves abottel noting behind 2 bartneos. 8 Whichever ofthese you cick, theresa brief pase we cheeks sent foryet more updates -precumahly aa = - Incase Mconftsnuc ne out til you were pondering what to ieep- beeen youtechance toreview our choles one st Local accounts tie Prewingtie"istit barton | Grestrg ala accom. on) Thnaplanis st hare animaarepasowori-eat fromthe-Reaiytoinsllsccen _opponsdtosyreed. though bet burned Open account. ong ato posse heginea proces tere 0 wy see Rar coe fal ee cat ree ete ape eeeet back rom tal adress used io be” Family ober users: and from standard ser to “Thectherthingyoucandowith _fedefauk woy of ee eee theinsallation medium youve feorsing operating tothePC:Ciccicont pecamard We rea ely Prepared ibtosickiinoanther _ystemMerosots ving have tha perso’ slgnin cont soppest youd hi, Fund use ito upgrade that Pere ceed eed aa eee ete ay machine. Whlethe USBstckor ‘Windows 10,homear ard that pope on thn-Adda” hae thats easly ned DD you prepared isbooabl, TeasingeMerecte | wero! alecranft| ”Leeal eceunt canbe youll alnpecerainy weed etoutharatotteestect sccaunt"inbe neitore, converted to Merostt, JMherinthe BIOS ofthe get, Gtremovng the option Fay youl beable toed eccount ter frm the machine omakesureitlooksfor create ala aceunt jer account tothe same scren, wile the main Sher botabl drive before GrranetalatonTNe compiler wtettyra Rta _aininaccnt ya crested ouinghemisCdtie ering mater segesotbo = aMerowah account Wut rng watafaton canbe imothe lOSisusualyamaterof sccnuntyournade dicing asked forthe name anda converted to lca account tammering DelorFl weit fetipisthePCsatiin password butany the fom Settnge> Accounts > POST tuiferenmanufacurers secant andsorewdetobe raneieneded=¥e our infas mmatetherBiOSesdiffreny,soswcire perfect poste te caste trehave litle sdvce offer on Changing the boot order Just have finpokingaround in there,and ty otto bres anything “The other thing you can do with the installation Rene or rewind] nowmuchstyaus | medium you've prepared is to stick it into another PC Atesetisamesserwaytodoall —_ycsusn hey and use it to upgrade that machine.” trove dane sbove, just wishout, Creating the seul installation ‘medium, Reseting only givesyou {woof the options you got withan Incpace upgrade: Keep your files, crkeep nothing. There's no “keep ‘pp option here, si that's important o you, youl need wo do the elnstal hough the instalation medium method You offered the choice ofa cloud dwatoad ofthe most recent ‘eraton of Windows 10, or using {everson already on your Pe Wei recommend the cloud download uaess your Cis not online or using dip. Is going {download more than 4GB, however Note thai youve recently updated, you wo be le torollback that update afterWindows activati Windows ativan ea kind 1 sper fun ting tet. foes wrong, shows you Fealy unetpful messages and gets you ta prone However you ont nave 2 licence ey to yp in during instalation andi isa Feinstalation onto a system tea toa Merosot account before theres one ting you ean da On the “satnge Spat & Security > ‘elvan page, clk “Troubeshent ou must be logge into your Miroeet you've finished the reset. This can be crucial fits a recent update tha’s causing you problem. Hit ‘Next and youl be offered one last chance to review your choices, before hitting the "Reset" button and letting it doit thing. you've recently updated your ion activated The vile then glves you alist of the Windows activations rogistored ta your account. Chek tne one you want to changes hardware” boxit necessary and activation you've purchases Windows one, your product key canbe found in the confirmation eal. Sometimes is printed on 2 sticker fed tothe bottom laptops. However nat activating Windows ~ despite acthating being Unequvacally the right hing to do doesn't reat limit suse, You get Fight of the screen saying it isnt activated, and youre prevented from changing the wallpaper away rom the blue Windows ga using "Personalise" (butcan stil Sets desktop background). Otherwise doesn't nag you. This may thange, but for now there's Ite penaty to act activating apart from the Sisintegraton of your sou, You can pay to activate at sy tine, should the guilt Windows 10 installation tothe latest version, an fel it’s not working out or could do with some more development time, you can rollitback, You ean do this from theo places, depending onthe state Your PCisin. Either in “Settings > Recovery” (you have tobe within 10 days of the offending updae’s installation, otherwise the option isnt available, orby booting fom an install medium and choosing “Repair your computer" from the stall now” sereen ‘licking this option gets you some interesting new toys to play ‘with You can restore froma Restore Poin, should you have one saved on your PC, and youcan reinstall Windows from a speciic dliskimage, or use Startup Repair to ixproblems that prevent ‘Windows rom loading. But we camehere for uninstaling problem updates, and the option is Fight thereon the left. Clickit, and you get Turther choices thelast ‘quality update or the ast feature Update. Quality updates tend robe hug fixes or security patches, while feature updates are the bigger releases, such asthe October 2020 update. Select the option you think iseausing the problem, and hitthe ‘uton touninstll There'sstilla chance it won't beable ool it back, especially ifi'sbeen installed fr a while, but is worth any, Rebuild, remake Backto our reinstall, and note wet sing the Oetober 2020 Update version of Windows 10, Home, as that's what was available at the time of writing IF you're reading this inthe Future, 1) Hello! How are the ying eats? 2) Your experience of installing ‘Windows 12 onto aquantum PCIe (62 SSD may be diferent ‘Once you've booted from the USB drive you're presented with screen that has aig, friendly “instal” button, and the much smaller repair option. Hit"Install” ‘and youl be prompted to choose your PCs language and keyboard Tayout, The next sereen i for activation. Ifyouhave itt hand, you.can put in your product key now and click“Nex," otherwise ick "Tdon’thavea product ey” at the bottom. Bath have the same effet the installation ‘continues burif you choose the latter youll need to activate Windows later [tthe next sereen, choose which version of the OS you ike Install This should exactly march the version your product key is fr, lorthe version you intend ro buy Tater. Most ofthe ime ll be Home, although the Pro versions ‘often available cheapoaline and ives access to interesting features, ‘suchas the builtin hypervisor, otCamm BitLocker encryption, The "N versions of Windows don't come ‘with certain apps such as Skype, simes, and its not long before youre facing the terrifying words Hi, fm Cortana, and fm hereto Windows Media layer and the voice recorder. The N versions are ‘only forsale in Europe, while a KN ‘version is for South Korea, and they cexistpurely for tedious legal reasons involving eourtalings from 2004 (2005 in South Korea), Ifyou see ether ofthese versions, feel freeto ignore them. Even youre inoneof heaected jurisdictions, you don't have to Install an “N° version =the usta help” Ignore her, unless you ned assistive technology, and go onto Select your region and keyboard. layout | Youth lef waiting afew imes during this setup process, bu the next sereen asks you to create an | account lewantsanemailaddres, ‘Skype I, oF phone number to fence you could ereate a local ‘acount and access the OS the create a Microsofe account. Where version is available roo. Pick your version, hit Nex, accept the license erm, and you're Faced with anather choice: Upgrade (only works if there's alreadya copy ‘of Windows installed on the PC, land keeps your files, settings, and applications) or“Custom." The Tater s for machines without an ‘oldsfashioned way, now you have co Sign into a Microsoft account the first time you use it. You can create Alocal account later ~ see “Local Accounts” on page 87. Give yout [MS account address and password, and youl be prompted choose PIN for Windows Helo | Next youre into privacy settings. fyou'e nor sure what to choose completely destructive reinstall. It | when confronted with the wall of privacy sectngs, then pays to err Tets Yu format the disk partition you e installing ono, and ‘completely sets up your PCasifit ‘was new: Ifyou choose “Custom,” you are happy with the way your “rivesare sec up and haveclcked ‘na partition receive the OS, the ‘ery next sereen once you press “Next” begins copying forthe installation. The only way back from here isto se the red Xbutton tocancel, and begin the proces all cover again Hit"Next” however, and you might aswel sit back and have a coffe. The insallarion process froma USB drives fast and doesnt callon you until itstimeto crete ‘an account and sign in for the first time Is also relatively fst, specially fyoucan recall, installing Windows XP fom CD, or 3.1 from floppies Itrestartsa few ‘onthe side ofeaution. youve Ces our Jacked off something you later decide you can use, then it’s possible to change asettng later. The only ‘ones we eave on are “Find My Device,” and "Location Services” justin case we lose our PC Somewhere. Next, you're asked to connect an Android phone 1 see your texts and notifestions appear i Windows notifications, bu ou fan hiethe Do ilater” button to skip this step. ‘Nextis OneDrive. Thre button inthe bottomleft corner ofthe screen that lets you skip this step ~*Only save files to this PC.” Otherwise, -Next” takes youtoa screen activating Cortana, You can "accep," or say "Not Now: Eventually after awaitofafew minutes, youl get your desktop ‘withan adver for Edge inthe ‘corner. The fist thing to dois ta change the desktop resolution to that of your monitor and then the restis upto you although Ninite and driver and chipset installation isa good start). Be