How To Clean Install Windows 10 On Your PC The Right Way [Guide]
Ready? Lets try this!
Backup:
Step 1: First and foremost, backup all your data either to a cloud-based service or perhaps an external harddrive.
Check system requirements:
Step 2: Make sure your pc meets minimum system requirements for Windows 10:
- CPU: 1GHz processor or faster
- RAM: 1GB for 32-bit / 2GB for 64-bit
- Storage space: 16GB for 32-bit / 20GB for 64-bit
- Graphics: DirectX 9 capable video card
Create a bootable Windows 10 drive:
Step 3: Get a spare USB flash drive with at the very least 4GB of free space making bootable Windows 10 drive from it by following the instructions here: How To Create Bootable Windows 10 USB Flash Drive [Guide].
Get this product key:
Step 4: If you have a Windows 10 product key, that’s good, or else, you will have to first avail Microsoft’s free upgrade offer before you can complete a clean install. Microsoft’s free upgrade offer requires you to definitely be either on genuine version of Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8.1 Update. You can upgrade for a free Windows 10 copy following our tutorial here: How To Download And Install Windows 10 Free Upgrade [Tutorial]. This may feel like pointless but it’s important and also the only way to acquire your free license from Microsoft.
Step 5: Once upgraded, make certain your copy of Windows 10 is activated. You can check this from Control Panel > System and Security > System.
Why is important? Windows product keys are associated with the hardware of your personal machine. When you avail Microsoft’s free offer of upgrading from Windows 7 or 8.1 to 10, Microsoft knows the pc hardware you upgraded on. Once upgraded and activated on Windows 10, you can perform clean install of Windows 10 each time - despite if completely formatting your hard disk - and will also remain activated providing it is done for a passing fancy hardware.
Boot from bootable USB flash drive:
Step 6: With the bootable USB plugged in, restart your PC. On begin, get into the BIOS settings of your personal machine and configure it on top of that from the USB flash drive. The procedure for entering and configuring BIOS is unique for every computer. If you don’t realize how to enter BIOS or boot from USB drive on your personal computer, make reference to the user manual it shipped with.
Installing Windows 10:
Step 7: Once you have booted through the USB flash drive, you'll be greeted with Windows 10 setup screen. Simply keep to the on-screen prompts, format (ensure that you have copied everything in Step 1 above first!) and select the hard disk you want to setup it on.
When prompted for product key during installation, type in the genuine Windows 10 product key should you have one. If you availed Microsoft free upgrade offer as explained in Step 4 above, simply skip the merchandise key page.
