How to Complete a Clean, Fresh Installation of Windows 10

A new installation of Windows 10 will clear all data from your system. So, the first thing you should do is to take a backup of the data on an external drive such as a USB drive.

Now check the properties of your computer. Under the System type, it will be shown whether your system uses a 32-bit operating system or a 64-bit operating system. Note it down because installation files are different for these operating system types.

Now visit the following page to download Windows 10

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

The download option will first download a tool to know that you have a license to install windows 10. Download and run this tool. Now follow these steps:

  • Select Create installation media for another PC and click Next
  • Select Language, Edition (Windows 10 Pro), and Architecture (64-bit (x64)) and click Next
  • Select USB Flash Drive in media to use. and click Next
  • Select the USB Drive and Windows 10 will start downloading on the USB Drive.
  • When the USB Flash Drive is ready, click Finish. The Media Creation Tool will download Windows 10 and create a bootable USB drive.
  • Now restart the computer and open BIOS Setup. I performed the installation on Dell Latitude E6430. On this laptop, you can access System Setup by pressing the <F2> key and Bring up the one-time boot menu by pressing the <F12> key as mentioned here:

https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-us/latitude-e6430s/late6430s_om-v1/boot-sequence?guid=guid-39ea0288-9174-49b6-aba2-37c542a11fc5&lwp=rt

  • Under Boot, make Removable Devices appear on top of the list. Save the changes. The computer will now boot from a USB drive, and the Windows Setup screen will appear.
  • Click Install Now.
  • Enter the product key or you may also skip it.
  • Accept the License Terms
  • Select Custom: Install Windows Only
  • You will see Partition 1: System Reserved and Partition 2.
  • Delete both partitions so that you only see ‘Drive 0 Unallocated Space
  • Now create two partitions. You will now have Drive 0 Partition 1 (System Reserved); Drive 0 Partition 2, and Drive 0 Partition 3. Select Drive 0 Partition 2 to install Windows. Also, format Partition 2 and Partition 3.
  • Click Next. Installation will begin
  • Make sure you remove the USB when the computer restarts so it does not boot again from USB.
  • Upon restart, it will again ask for the product key, but you can even skip it here.
  • You can now select custom or express settings.
  • Select ‘I own it’ in response to Who owns this PC.
  • Skip signing in to the Microsoft Account.
  • You may create an account for this PC. Leave the password blank. You can create a password later on.

This ends the process.

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