Windows 10: Clean install of a new SSD

I recently installed a new ssd for my OS, some a game and some programs off a USB stick. Now I have a two system reserved (D and (E with nothing in them, I'm assuming there is some hidden files but I'.m curious if I can delete them to regain the little bit of space (I know its not much) and to clear things up?

Secondly is it safe to reformat my old boot drive, the one with windows and windows.old? I have everything off of it and put onto a third drive for now but I want to make the old drive my secondary



:)

 

Clean Install Workaround for Vista

You may remember this news story on techPowerUp! a couple of days ago relating to the lack of clean installs when using the Upgrade Editions of Vista, which required an old OS to be installed. However, Paul Thurrott has managed to find a workaround for this issue, which ironically lets users do a clean install Vista without any previous version of Windows, albeit a little tedious. Here are the steps:

• Boot from the Windows Vista Upgrade DVD as normal
• When prompted for a product code, leave this blank
• Select the version of Vista you have purchased and let Vista install
• When you boot to your desktop for the first time, run the Vista setup from Windows
• This time enter your product key
• When asked whether you want to do an Upgrade of Custom install, select custom and choose a clean install
• Windows will now install for a second time and you should be able to activate it

Remember, these steps are only advised for use in order to achieve a clean install of Vista, it is only legal to use the upgrade editions if you have previously purchased the appropriate version of Windows.

Source: DailyTech

 

Win10 clean install on Samsung SSD 850 EVO

BLUF: SSD is not listed ubder "Where do you want to install Windows?"

Steps Complete:

1. I've create a Win10 bootable install usb.

2. I connect the new Samsung SSD 850 EVO via SATA.

3. I reboot PC and verify SSD is seen by the motherboard/BIOS

4. Begin Win10 install via usb.

5. Get to "Where do you want to install Windows?" and the SSD is not listed

Problems:

1. Samsung does not offer a driver for the 850 on their website

2. Cannot locate driver elsewhere

Unsuccessful Mitigations Steps Attempt:

A. Format & partition SSD via Windows Disk Management, then retried steps 1-5 above....same result

B. Clone existing HHD onto SSD via "Image for Windows" by TeraByte, then verified SSD contents via Windows Explorer....similar result

Can you please offer some advice on locating a driver for a Samsung SSD 850 EVO 1TB drive? Or an alternative method?

Thank you

 

Clean install of 10 on new SSD


I am about to get a new 240Gb SSD and have been advised to clean install Windows 10 on it. This SSD will replace a SATA HDD in my existing computer running Windows 8.1. I know that I qualify for the free upgrade; I have the "Get 10" icon on my task bar.

My first question is, can I get the 10 installation media without buying it and if so, how?

Do I need to upgrade the computer to 10 before replacing the OS hard drive with the new SSD and clean installing?

I'm not very knowledgeable about these processes so I apologize if my language is incorrect. If somebody could give me a step by step process guide to achieve this, I would be most grateful.