Windows 10: Clean Install Partitions Query

My laptop has become somewhat slow to login and switch between accounts. I want to do a clean install. See the partition map below. The 500GB SSD has two main partitions - C: for system files and X: for backups. I'm happy to wipe C: and the other system partitions but want to retain X:. What options do I select when doing a clean install to preserve drive / partition X:




:)

 

W7 Hard drive partition issue

to get rid of that 100 meg windows partition that setup creates for you on a new install on a blank hdd:

- press shift+f10 when on the partition management screen in setup <-- this opens a command prompt
- diskpart <-- start the windows command line partition management tool
- list disk <--- list the installed hdds in this computer for the next step
- select disk 0 <- might have to replace 0 with the number of the correct disk
- clean <-- this will erase all data on the disk you selected one step up- dont use the wrong disk!
- create partition primary <- creates a primary partition taking up all space on the drive, adjust the command if necessary
- exit, exit to exit diskpart and the command prompt
- click refresh in partition manager and select your newly created partition and install to that

 

Clean Install Windows 10 partition issue

Hello,

Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.

I appreciate the troubleshooting steps performed to resolve the issue. However, let’s try with the further troubleshooting steps and see if it works. Initially, I would suggest you to create a bootable media with a USB/Flash drive of capacity 8GB.
For better understanding, you may watch the video with the procedure from the article on
How to Clean Install Windows 10 on a PC Step-by-Step
Guide.

Set the boot priority to USB once after creating a bootable media using a USB and proceed with the Windows Installation. On the drive selection window, press Shift + F10 keys to open the Command Prompt. Then follow the steps listed
below:

• Type the following command in the Command Prompt window and press Enter:
  diskpart
  
• Once after executing the above command, type the following command to list the current drives and press Enter:
  list disk
  
• List disk will give you the list of drives, use the following command to select the drive and press Enter: select disk 0
  
• Type the following command to check if the disk is online: online disk
  (if the disk is not online)
  
• Type the following command to clean the drive and press Enter:
  clean
  
• To create a partition, type the following command and press Enter:
  create partition primary
  
• To select the partition that you created, type the following command and press Enter:
  select partition 1
  
• To set the partition active, type the following command and press Enter:
  active (if this is the boot partition)
  
• Type the following command to assign a drive letter and press Enter:
  assign letter(letter)
  

• After completing all this, close the command prompt screen and click on
  refresh button.
  
• Then you will only have one drive with “unallocated space”, just select the partition to start the installation.
  

Let us know how it goes and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Regards,

Mala S

Microsoft Community - Moderator

 

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