Windows 10: Clean install windows 10

I switched to pc recently and I want to do a clean install of windows 10. I read somewhere on reddit or elsewhere that explains how to do clean install. My concern is in the pics that shows lots of partitions. I do not know what to delete and what to keep. And if I do a clean install of windows 10, do I need a new product key or need to remember it before wiping the hard drive clean?

UPDATE - for some reason I can't upload pictures on here?

On pics, it shows the information on the window where i was trying to install windows.
Name / Total Size / Free Space / Type
Drive 0 Partition 1 - 128.0 MB 128.0 MB MSR (reserved)
Drive 0 Partition 2: New Volume - 931.4 GB 931.4 GB Primary
Drive 1 Partition 1: Recovery - 450 MB 436.0 MB Recovery
Drive 1 Partition 2 - 99.0 MB 69.0 MB System
Drive 1 Partition 3 - 16.0 MB 16.0 MB MSR (reserved)
Drive 1 Partition 4 - 231.4 GB 88.3 GB Primary
Drive 1 Partition 5 - 905.0 MB 352.0 MB Recovery

I assume Drive 0 is the 1TB 7200 RPM HDD and Drive 1 is the samsung m.2 nvme ssd 250gb.
I plan on replacing the 1TB drive for a SSD samsung 850 evo in a few days. I guess my main drive is the m.2 ssd with the OS. I want to wipe everything but keep the recovery partition and whatever partition that shouldn't be deleted. Tips? I haven't done this in years when i switched to Mac 5 years ago.

:)

 

Windows 10 Reset (clean OS install + disk clean) - "There was a problem resetting your PC. No changes were made"

Hi Alastair,

We understand that you are facing performance issue and are unable to reset your computer. Just to verify, what version of Windows operating system did you try to reinstall?

For help to get this issue fixed, we recommend that you refer to Recovery options in Windows 10
, then follow the steps provided under the Use installation media to restore or reset your PC as this the most effective way to restore your Windows 10.

Please let us know if the link helps you to resolve the problem.

 

Windows 10 Reset (clean OS install + disk clean) - "There was a problem resetting your PC. No changes were made"

Hi there

Thanks for clarifying.

I want to reinstall Windows 10 AND also make sure that the disk is fully cleaned (as I am about to sell the PC).

Based on your reply, I downloaded the fresh install tool and proceeded - it worked fine and I have a clean install of Windows 10 now.

However, I don't think this will have fully cleaned the files from the disk. It only took 1 hour or so to do the clean install so I think it probably just deleted the file locations register not the files themselves.

How do I make sure the hard disk has had all the files deleted from it?

Thanks for your further help.

 

Hi,
1. Activation is automatic if you have previously installed Win 10.
2. Partitions - simple rule- delete all partitions but data partitions. Data partitions are the ones you personally have created and have labelled (hopefully!). You have some system partitions replicated. Delete all system partitions.

(You may prefer to use a partition manager to delete partitions)

3. SSD: Do your clean onto your SSD so you use AHCI protocol not IDE (faster), otherwise you will be faced with a conversion if you want to swap from HDD to SSD later. (There's a tutorial on that in the Tutorial section).

Best just do it when you have the right SSD.

4. It may be wiser only to have your system disk connected when you install the OS. Your system disk should be Disk 0 as seen when installing Windows.

5. Before deleting partitions, make sure you have backed up or extracted any data you need.

6. I don't know what Recovery partition you are thinking of keeping.. the only one that would possibly be of interest would be one that came with your PC when bought so you could restore it as new - that would be perhaps 4-8Gb. The Recovery partition created by Windows supports automatic repair and the Advanced Startup options.

7. Image
To add a screenshot here, click the Insert Image button above your post to the left of the video icon, browse to your image, upload it. png, jpg accepted e.g.

Clean Install Windows 10 Installation Upgrade Tutorials
Download Windows 10 ISO File Installation Upgrade Tutorials
Create Bootable USB Flash Drive to Install Windows 10 Installation Upgrade Tutorials
(or burn it to a DVD if you have a DVD drive)

Please note that by default you will now get build 1709 - the 'Fall/Autumn Creator's Build' - very recently released. Some people are experiencing some difficulties, as you can read in the forum, and some minor bugs are appearing.

Once you do have your new sparkly Win 10 installed and running satisfactorily, before installing more or configuring it, start routinely creating and updating a disk image to a large enough external drive or other storage. We recommend Macrium reflect (free) - there are others. This helps you rescue yourself from difficulties by restoring your Windows and other disks and partitions to a previous working state, quickly and without technical help.