Windows 10: Doing a clean install of Windows 10 after motherboard change

Hi, I recently had to change the motherboard on my laptop because of some sound issues. I took my laptop to the Asus Service Center and they messaged me a few days later saying that they had changed my motherboard. After I got it back, I noticed that almost all of my games had unbearable lag. These were games that ran perfectly on the highest graphic settings because I have a gaming laptop. I reinstalled display drivers but the problem persisted. Only after googling the issue did I find out that a clean windows install is needed after a motherboard change, something that the service center did not mention to me at all.


I wanted to use the Fresh Start Windows 10 tool to perform a clean install, but I'm having a problem. I have two hard drives on my laptop. One where my OS is installed and one where all my games are. I assumed that reinstalling windows on the OS drive would not affect the other drive with my games, but during the fresh install process it provides me with a list of programs and apps that will be deleted, and all of my games and programs installed on the second drive are on the list.


So my question is: since that list is given before I'm prompted to select the drive I want the windows to be installed on, will selecting the OS drive keep my files on the other drive from being affected? Does anyone have experience with this? Any help would be appreciated.

:)

 

Is it time for Windows 10 already?

Here's a good step by step guide on doing a fresh install.

How to clean install Windows 10 from a USB drive - Software - Feature - HEXUS.net

 

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

 

Installing Windows 10 on New PC?

I'm going to be building a new PC on Christmas and want to install Windows 10 on it. I have Windows 10 on my current PC, which I installed upgrading from 8.1 with the files on a USB. How do I go about installing a clean copy of Windows 10 on this new PC? I think I recall something about installing it once makes Microsoft recognize your hardware, but since this will be a PC I'm not sure what steps I need to take. Do I need to go 8.1 -> 10 or is there a method of going directly to 10?