Windows 10: Install clean Win 10

I have used Macrium for years after Acronis in 2010. It has never failed.
I have an image on each of my external drives but did not know if the old partitions were of any use now as I tick off," image selected discs on this computer" and the C: recovery and system reserved are imaged. Now the old ones will be imaged. I do want all three so that is a concern.
I do thank you for your reply as I was confused about the issues in my previous post, particularly the disc management and Macrium..

 

When you do a Macrium reflect restore from the image, you don't have to restore the entire disk, you can pick which partitions you want to restore. You would not have to restore the 450mb recovery partition if you didn't want to. But you would have to restore the partition with the boot files on it, in addition to the big operating system partition.

Another option that you could do would be to restore only the big operating system partition and then use the Fix startup problems utility in Macrium Reflect to create the boot files on the big system partition.

 

Thank you for the options. Whether the information I want will appear with a recovery remains to be seen. Now that Macrium has charged, I will use the basic Windows imaging program -unless another free 3rd party is suitable. Social Security disable the fringe costs.
Thank you for your help in clarifying the difference between a clean upgrade an a clean install.
Also, If your id is LT. Commander, I thank you for your service. I am a very old jar head who tried to help in 1959 at Parris Island then Geiger and Lejuene >52 rifle company. I was a pebble pusher and radio man and not in your league. Although, I did graduate BU in 62. So Thanks for your service - folks don't appreciate freedom till they lose it. They also don't realize the sacrifices that are made while they go merrily on their cushy life style. Semper Fi and Bless Old Glory and for all she stands. Peter

 

Macrium Reflect is free for everything you would want to do with it:
Macrium Reflect Free


I am LT. Commander, thank you for your service - yours was a lot more difficult than mine has been, for sure.

 

All the Macrium sites now even their own site says free but when you get to installation it says free/trial and tells you, you have 30 days.
I found my error, I was playing off the dvd like one would with a movie instead off booting off the dvd using F12 in my case -older BIOS not UEFI. I assume that is the trouble anyway. My mind is going south. *Wink
You are gracious but we all chip in, Sir.
TY

 

Nooooooo ! *Smile
Just downloaded it again.

 

And if you select the free option when installing Macrium Reflect, that is what you get....Macrium Reflect Free with no expiration.

Correct. If you want the 100% clean install experience and the ability to delete all the partitions on the hard drive, you must boot from the Windows 10 DVD/USB - not just run setup.exe from it.

 

@I checked free so here's hoping.
@NavyLCDR -I upgraded both pcs so MS knows them. My question has to do with the disc. I used the media tool and instead of booting off of it F12 I just played it like a movie and ended up with just a clean upgrade instead of a clean install. If I had booted off of the disc F12 would I have been able to do differently, that is, create a clean install.
I also have an iso file dvd - would I be better off with this rather than the media tool and should I boot off of it F2 rather than just play it like a movie. i think I am getting too old/ill to remember the protocols or methods but need to keep the machines running.
TY

 

I assume when you say ISO file DVD you mean a DVD that was burned from the ISO file - that should be exactly the same as created by the Media Creation Tool. All the MCT does is use the exact same ISO to burn the DVD or USB flash drive for you.

When you run setup.exe from the DVD like a movie, and choose not to keep applications or personal files, setup will delete what is on that partition and install Windows cleanly to that partition. What it will not do is wipe clean any other partitions on the hard drive, such as system reserved partitions or recovery partitions. It will update some of those partitions, typically requiring more space to be used on them. You still end up with a 99% clean install on the system partition, it is supposed to completely erase the previous operating system and install a completely new operating system on that space - except for your boot files - the new install will only update your boot files and will setup dual booting if those boot files point to a different operating system than the one on the partition you tell it to install to.

When you actually boot from the DVD, instead of just playing it like a movie, that allows you to delete everything on the hard drive, if you choose to. If you tell the setup to install to an empty space on the hard drive, where there is no existing partition, that install will create all the partitions it needs for a completely isolated Windows install.

My own computer is the perfect example for you. I started with two partitions, we'll call them RTM and Insider. I had Windows 10 RTM only installed, and a NTFS formatted blank partition for Insider builds. When I ran setup.exe from the Insider ISO file from within my Windows 10 RTM (playing it like a movie), I pointed it to the NTFS formatted blank partition to install to. Setup would have deleted everything off that partition if there was anything to delete, then it installed Windows 10 Insider to it, then it modified my existing boot files to add Windows 10 Insider as a dual boot entry. It gave me a clean install of Windows 10 Insider on the partition I told it to, but it only modified my existing boot files to add the extra entry for the new Windows 10 Insider.

So then I booted from a DVD created from the Insider ISO. I deleted my Insider partition and told setup to install to the unallocated free space. What it did was create three partition in that free space. It created a 350mb System Reserved partition which contained brand new boot files which would boot the new Windows 10 Insider only. It created the system partition that it installed Windows 10 Insider to, and it created it's own recovery partition for Windows 10 Insider only. When I rebooted my computer, I ended up with a Windows 10 Insider install that would boot only into Windows 10 Insider and the Windows 10 RTM partition was nothing more than just a storage drive letter at that point.

So, if you want a 100% pure start from absolutely nothing Windows 10 install, you have to actually boot from the DVD and delete all the information on the hard drive by deleting the existing partitions and point the setup to the unallocated space. If you just play the DVD like a movie and point setup to an existing partition and select "Keep nothing" - you still end up with a Windows 10 operating system that is clean and new - but it will still be booting from your previous boot file setup and it might update your other existing partitions with additional recovery information.

 

I am a hunt and peck typer so cannot type much but I appreciate what you have written. I just inserted the dvd in the laptop and it took 3 times before F12 would acknowledge the disc, ISO, but it did finally. When it came to partitions I deleted until it said 950 Gb unallocated. deleting the others was a stubborn task as they would not delete. I clicked refresh and they all fell in to place to be deleted. Then I clicked new>apply and Windows created the reserve partition. I wanted it to while Window was installed on the 950 drive. I think I am remembering as I go. I had forgotten about playing and booting from disc but hope soon to have a clean install not upgrade I had the first time.
TY for your help.
Peter

 

That's pretty normal. On some computers your timing has to be just right.

Did you actually create a new partition yourself manually? Normally I would click the unallocated space and then click Next to tell setup to just do it's own thing and creates it's own partitions on the unallocated space.

 

Well, I hope I did it right. I was told that next would create partitions that cannot be seen but that after you get to your main drive to click in the fashion I described. I am in the process of installing programs. Is there a way to see if I have done this correctly or that I actually created a new partition before I go all the way?

It seems the ISO file install wiped everything and I do have a functioning system so maybe it is ok but I am open to any ideas to check.