Windows 10: Windows Insider - Clean install latest Fast Ring build

How to: Windows Insider - Clean install latest Fast Ring build


Information Microsoft has a clear policy to release ISO images for Windows 10 Insiders only when a build will be released to Slow Ring. Quite a many of us keen Fast Ring Windows Insiders create an ISO image from build upgrade UUP files every time Microsoft releases a new build to Fast Ring, to allow test installs on physical and virtual machines, to be used for repair installs and so on. At Ten Forums we have a tutorial to show how to do this, how to use UUP files to create an ISO image: UUP to ISO - Create Bootable ISO from Windows 10 Build Upgrade Files Installation Upgrade Tutorials

Officially Microsoft does not support clean install scenarios with user made Insider ISO images.

This tutorial will show how to clean install latest Fast Ring Windows Insider build in a fully supported, official way.

Prerequisites:

• Download latest official release of Windows 10, or latest officially released Windows 10 Insider ISO:
  • Download Windows 10 ISO File
• Create USB install media:
  • PowerShell Scripting - Create USB Install Media for Windows 10
  • Create Bootable USB Flash Drive to Install Windows 10

Contents [/i] Use links below to go to any part, back button of your browser to return to this list.


[table][tr][td]Step One[/td] [td]Install Windows 10[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Step Two[/td] [td]Get Insider build upgrade[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Step Three[/td] [td]Finalize Windows Setup[/td] [/tr] [/table]




Step One [/i] Install Windows 10 1.1) Start installing Windows 10 normally using an officially released ISO image. If you need help in doing so see the tutorial: Clean Install Windows 10 Installation Upgrade Tutorials

1.2) After a restart or two, Windows setup starts Windows Welcome, so called OOBE Mode (Out-of-Box Experience) showing region selection screen:




1.3) Instead of clicking Yes or changing region settings, press SHIFT + F10 (press and hold SHIFT key, press F10 key, release both keys) to open Command Prompt:




1.4) Opening Command Prompt in OOBE activates keyboard shortcuts. You can close Command Prompt immediately, activating WIN key shortcuts (for instance *Start + R to open RUN prompt) is the only reason we opened it




Step Two [/i] Get Insider build upgrade 2.1) In OOBE, Windows 10 is already fully functional. Because no user accounts have been created yet, Windows setup has created a temporary account defaultuser0 with local administrator rights to be used until user creates his / her own initial admin account later in OOBE. This temporary user account will be automatically removed when Windows has been fully set up and restarted first time.

We will use this temporary account to get Insider build installed

2.2) Press WIN + R to open RUN prompt, type the following and click OK to open Settings app:

ms-settings:




Notice that the last character : (colon) is not a typo!


Note If you accidentally click outside the Settings app after opening it, it disappears behind OOBE region selection screen. If that happens, press CTRL + TAB to select it in Task View and release both keys to show it again.
2.3) Select Update & Security, opt in for Insider builds. See tutorial for help: Start or Stop Receiving Insider Preview Builds in Windows 10


Note When entering Windows Insider account, be sure to select Just sign in to this app! Do not click Next:




2.4) Select The next version of Windows:




2.5) Select Fast Ring:




2.6) Let Windows restart and return to OOBE:




2.7) When Windows has restarted, it returns to OOBE mode. Open Settings app as told in step 2.2

2.8) Select Update & Security, click Check for updates:




2.9) Windows Update should find Insider upgrade immediately. Let it be downloaded, initialized and installed:




Notice that depending on your hardware and Internet speed this can take anything from 10 minutes to a couple of hours!

2.10) When done, restart and let Windows install Insider build:




2.11) This process has changed the nature of user account defaultuser0 (see step 2.1). In normal install it would be a temporary account and be automatically removed after initial user account has been set up. Opting for Insider builds in OOBE using defaultuser0 we "hijacked" this account making it a local admin account. Windows setup creates a new defaultuser0 account naming it as defaultuser0.PCNAME, upgrade process when done will sign you in using this account not asking you to create initial user account as in normal clean install:







Step Three [/i] Finalize Windows setup 3.1) When on desktop, open Settings, select Accounts > Family & Other people and create a user account for yourself, see Option One in following tutorial if you need help in this: Add Local Account or Microsoft Account in Windows 10




3.2) The newly created user account is by default a standard account. It must be made to administrator account before we continue. See tutorial to learn how: Change Account Type in Windows 10

3.3) When new admin account has been created, sign out from defaultuser0 account, sign in to your new admin account

3.4) Checking the Users folder, you will see that in addition to your user account there's also a profile folder for original defaultuser0 and, because we "hijacked" it when opting in for Insider builds in step 2.3, a profile folder defaultuser0.PCNAME. This latter temporary folder will be automatically removed, in fact it might already be removed when you open the Users folder (making screenshots for this tutorial, it disappeared in front of my eyes a second later I had made below screenshot):




Notice that if you check Settings > Accounts, only your new admin account will be shown.

3.5) The original defaultuser0 folder which after normal clean install had been automatically removed must be manually deleted. It does no harm if left there, though:




3.6) Last but not least, take control of Insider settings in Settings > Update & Security > Windows Insider Program:




That's it. You have successfully clean installed Windows 10 Insider Fast Ring build

Kari


Related Tutorials

• How to Clean Install Windows 10
• How to Clean Install Windows 10 without any External Installation Media
• How to Start or Stop Receiving Insider Preview Builds in Windows 10
• How to Change Account Used for Insider Builds in Windows 10
• How to Choose Your Insider Ring Level on your Windows 10 PC
  
• How to Choose to Skip Ahead to Next Release for Windows 10 Insiders in Fast Ring
• How to clean install latest Windows Insider Fast Ring build if traditional clean install fails

:)

 

regarding language pack installation

Are you running a fast ring insider build?

Then read the release notes as this is a known issue with the latest fast ring insider build.

 

What is the latest windows insider fast ring build for Lumia 535?

What is the latest windows insider fast ring build for Lumia 535? I am on the insider fast ring on my lumia 535 dual sim. The OS build is 10586.107 and checking for updates shows 'Your device is up to date'. Even the official release of windows 10 is build
10586.164 why I am not able to get further updates in fast ring? In the insiders blog it shows for fast ring build
14291 is available, but I am not able to update to it. Why?

 

Great tutorial!

But is this really what MS calls a supported method of clean install? I would rather call it a clean upgrade. *Wink

 

What the tutorial shows is how to clean install Windows 10 which when booted to desktop first time after installation is in last Fast Ring Insider build.

If they can say that a reset equals clean install, you can for sure call this method a clean install, too.

Tweet



— Twitter API (@user) date[/quote]

 

Yeah - that seems more appropriate.

I guess it's main plus over simply upgrading is that it does not create a windows.old folder?

I must admit that I am struggling to see when I personally would actually ever use this except when the uup to iso method (and/or subsequent unofficial clean install) or a conventional upgrade failed.

 

No, this method creates Windows.old.

The main benefit / purpose is that you get the upgrade even before Windows has finalized the setup and user accounts created. It is as pure Fast Ring Insider build as possible, and upgrade does not fail because underlying base is as clean Windows as possible.

 

Ok - then it really is a clean upgrade by our normal definition of an upgrade. We can call it whatever we like, but it is not a clean install by our normal definition.

Still this is just verbal semantics - the main point is (as you say), it makes the upgrade more reliable. It does no matter how we get from A to B provided we get there.

 

If you cut to the chase by invoking OOBE whilst in the Defaultuser0 mode, why not just apply the relevant WIM/ESD image with DISM, cutting out the preparatory checks and operations run by Windows Setup to get straight to OOBE? Surely this is an approved methodology for deployment, and lends itself to automation if it (the reset/update) is to be regularly repeated with new insider builds?

Depending on the required configuration - GPT/UEFI or MBR/BIOS, you can make it as elaborate or compact as you like for your chosen hardware and system needs.

 

Where would you get WIM / ESD file?

The starting point, whole idea in this tut is to get as cleanly installed Fast ring build as possible in a way that is supported. When Microsoft's Insider team sees an ISO made from UUP files as a big bad wolf, a big no no, where and how would you get install.wim image to apply? As soon as you make it from UUP files, you are in unsupported territory.

 

From the official ISO download that you start with.





In:
Apply Windows Image using DISM Instead of Clean Install Installation Upgrade Tutorials

- you state how this significantly cuts down time, and you must agree, is much more applicable to scripting than using Windows Setup.

 

Those downloads are not Fast Ring builds. They are either last official release, at the moment 1709, or last Slow Ring ISO, at the moment 16299. Applying those images does not give user latest Fast Ring build, at the moment 17025.

Tutorial tells to download one of them to have an officially supported install media to start with (official release or Slow Ring ISO), then use defaultuser0 to upgrade.

I might misunderstand something, but my question remains: where to get the last Fast Ring install.wim to be applied?

 

Yep, that is the real question here. And the answer is: From nowhere

 

Sheesh! I forgot about this tutorial while redoing my dual boot last night. Although I used a 17017.1000 UUPtoISO on a thumb, created a local account at first, it configured fast ring Insider after changing to MS account, and all went well, but this would've been quicker. I wouldn't have had to spend the time to create the 17017 thumb (with Rufus) and kept the MCT thumb in to install it this way on my second partition.

Also, not a big thing, but when changing to an MS account straightaway, I had a little problem with the naming of my email account. It called it something like WT738 or something like that. I was able to change it ok. Had no problem on primary partition OS. Weird.

I'll have to edit my notes to this. Thinking of redoing my Acer, but it has legacy BIOS. We'll see.

In a Frank Sinatra voice > OOBE dooby doo, in love forever, OOBE dooby doo.... *chuckle