Windows 10: Wiping my Windows 10 pro PC.What Method should I use to wipe-Reinstall

I am sorry if I am repeating myself or being redundant, but I want to make sure. Some confusion. I am getting there in my understanding. I am going to re-ask my original question in a different way.


I have the information on how to reinstall, but my confusion is which wiping or clean out my pc method I should use to save me the most time instead of my old method of wiping then install xp then install win 8 then upgrade to win 8.1 then countless number of updates etc etc.


When it comes to rebooting my computer so I can have a fresh start with my pc so I know there are no viruses, bugs etc old programs and files that might be causing me problems etc. Should I use:


Complete Wipe method like DBAN that writes all 0000000


or


From Windows 10 Options
Reset this PC
Refresh your PC
Bare metal recovery

or

Clean install by restarting your computer via bootable disc created from iso file.




Which of these mehtods will give me a fresh start, remove viruses, bugs, wipe out all old information etc etc. also that won't be recoverable


Thank you very much for your help and patience with me as I get this solved.

 

Thank you! I have another post after this one you answered just to finalize my mind. I am almost there.

I always wanted to understand this. To have unrecoverable data so the forensic experts can't get it. Is that possible?

 

If you want to absolutely securely erase the hard drive, DBAN free should do it with about 99% assurance nothing will be recoverable:
Darik's Boot And Nuke | Hard Drive Disk Wipe and Data Clearing

I have not used any secure erase software in the past, so I can't help with instructions on how to use it. I've always just deleted the partitions on a clean install and not worried about forensic recovery.

After you erase the hard drive with DBAN, there should be no partitions on it and you will have to boot from Windows 10 install media (either a USB flash drive or DVD) and then clean install Windows 10 to the erased hard drive. There is no need to make your own partitions, Windows 10 install will do it automatically.

There is no need to install a previous version like Windows XP or 8.1 first - just go straight to Windows 10.

 

Thank you so much NavyLCDR. This could be my answer I am looking for. If I do the DBAN way, because of past experience I would have to do my old method I described above. If I skip my old method and do what you said by putting in the Windows 10 ISO DVD version 1511 or 10586.0 that I created. Will that be sufficient to install Windows 10 or will it give me any problems like requesting me to install a prior version of windows first?

 

If it asks you for a product key, click Skip or Do This Later. As long as you install the same version of Windows 10 the computer had on it before (such as Home or Pro), the first time the computer is connected to the internet it will retrieve the previous activation information from Microsoft activation servers and activate itself.

The activation information is stored on the Microsoft activation servers using a hardware ID generated by Windows 10 calculating a value based on the installed hardware of the computer (mostly the motherboard) and has nothing to do with anything stored on the hard drive.

 

Sorry NavyLCDR. For some reason I didn't see your last sentence. That is great news that I don't have to reinstall XP as well as Windows 8.1 anymore. The next step is to go with it. I will be rebooting either tonight or tomorrow and I will update everyone when complete.

Would this DVD I created the Windows 10 ISO DVD version 1511 or 10586.0 the correct version?

 

Yes.

 

Awesome. Thank you so much for your help. I will keep you and everyone posted when I complete the reboot on what happened. Anything else I should know or be aware of please don't hesitate to let me know. I am grateful for you and your help aswell as everybodies contributions. *Thumbs

 

One more thing NavyLCDR.

What do you think of these methods and should I consider using?

Windows 10 Options Reset this PC
Refresh your PC
Bare metal recovery

 

Also somebody mentioned that 10586.0 needs to be updated to 10586.14 is that correct? if so, how should I go about doing so?

 

Another Question, The Windows 10 ISO DVD version 1511 or 10586.0 is this a full version or upgrade version or does it even matter when it comes to reinstalling with out any prior version of Windows installed after being completely wiped?

 

I would assume bare metal recovery. I would guess that DBAN is going to want to create a bootable CD, DVD or USB to boot from in order to run because it can't erase a hard drive that is in use. Once you boot the DBAN CD, DVD or USB and run the program, you should be left with a "bare metal" hard drive.

The upgrade from 10586.0 to 10586.14 will come from Windows Update once Windows 10 is installed. You do not have to upgrade or update your Windows 10 DVD for that.

The Windows 10 DVD can do both clean installs from nothing and upgrades of previous installed operating systems. Boot from the DVD and you get a clean install. Insert the DVD while running Windows 7/8/8.1 and just run setup.exe from the DVD will do an upgrade.

 

Thank you again. So, the "Bare Metal" hard drive option, is basically the method I have been doing in the past except now I will be doing it correctly.

At this point I have no other questions. I am sure some will arise. I am looking forward to testing out this new way. I will update later. Hope your day is going well NavyLCDR and you had a great Thanksgiving.

 

Hey NavyLCDR. Everything worked out as you said. Thank you very much for your help. It feels great that I don't have to do that tedious method I did for so many years. I am so happy that Microsoft listened to the insiders and they changed their process. So much better.

I had one problem though maybe you can help me figure out so I don't have to deal with it later. I got an error (look at image below) that I wasn't' able to go further with the installation. It got stuck at 67% and then the error would pop up. I had to restart my computer two to three times before it worked. Any ideas why?




Also, is there a limit of how many times you can reboot your computer and activate Windows?

 

Were you installing Windows from a DVD? Probably a marginal burn on the DVD, especially if you used high speed burn.

Nope.