How to Perform Clean Install of Windows 10 From Scratch Step by Step

Simple Steps to Clean Install of Windows 10 from Scratch
Performing a clean install of Windows 10 Operating system is nothing but removing whatever OS is currently running on your device and starting from scratch with a genuine and new install of Windows 10. Here are the simple steps that you need to follow to perform a clean install of Windows 10 from the scratch:

1. Back up all your data first​

• Firstly, backup all your data on your PC before upgrading as a clean install erases everything on your hard drive. So, it is always recommended to back up your files like apps, documents, etc.​
• System backup feature is included in Windows 7 and 8.1 that can be used to create a complete backup of your PC to any other external storage like USB hard drive (preferable).​
• In Windows 7, you will find this option in the Backup and Restore control panel.​
• In Windows 8.1, Open the File History control panel and then click the link “System Image Backup” in the lower-left corner of the window.​
• Now, you need to create a USB- or disc-based system repair disk which is used to boot your PC and restore it using the system image backup that you have made it already.​
• If your device is running on Windows 7, you will find a link for creating this tool in the Backup and Restore option in control panel. Otherwise, you can just use Start search and search for repair disk.​
• In Windows 8.1, you can search for it as Recovery drive.​

2. Find the Current Edition of Windows​

• Now, you need to check out which edition of Windows you’re currently running along with the architecture (32-bit or 64-bit). This is used to determine which version of Windows 10 can be upgraded on your device.​
• You can check for this from the Control Panel (find it using Start Search).​
  • Download Windows 32 Bit ISO​
  • Download Windows 64 Bit ISO​
• Just click on the above link that navigates you to a new page wherein you can download Windows 10 either for 32-bit or 64-bit.​
• Click on the Download tool button and run the Media Creation app after downloading the tool.​

3. Select what you want to do​

• Now, it displays a window that shows “what you want to do” in which you have two options- “Upgrade this PC now” or “Create installation media for another PC.”​

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• Select the option, ‘Create installation media for another PC’ and click on Next.​

4. Select Language, Architecture, and Edition​

• After choosing creat installation, you will get a new window that shows three options as follows:​
  • Select your Language (Example: English [United States])​
  • Edition (say, Windows 10 Pro)​
  • Architecture (64-bit or 32-bit)​

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• Make sure that you are choosing option 2 and 3 correctly or else Windows 10 will not be activated on your device.​

5. Choose Media​

• You need to setup media directly to a USB flash drive. (Preferable)​
• You can also setup media to an ISO file which can be burned later to DVD.​

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• Media Creation Tool will then create the setup media either using USB or DVD and it starts upgrading your system to Windows 10.​

6. Choose What to Keep​

• Now, you will get a new window that displays three options:​
  • Keep Personal Files and apps​
  • Keep Personal files only​
  • Nothing​

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• From the above three options, you must select option three (Nothing) as you wish to clean install.​

7. Windows 10 Installation​

• Now, the new OS Windows 10 will start its installation process.​
• The time required for this process depends on the components of your device.​

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• A welcome screen of Windows 10 will be appeared that shows sign-in and then presents the Windows 10 desktop.​
• Still there is a Windows.old folder that takes some gigabytes of space on disk. You can remove it manually by using Disk Cleanup utility.​
• You can also Reset the OS (Takes 15-20 minutes) for a slightly cleaner clean install.​
  • Go to Settings>> Update and Security>>Recovery​
• Get Started and follow the steps so as to Reset your PC.​
• Now your PC restarts with the new OS Windows 10.​

This is the process for the users who wish to install Windows 10 on their device by cleaning it from scratch and freshly installing new OS onto the system. Follow the above-mentioned steps and get started now with your new Windows 10 OS.