How to reinstall Windows 10 ?

Windows 10 no longer works properly? Have you started a repair of Windows 10 but nothing has changed? Now want to start a deep cleaning? So reinstalling Windows 10 is surely the ideal solution to start on a good basis and find a new PC.

In this tutorial, I will explain how to reinstall Windows 10 in several ways.

Why reinstall Windows 10 ?

The main reason for wanting to reset Windows 10 is a malfunction in your operating system!
It may indeed happen that your Windows 10 no longer works properly after updating your old operating system to Microsoft’s latest operating system, Windows 10. This is true since Microsoft will stop Windows 7 support in January 2020 and that many Windows 7 users will have to install Windows 10 if they want to benefit from updates to their operating system.

You have certainly already tried different tricks to optimize your Windows 10 to improve the performance of your computer or even tried to use the recovery / repair functions of Windows 10?
But your computer is still very slow (at startup or to run programs that worked perfectly with your old Windows). This can be really annoying and disturbing …

So your update to Windows 10 may not have been completely successful because of your hardware (improper installation or update of drivers for example), some of your programs that could abuse Windows 10 or even due to deactivated Windows services or incorrect configuration of your Windows.

In this case, you will have to reinstall Windows 10 to find a working PC!

What is resetting your Operating System ?

Resetting is also often called formatting or reinstalling: it involves reinstalling the operating system in order to have an operating system like new.

There are several ways to reset Windows 10:

• total formatting: in this case, your hard drive is fully formatted, erased and you will lose all personal data (images, videos, music, PDF, fonts, downloads, in short all your documents) as well as all your already installed programs and their data.
  This process is completely irreversible, so I strongly advise you to make a backup of your data in order to keep your important documents. It is the safest method of having a clean and functional operating system.
• reinstalling your operating system over the old one, while keeping your files. Here, Windows will be reinstalled without deleting your personal files but will on the other hand delete all your old programs previously installed.
  Fortunately, Microsoft has plans to list all of your old installed programs, so it will be relatively easy to reinstall your old programs.
• by doing a restore of your operating system the process will go much faster and you will find your OS configured and repaired.

In any case, you will need a valid and authentic Windows 10 license to reset Windows 10 in order to avoid any security problem related to an OS that is not updated (malware, ransomware and other security vulnerabilities patched by updates).

Note also that Windows 10 is a very good alternative to Windows 7 which is reaching the end of its life.

Step by step tutorial to reinstall Windows 10 without losing your data

In this tutorial, we will learn how to reset Windows while keeping our personal data.

1. Click on the Start menu at the bottom left of your screen then select the parameters from the computer.
2. Click on Update and security (Windows Update, recovery, backup).
   
3. Select Recovery in the left menu then click on the Get started button in the Reset this PC section.
   
4. In the new window, click on Keep my files.
   
5. However, if you want to start from a clean installation of Windows, click Remove All. If you have multiple partitions on your hard drive, it will be possible to format only the system partition where Windows is installed using the option “Only the drive where Windows is installed.” Or all partitions by clicking on “All drives” . Attention, as indicated by Windows, this operation will erase all your files, it is irreversible.
6. You will then have to wait a little before reinstalling, while Windows 10 examines your computer, its programs and settings.
7. Windows 10 will show you the list of programs installed on your operating system that will be uninstalled. Don’t worry, you can find this list once your Windows 10 is reset. Click on the Next button.
8. Your computer is now ready to be reset, all you have to do is press the Reset button.
   Now you just have to wait while reinstalling your Windows 10 until your computer restarts. You will find on your desktop a small file called Deleted Applications which lists your old programs that are no longer installed.

Reinstall Windows 10 with a USB stick or Windows 10 CD

Reinstalling Windows 10 as described above will work in most cases. However, it can happen that Windows is more seriously damaged and your Windows does not even start.

In this case, you will have to reinstall Windows using a USB drive or a DVD which contains the Windows 10 installation files and which you can create yourself.

Please note, in the case of a USB drive, it will be formatted. So check that the USB drive is formattable and writable. Also remember to save the data recorded on it if you do not want to lose it.

Create a USB stick or DVD with Windows 10 installation files

For this, Microsoft has developed a tool for creating installation media that you will need to download before launching into system reset: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

Once on the Microsoft site, click Download Tool Now.

Once the download is complete, click on the program to run it.

You will first have to accept the Windows 10 license by clicking on the Accept button.

Choose the option Create installation media for another PC and press the Next button.

Then select the language, the edition of Windows 10 desired and the architecture of your PC: 32 Bits for older computers, 64 Bits for newer computers . Then click on Next.

You then have two options: install Windows 10 from a USB flash drive (with a minimum capacity of 3GB) or from a DVD (which you will have to burn from an ISO file).

I will tend to advise you to use a USB stick but you can of course use a DVD to reinstall your Windows!

Note: the following procedure is for creating a USB drive containing the Windows 10 installation files.

Then select the location of your USB drive and press the Next button.

Wait while your future Windows 10 files are installed.

Your USB drive with your Windows 10 installation files and now ready. You can then either restart your computer or eject the USB drive and safely remove your USB drive!

To use your Windows 10 installation USB drive , you will need to boot to your USB drive when Windows restarts and then follow the Windows 10 installation instructions!