Ensure your licence key is properly linked to your Microsoft account
beforeyoubeginreinstallingWindows.
File History isn’t just about keeping versions – it’s about keeping
everything,andcanbea reallifesaver.Windows 10
OS refresh
November 2019 | |^13
something like Macrium Reflect might
seem like a solid idea, and it’s the
best way to make sure you don’t miss
anything, but a compressed copy
won’t give you access to the files you
need once it’s made, and it’s pointless
if you’re reinstalling to fix a broken
system – instead, consider Windows
File History to perform rolling
backups of crucial folders as you use
your machine. It’s slow to start, but if
this is something you set up to run
invisibly as you use your PC (and,
ideally, back up to different hardware
periodically), you always have a
backup ready when you need one.
Try to include driver installation files
in your personal folders, to be caught
by File History – and consider creating
a second, manual backup of all of
your important files. Check them
both for integrity before you pull
the trigger.
One last consideration: DRM. It’s a
menace, but never more so than
when you have a bunch of DRMed
files that are tied to an account that
limits PC authorizations. Kill your
current install, and you might not be
able to get that authorisation back
- you could even lose access to all
the things you’ve bought; DRM is
cruel like that. So, make sure any
management app, such as iTunes, has
been de-authorized before you leave
your current install behind.
Installation art
With all this done, go ahead and
reinstall. You can create your own
installation media by heading to
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-
download/windows10 and using the
media creation tool to put the latest
update of Windows 10 on a USB stick
ready for installation. Over the page,
we show you everything you need to
reinstall your operating system, but
a couple of notes first: You’ll want to
select Install Windows Only, because
the Upgrade option will leave your
PC basically as it was; and you can
skip inserting a product key – you
can do this later, or your PC will
activate itself when you sign in
to your Microsoft account.
Multibooting Windows 10
One of the factors that contributes to our pessimism surrounding reinstalling
Windows is that we desperately don’t want you to lose anything. We’re kind like
that. But there is another, slightly frivolous way to do a reinstallation if you’ve got
working hardware to play with: you can turn one Windows installation into two. If
you have a second drive that is able to support a Windows 10 installation, or enough
access to your current Windows 10 installation (and enough free space) to be able to
trim down its drive using Disk Management then create a new clean partition, you
FDQLQVWDOODVHFRQGFRS\RIWKHRSHUDWLQJV\VWHPDORQJVLGHWKHÀUVW6LPSO\VHOHFWD
custom install, and then point Windows 10 at that spare disk space – it should do
the rest for you.
It’s questionable whether you’d technically need a second Windows licence to do
this – you can only possibly use one instance of Windows 10 at a time if installed this
way, so it shouldn’t be an issue, but the Microsoft EULA does suggest that only one
instance is allowed to exist. Take that as you will. You’ll likely need to switch off
BitLocker before partitioning your drive, and if you use Windows in this way, you’ll
ZDQWWRGRWKLVDQ\ZD\VLQFHDQXQORFNHGÀOHV\VWHPRQ\RXURULJLQDOLQVWDOOFDQEH
easily accessed on your new one. Copy everything to a safe new location, make sure
you’ve got everything, and you can ditch the original install – and if you’re likely to
use the new installation as your main copy of Windows, you’ll need to make sure it’s
ÀUVWLQWKHERRWRUGHU,WVKRXOGEHE\GHIDXOWEXW\RXPD\QHHGWRSRNHDURXQGLQ
your BIOS/UEFI settings to select the correct drive, or set it through the Advanced
system settings link from the Control Panel’s System tab.Just select the correct partition and install away. But make sure it
definitely is the correct one before you start.