WeekendProject
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fromMicrosoft.To dothis,downloadthe
MediaCreationTo ol frombit.ly/dlwd446.
Runthefileandagree to the‘Applicable
notices andlicenseterms’.Yo u’llbe
offeredtwochoices:upgradethePC
you’reontothelatest versionof Windows
10 or create your owninstallationmedia.
Sincewe’llbeusingthisforacleaninstall,
selectthelatter.ClickNext andselectthe
language,edition(theonethatmatches
theWindowslicenceyouhave)and
architecture–32-bit,64-bitor both.
ClickNext andchooseeither‘USBflash
drive’ or ‘ISOfile’as your installation
media.If youselectthelatter,you’llneed
to burnit to DVDlater.ClickNext andthe
tool willdownloadthefile.Ifyouopted
fortheUSBoption,you’llneedto select
your drivefromthelist. This drivewill
needto beat least8GBin sizeandit’s
importantto notethattheprocesswill
eraseanyfilesonit, so makesureyou
backupanythingyouneed.ClickNext,
thenFinish.Weshowyouhowtoinstalla
freshversionof Windowsin ourMini
Workshop,below.
If you’dratherjustrefreshtheOS,
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Assumingyou’reinstallingWindows
10 fromaUSB flashdrivecreated
usingtheMediaCreationTool, you’ll
needto insertthedriveintoaspare
portandbootfromit. Thesetup
screenwillload.Selectthelanguage,
timeandcurrencyformat, and
keyboardorotherinputmethod.^1
ClickNext.^22
ClicktheInstallNowbutton.If you
have aproductkey,enter it. If you
don’t,butyour PC wasrunningan
activated versionof Windows,you can
select‘I don’thave aproductkey’. Select
your versionof Windows andagree to
thelicenceterms.Clicktheoption
‘Custom: InstallWindows only
(advanced)’.^13
If Windows is installed,selectthe
partitionit’s on andclickDelete.^1
Selecttheemptydrive(Drive0
UnallocatedSpace)^2 andclickNext.(^3) This step is thesameeven if you
have ablankdrive. Theinstallerwill
wipethedriveand performaclean
installation.Youcan nowget Windows
setup howyou want it.
runit andit willdisplaythekeyusedto
activateWindows,aswell as your current
versionof MicrosoftOffice, if it’s installed.
RefreshWindows 10
Alternatively,Microsoftoffersatoolyou
canuseto installacleancopyof the
latest versionof Windows10 Homeor
Windows10 Pro, whichremovesany
additionalprogramsthatcameinstalled
onthePC.This worksin muchthesame
wayas theResetoptionbuiltinto
Windows10,exceptit downloadsacopy
of theOSfromtheinternetandthen
installsit.
To getthetool, openSettings,goto
‘Update &security’andclickRecovery.
Clickthe‘Learnhowtostartafreshwith
acleaninstallationof Windows’link
under‘Morerecovery options’and
downloadthetool fromthepagethat
opens.Yo ucanalsodownloadit directly
fromMicrosoft(bit.ly/afresh446).
Microsoft’s MediaCreationTool downloads
afresh copy of Windows 10 foryourPC
It automaticallychoosestheversionfor
your PCbutyoucan untickit if it’s wrong
FreshStartis anotherwayto
refreshyour PC,but it preserves
oldpersonalfilesandsomesettings
Makesureyou selectthecorrectUSBflash
drivefromthe list
MINI WORKSHOP|PerformacleanWindows10 installation
wipingthepersonaldata butkeeping
theexistingversionof Windows,follow
ourMiniWorkshoponpage61.
FindtheWindows10 key
If thePChasanactivatedcopyof
Windows10 runningonit butyoudon’t
have theaccompanyinglicencekey
–whichyou’llneedif youplanto doa
formatandreinstall–youcanuse
ProduKey (searchforitatwww.nirsoft
.net)tofindit forfuturereference. The
programdoesn’trequireinstallation–just
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