Windows 10

OS refresh

November 2019 | |^11

WINDOWS

REFRESH

o, youuseWindows.

You’rein a slowly

shrinkingbutstill

three-quarters

majority,soit’snota

surprise:Windows

usersareubiquitous.Almostas

ubiquitousaspeoplecomplaining

about Windows, because macOS

and Linux users do that, too.

Whatever your gripes, the

thought of reinstalling Windows has

likely crossed your mind at some

point. Perhaps you’ve even gone

ahead without thinking of the

consequences. You might even have

been left with a half-functioning

machine that’s missing many of your

FULWLFDOÀOHVDQGSURJUDPV/HW·VEH

clear at the start of this feature (one

that’s ostensibly about reinstalling

Windows): Reinstalling Windows is

generally a really bad idea.

Hear us out. Windows 10 is a

much cleaner and more stable OS

than its predecessors. There’s no

good reason to reinstall it unless

you’ve managed to mess with its

V\VWHPÀOHVWRWKHSRLQWRIREOLYLRQ

oryou’vefallenvictimtosome

seriousmalwarethatcan’tbe

expungedin anyotherway.If you’re

in thelatterbracket,it’sprobably

WRR ODWH IRU \RXU ÀOHV– unlessyou’ve

takenthecorrectprecautions.With

a properprocessbuiltintoyour

everydaycomputeruse,reinstalling

is trivial and safe. Mostly pointless,

but clean enough.

So, you could reinstall Windows,

and we’ll talk about it in detail, but

we’ll also show you other options.

Before you throw everything away

and start over, perhaps you’ll want

to clean everything up manually, or

use Windows’ own refresh tools, to

leave your current installation in a

better state. Maybe you’d like to try

an innovative (and slightly silly)

dual-boot, putting a clean Win 10

alongside your dirty one. You could

be moving machines, and want to

turn a fresh install on your new

hardware into something akin to

your current PC. It all sounds easy,

but following the proper procedure

is essential if you want to keep

everything precious.

S

Ready to reinstall Windows? Are you

really? Let’s look at your options...

By Alex Cox and Nick Peers