72 |^ |^ August 2019
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A full, destructive reinstall
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einstalling Windows
from scratch – namely,
wiping your system drive
to install a fresh version
of Windows on to it – is
the ultimate choice for
anyone looking to revive a slow PC or
resolve a major, non-hardware issue.
Here we’ll step you through the entire
process – if you’re simply looking to
repair an existing Windows install, turn
to our guide on page 70.
Before you begin, make sure your PC
is fully backed up by following the ‘Back
up Windows 10’ tutorial on page 43 of
issue 148. A full reinstall really is
destructive – nothing left on your C
drive will exist once you’ve finished.
If you’d like to transfer selected
program settings from old installation to
new, download the portable CloneApp
tool (www.mirinsoft.com) to your
backup drive. Once complete launch the
tool by right-clicking CloneApp.exe and
choosing ‘Run as administrator’ and go
through its list of 247 supported apps to
see if yours are there. If any are, tick the
box beside each one you want to save
the settings for. If any apps aren’t
covered – or you want to back up
additional settings – then choose
Custom where you manually specify the
files, folders and Registry keys where
your program settings are stored. You
should also follow the step-by-step
guide on page 71 to ensure you have
the latest installation media for yourtarget version of Windows. This will
ensure a cleaner, more up-to-date
installation from the off.
It’s also worth sourcing networking
and graphics drivers now ratherthan
relying on Windows. ConsultyourPCor
motherboard manufacturer’swebsitefor
these, or visit your Wi-Fi adapteror
graphics card manufacturer’ssite–
download them to your backupdrive.
Uninstall any products thatrequire
activation – this should deactivatethe
licences and allow you to usethemwith
your new install. Be sure tohaveproduct
keys and program installerstohand.START YOUR REINSTALL
A full destructive reinstall should
always be started by booting from your
installationmedia,beit a DVDorUSBRestore programs, settings and data
Once Windows is reinstalled,
open Windows Update to
bring Windows fully up to date- don’t be surprised if there are
hundreds of updates still to
apply in the case of Windows 7
and 8.1. Once it’s fully up to
date, consider reinstalling
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WDNLQJ\RXUÀUVWGULYHLPDJH - a vanilla backup you can
restore in future instead of
reinstalling Windows itself.
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reinstalling your core apps.
Once in place, open CloneApp
from your data drive. If you
click the Restore button, every
single program setting you
backed up will be restored – if
there are any backup settings
you don’t want to restore,
select Options to locate the
backup folder, then open it and
move any program folders you
want to ignore out of the
folder temporarily before
clicking the Restore button.
Now, take your second
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‘perfect’ snapshot, as it were.
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the Windows Backup and
Restore tool and take steps to
restore any data you backed
up, then make sure the tool is
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up going forward.Windows 10 users can launch a repair install directly from the Media Creation Tool.Windows 7 and8. 1
userswillfinda
large numberof
updateswaiting
tobe installed
afterreinstalling.Open File History, link it to your previous backup and then you can
restore all your data back to its original location with one click.All image credits: Microsoft