Windows 10 Confused About Clean Install of Windows 10 On UEFI PC

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Spotted Dog

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May 7, 2009
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I successfully upgraded Win 8.1 to Windows 10 via Windows Update. I also created an install DVD using the Media Creation Tool. Sometime soon I would like to do a clean install using this DVD, so I can get rid of a lot of junk on my PC and start out new.

I assumed I would just put the DVD in my DVD drive, restart to boot from the DVD and do a "custom" install Windows 10 on drive "C" formatting drive "C". That's the way I always did it with other versions of Windows.

But, looking online about a clean install on a UEFI PC it seems I must delete everything (all partitions) on the drive, use 3rd party apps to create 4 new partitions, rebuild the UEFI partition, etc, etc before I can reinstall Windows 10.

This is my first experience with a UEFI PC and all that is way beyond my level of expertise. Is all this true, or can I just pop in the DVD (made from the Media Creation Tool and the original ISO download) and reinstall Windows 10?

Thanks
 
To do a clean install you need to delete the partitions or you could say start from scratch. If you do that be sure to get find your product number first. You can do that by using jelly bean or speccy. You will need that to do a clean install.
 
Sonny said:
To do a clean install you need to delete the partitions or you could say start from scratch. If you do that be sure to get find your product number first. You can do that by using jelly bean or speccy. You will need that to do a clean install.
Click to expand...


Yes, I do have my product key, but do I need to get 3rd party utilities, etc. and rebuild my UEFI partition and recovery partition, etc, or does Windows do that on the install.
Do I really delete ALL the partitions on my ssd including hidden partitions? How do I delete the UEFI and recovery partitions? Disk manager will not let me do it?
Here ( Windows 10 - Clean Install) is an example of what I am talking about.
 
I like to know also. Am thinking of doing the same so let me know what u find out ty
 
As Sonny mentioned, you would need to delete the partitions critical to the install. That would mean Recovery, System EFI, MSR, and OS partitions. If you have Data partitions you can leave those.

I suppose the best way to remember is the install cannot recreate or modify partitions if they are already present. You can delete these during the install process and install to the unallocated space.

You should not need a License Key for windows 10, that information is kept online once you have done a legal upgrade. Whether you will have needed to sign into a Microsoft Account to finish that registration is still unclear but to be safe, you probably should do so.
 
Thanks. That seems to clear things up for me.

I used Windows Media Tool and burn that to a DVD. Can I just boot to the DVD and get all the options need to reinstall with UEFI. Or do you recommend creating a USB drive by running the Rufus utility and installing from that?
 
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I too am trying to install Windows 10 but on a brand new SSD in my Samsung Laptop. The Laptop does have Windows 8.1 on it at present. I have though removed the existing SSD with that Windows 8.1 on it and replaced that SSD with a brand new one. However, when I use the Microsoft supplied Windows 10 Pro 64 bit installation , plus tell UEFI to use the DVD Drive as first drive, Windows 10 will not install. I see the initial Windows LOGO and then it hangs. Laptop meets the Windows 10 Specifications; it has a dual core i5 CPU and 8GB of RAM.
As far as cleaning an existing drive goes, Spotted Dog could try using CMD and Drivepart, latter comes with Windows. Spotted Dog would need to read up on Drivepart first though, as it isn't the easiest of programs to use. It does have an help option but it is best to look online to see how how to use it.
 
make sure your laptop model has windows 10 drivers In support site.
If your laptop model is not listed under windows 10 supported list then no use of trying installation
 
Try switching from RAID mode to AHCI in the BIOS. You probably don't have the RST or RAID driver and systems typically ship out in this config.
 
Last edited:
  1. Back up your data.
  2. Boot from the USB.
  3. Follow the instructions and choose "Install Now" when prompted.
  4. Choose "Install Windows Only (Advanced)"
  5. Select each partition and delete it. This deletes the files on the partition
  6. When you've finished this, you should be left with "unallocated space". Choose it and click Next.
  7. Continue installing Windows
 
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