Windows 10 Fresh Start???

[Ridgeback]

I am trying to start fresh on my work laptop. I am fine with starting completely over as well as buying a new OS. Just wondering if its possible and how to go about it.

The skinny...
I was planning on merging companies with a buddy and we purchased me a laptop for work. He handled all the tech stuff and I foolishly trusted him. He installed Windows 10 Pro on it with Bitlocker. His justification was that there would be files on it that he wanted to protect if the laptop was stolen. I should have demanded the Administrator password but he set up a user account for me and it mostly covered everything that I needed to do. I never used it for files and programs that needed to be protected, just networking setup, and now see why he wanted control. Things went south and we have parted ways and now I'm stuck with a laptop that I cant modify. GERRRR!

Is there a way to wipe the HDD and install a fresh windows 10 pro? here are the specs.

TIA
Nathan

 

[Ridgeback]

Sorry, Windows 10 Business

 

[Neemobeer]

Bitlocker is definitely a good thing to have enabled especially if there is any PII or PHI on a device. This can save you on potentially hefty fines if the device is lost.

Scenario 1: If you're looking to use the currently licensed version of Windows your only option would be getting the key or password from the individual that installed and hopefully saved said key or password.

Scenario 2: If you simply want to be able to use the hardware that is definitely possible. You would just need to purchase a Windows 10 license, wipe the drive (from the Windows 10 installer) and re-install Windows.

Scenario 3: If the screenshots are from said device and you can log into it and have administrative rights on the computer you can simply decrypt the drive and that will eliminate bitlocker encryption by doing the following

• Click on the Start button
• Type cmd, right click 'Command Prompt' and select 'Run As Administrator'
• To list current partitions/drives type manage-bde -status
• From here you will see partitions/drives and whether or not they are encrypted
• If one is encrypted you can decrypt the drive with the following command (Assuming the C:\ drive is encrypted)
• manage-bde -off C:
• The time required to decrypt will just depend on the size of the drive and amount of data
• Rebooting or turning off the computer will have no affect on the process. It will simply start where it left off.
• For additional drives repair the "off" command and replace the C: with the appropriate drive letter with a colon

 

[Ridgeback]

Awesome, I only have access to my user account and, because of things going south, I don't have access to the administrator password. I am decrypting the drives now and will order a new copy of Windows 10 pro on flash drive to install. I simply want full access to the hardware as this is an awesome laptop and paid for it. My concern was that its registered to the Business and all this new security...stuff... would prevent any OS from being reinstalled.

Thanks,
Nathan

 

[Neemobeer]

Actually if you can log in you can grab the license key from powershell prompt with the following

(Get-WmiObject SoftwareLicensingService).OA3xoriginalproductkey

 

[Ridgeback]

Wow that worked and is cool. I do know that my former business partner also has that key, as hes the one who upgraded it to Business, so the less dealing i have with him the better. I'm fine with reinstalling new and have ordered Pro. I will keep you posted and appreciate you!

Nathan

 

[Ridgeback]

Ok, i have dban on a flash drive and the new OS. However, I get nothing when I press ESC during bootup. All I can do is press F12 and the flash drive is not listed to boot from. Im assuming that this is because i am not restarting as administrator. I can run CMD as administrator so can i do it from there? if so, which file do i need to run from the list of Dban files????

TIA,
Nathan

 

[Neemobeer]

You probably have a mismatch in boot methods (Ex the flash drive is formatted MBR and the system boots UEFI or vice versa) You shouldn't need dban to wipe the disk you can just select format from the Windows install media

 

[Ridgeback]

ok, ill give that a shot.

Thanks,
Nathan

 

[Ridgeback]

After deleting all the partitions from install, im back in business. One odd thing was the install never asked for the new product key. Maybe it was installed on the flash drive? Anywho, it worked. Thanks Neemo for all the tips!

Nathan

 

[Ridgeback]

the default version was Windows 10 home. Once I upgraded to Pro, it asked for the key.

Nathan