How to Install Windows 10 on a New Hard Drive

This will erase all data on the partitions, so double-check that you’re deleting partitions from the correct drive and you’re absolutely sure you’ve already backed up everything you need. Windows will then start the installation process. Mostly, the installation is automatic, but keep an eye on it and answer any questions you’re asked. In fact, the process is just the same. The following operations are just the same. Once the installer has done its job, Windows 10 will boot, get available updates, ask you a few questions, sign in with your Microsoft account, and get everything ready.

It’s well worth reading through the initial questions and options, since opting for the defaults means a fair amount of personal data will be sent to Microsoft’s servers for convenience.

For example, data is stored so Cortana knows about you and can be more helpful. This isn’t sinister, but some people think different and they would refuse. When you finally get to the Windows 10 desktop, connect to the network and allow a bit of time for Windows 10 searching for drivers for your hardware. The screen resolution may be wrong but will be all right after drive update.

And you will have to manually transfer your files and install the apps once Windows 10 is installed. The detailed and illustrated guide helped me create Windows 10 install USB and go through all the installation process easily.

In addition to using Windows 10 installation disc, there is another way to install Windows 10 to another hard drive. By using a professional Windows 10 migration tool, you can easily migrate Windows 10 from one drive to another without having to reinstall. Here MiniTool Partition Wizard is strongly recommended for its user-friendly interface and outstanding performance. Get this partition magic and begin. Buy Now. This means you are able to copy Windows 10 to the new drive without having to do the installation.

Here is how to install Windows 10 on new PC:. Then, select the prepared disk as the destination disk and click Next to go on. You will receive a warning message saying all data on the target disk will be destroyed if it is not empty.

Click Yes to confirm since you have finished the preparatory job. Here you can customize the copy options and preview changes that will happen on the destination disk. When finished, click Next to continue. Click Apply to carry out the pending operations.

Allow restarting your PC to help Partition Wizard complete its job. When all is done, connect the target hard drive to your computer and set your computer to boot from the new Windows 10 installed hard drive.

In addition to Windows 10 migration, MiniTool Partition Wizard also makes it possible to clone hard drive with Windows 10 installed. I can use it to migrate Windows 10 to another hard drive, avoiding the troublesome system installation and settings, data transferring, as well as applications installation.

If you have any supplement, please leave your idea in the following comment section. Rodin is an enthusiastic IT writer focusing on Windows trends, disk partition management and data recovery.

She loves to write and share her idea about the useful tips and tricks on personal computers’ maintenance. If you are looking for methods to improve your computer performance, manage hard drives and recover data from different devices, Rodin can provide reliable solutions for data management.

Partition Wizard. Download Partition Wizard. Note: You can’t get a fresh system install without all of your apps and personal data being erased, so be sure to back up all of your important information before you begin this process.

Here is the best free backup software for Windows Tip: When you press Next to install, you may receive some errors that prevent the installation, such as Windows cannot be installed to this disk.

Please pay attention to the error message and try to find the solution. This is to ensure your current product key gets converted to a Windows 10 product key and that your copy of the operating system remains activated. I see two mistakes in the article. There’s no need to use the key during that install because you would have already validated Windows 10 during the “upgrade” process.

Two, I think the word converted should not be used. Maybe “aligned” or “associated” is a better way of looking at it. MS will not invalidate your use of the key with the pervious version of Windows you upgrade from.

So if I ever wanted to go back to either Windows 7 or 8 which ever I have , I would be using the original key. Your Windows 8. But you can’t downgrade from a clean install.

You have to perform a clean Windows 8. You can only downgrade from a upgrade process although you have 30 days to do so. Warning downgrading back to 8. Some can get fixed by reinstalling them but some cant. They just force close after the splash screen. I had to do a PC refresh. Losing all my programs and updates.

Spent 8 hours last night downloading 1. No such thing can be done. One will have to perform another clean install and use the original product key. Posted via the Windows Central App for Android. Nope, if you upgrade to Windows 10 you can go back to 8. Not sure about Win7. I had the option. I tried using the key for a msi computer with Windows 7. The clean install of windows 10 did not accept the mass oem key from msi. So doing a clean install what would one use for the key to activate it.

This article really fails to answer the most important question people have already asked me. Note: sticker was completely worn out and so we pulled the product key using jellybean. W10 didnt accept the key. Updating via update failed numerous times. I see you never updated Windows 7 to Windows 10, you need to that first for key to get coverted to windows 10 before doing a clean install.

Did you upgrade first before doing the clean install? Tried upgrading first but keeps reseting to a blank screen then it say restoring to previous version. Regardless of your upgrade issues. The upgrade has to be performed first. Then if you want, you can do a clean install. You’ll have to try and work out the upgrade issues with MS.

The Microsoft forums hopefully can have your answers. Daniel Rubino commented on a comment about 20 minutes ago and now, question like yours which does make sense seems like being ignored. Very disappointing. And I hope that when they do reply, they wouldn’t sound rude e. Busy, check Windows 10 forum, etc.

It’s not about being rude. Let me explain you, this person didn’t upgrade, this person just clean installed Windows 10 and thought by putting windows 7 key it would work. Windows 10 will automatically activate you.

Again, I am sure Daniel Rubino is a nice guy, but these kind of questions should be asked on a forum. AND if you are going to ask, you should just go back and read “what did I do wrong?? You first upgrade! Why wouldn’t Daniel Rubino ignore this? I did try updating it. It was clearly the easiest path for me but unfortunately the upgrade kept restoring. Even when a fresh format for windows 7.

Im just asking what a resolution would be. For your info dude I have not installed win10 and am still running win7. It’s not really a rudeness or being busy thing. The writers don’t have all the answers, they are writers with technical knowledge, not necessarily technical experts. If you want to ensure that your question gets maximum exposure, it should be asked in the forums. Activate over the phone and then connect to the internet.

Then run the Windows 10 update tool. I had multiple OS multi-boot on my laptop. Different versions.. How do I get my OS upgraded to get the new Windows 10 key?? No difference. Very frustrating You can also just do a reset for those that don’t want create the media or deal with partitioning. There is even the option to keep your personal files that get put into a folder called Windows. I’ve found it an easy and hassle free way to do it.

I’d recommend it to anyone who did several preview upgrades as it cleared out all my issues that were inherited from prior builds. It’s just like hard resetting the phone. This gave me a bluescreen on my Surface Pro 3.

You can upgrade your windows 8. This ended up causing a blue screen just a day after upgrading. Back on 8. Hi, quick question here, I’m still upgrading mine to Windows 10 using Download Tool, if sometimes in the future I want to do clean install, should I re-download the ISO file?

Also, if I’m upgrading with this way, should I re-enter the product key? I haven’t been able to backup that yet.. Any response will be appreciated, thanks! Upgrading using download tool doesnt require a product key.

If you want to perform a clean installation in future, you would need to use download tool for creating bootable DVD or USB. You don’t need a product key to clean install. Your key is linked to your hardware. If you had an activated Windows 10, Windows will activate automatically after clean installing.

What’s the difference between fresh install of windows 10 and resetting the already installed windows 10? I would like to know this as well. After I upgraded to windows 10 I did a reset of the OS through settings. Reset might not work for some issues. I think reset and delete all files without wiping the disk is the best thing.

I tried doing the “reset’ from within W10 twice.. Got a BSOD both times I used the dvd I made from the. I was prompted twice to enter a key, skipped both times. Checked that W10 was activated when it was all done It was in fact. I upgraded from Windows 7 to 10 through Windows update. And this article mentions, the 7 product key will be changed to 10 product key. So can I still use that product key to activate 7 or will it only work with 10 now? Your key should work on 7 because it’s a win7 key.

But Windows 10 doesn’t need a key, your key is your hardware, that’s what Windows 10 searches, if it matches it will say “oh this hardware was activated before, so it will be activated” that’s why you can just put your windows 10 dvd and clean install without upgrading after you did a first upgrade of course so it would activate your hardware from 7 to If your W10 is running slow I suggest doing a clean W10 install. Windows upgrades impact your system performance.

Tried resetting my pc. While it is better now, still not upto 7’s smoothness. A full clean install is not viable as I have a lot of data to transfer that too without an external hard drive. Well it seems it’s easier just to Reset and delete all files no? Exactly my thought. Just upgrade to win10 and do a reset without keeping files and settings. That’s no different than doing a clean install right? This technique doesn’t work.

The main issue is that if you use your windows 8. If you skip the product key, you’ll have an un-activated version of windows installed. After talking to Microsoft support, they basically want you to buy windows 10 if you truly want to do a clean installl. Otherwise it’s an upgrade every time.

My suggestion is to do a “fresh” install don’t save any previous files and apps. This shoves your old drive into the windows. Then you can run disc cleanup and remove the windows.

Then make an image of your drive for future recovery using your favorite imaging tool. I’ve not found any other way that works – and i’ve spent well over 3 days now testing different methods. Also confirming what everyone else found – the 2 computers i have upgraded to 10 are showing the same generic key and that key will not work for install.

It does work. You tried to use your 8. You shouldn’t enter any key at all at any point. If you upgraded to 10 from 7 or 8. During a clean install of Windows 10 later on the same machine, the request for Windows 10 product key must be skipped an option is available. Otherwise your machine can’t be activated. Note: you do NOT need your Windows 8. Click SKIP when it asks you for a key, and when you sign in on the PC with your Microsoft account same one you were already using , Windows 10 will activate automatically, no key required.

Exactly, 8. After a true upgrade, MS stores your licence on their server along with your hardware info. If you do a clean installation after the upgrade, the whole activation process is automatic. You just have to wait. No keys required. It seems that you don’t need to sign in with your MSA as you said, a local account should work too. As Zapella said, your hardware info is what matters. Well I didn’t perform a clean installation, I just used the media creation tool to upgrade to windows 10, and everything is working like a charm, expect for my display adapter driver, which gave me a low resolution, but I solved it after many trials and finally used windows update to download the latest driver, after I uninstalled the previous one, and I even got two additional updates for windows 10 pro.

You actually don’t need the product key. The clean install will activate it automatically, provided you don’t change the hardware. This makes sense Why would Microsoft expect users to extract their key with an archaic 3 rd party program, just to make use of their much advertised free upgrade for the entire populace? Should be easy right? And it is. Handy article, however I would say it would’ve been best not to suggest to delete all the partitions off the hard drive lol Just the partition they wish to install on unless they want to clean the hdd “completely”.

That’s the definition of a clean install: deleting absolutely everything, including partitions. Went the manual route for my laptop running Windows 8. Downloaded the ISO – so I can back that up too for later use if needed – loaded onto a USB stick, and used that to do the in-place upgrade.

By the time I made it into Windows 10 settings it was already activated. Then I turned around and did the the clean install – had already fully backed up and was ready, and I had been planning for a clean install anyway – which interestingly went much quicker than the upgrade. Again, activation was already done by the time I checked on it. Pretty good so far, though the system seems a bit sluggish at times. Might just be initial shakedown happening, or maybe I need to verify the drivers are current.

The mfr has drivers for 7 and 8. ISO will work fine, just make sure you get your license upgraded to a Windows 10 license by first updating through Windows Update, as mentioned in the article. In my case, my desktop and laptop currently run W7 Pro 64 bit.

Does the USB get tied to that specific machine which a clean install is performed on? Thanks J! In total my household has 5 pcs to upgrade, I’m glad I won’t have to buy 5 separate USB drive for each pc.

And they have to be the same language if I’m not mistaken. Did it thanks! If you do everything right, you’ll never need to use any key at all. You don’t need to know your windows 10 key. Might as well buy Windows 10 Home. Clean install; all the way. Once I get it clean install only thru gimagex wonder if the media creation tool is like w8’s where it’ll decrypt the install esd as folder windows payload as I hate being bored with the long drawn out process that the setup app uses.

Hi All, I did a clean install in the same way as its mentioned in the post except taking the key with Magical Jelly Bean, but after the clean install my Windows is not getting activated. I contacted MS team and got the reply as its due to server slowness issue, but I’m not convinenced becuase its alredy two days my lap in this mode Anyone faced the same issue and got it resolved please post your comments below.

As long as you upgraded to W10 first and it showed as activated. If you tried straight clean install without first doing an upgrade, then the only way I’ve come across for it to work is to rebuild to a clean version of whatever the machine came with don’t waste time on the updates for it either, literally bang on the upgrade from a USB as soon as it’s activated , then upgrade, then clean install at which point it doesn’t need a key as the hwid is registered with MS.

I get the same error code after doing an upgrade of my Windows 10 Developer Preview last night. It was fully updated and activated before I did the upgrade. I upgraded to my own language and it kept only my personal files.

The error code means that the key has been blocked. Same here. Did an upgrade from Win 8. This morning massage pops out that Windows is not activated. It’s must be noted that the requirement to get Windows 10 through Windows Update is only if you want to perform a clean install.

If you use the ISO tool to install it, you just skip the cd-key and upgrade the installed OS, then it activates itself from within Windows So it’s safe and fast to just update it with the ISO tool.

Is there any way to recover the Insider activation or something? Exact same issue here. Same with DVDs, is it more than one disc? It does as it has the directories for both.

Download it if you need both, and just check the size before dumping to a USB. Upgrade to win 10 then do a reset Or, you can skip all this, go into the new recovery settings and do a full reset and reinstall Windows 10 automatically Does anyone know if I can upgrade to windows 10 from vista using a clean installation?

You can, but your license won’t be upgraded. You will be running a non-Genuine copy of Windows unless you purchase a Windows 10 license key or sign up for the Windows Insider program. The licence wouldn’t matter in this case anyway – it’s Vista so doesn’t get a free upgrade. So purchase a new licence key or have MSDN or go the insider path, and do a clean install from there.

Doesn’t Windows, since Windows 8, have built in Refresh and Restore options, the latter of which basically formats the hard drive and reinstall Windows automatically?

Correct me if I’m wrong. Definitely a fresh install for me. New components may be on the cards too. While this is closer to a clean install I don’t consider it completely clean. I don’t lik my OS drives to be quick formatted. I have not seen that anybody mentioned it, but for all students that have access to free Microsoft software via Dreamspark, you can download Win10 iso, put it on the USB or DVD and install clean copy on your system, like usually You will get a new serial key, independent of your previous downloads Win 7 or 8.

During clean install, we would definitely format the previous partition then why we need to first upgrade previous version to Windows 10? It means during clean install you don’t need to give installation key and windows will be activated by itself.

First sorry for my english-I’m from Poland. I done clean installation exactly like you, but I don’t downloaded Windows 10 twice, I only downloaded once and check prepare pendrive. Why did Edge disappear? Taskbar was unresponsive and I fixed that, but Edge disappeared? It looks like it just uninstalled. I can find the shortcut but it doesn’t open anything.

Please help! So what if I have windows XP. Can’t I install windows 10 by just purchasing windows 10 and installing it after a format of the hard drive. Does an upgrade write this over? Doesn’t matter in my case, yet wondering. The product key is tied to the motherboard bios right? So if I clean install Windows 10 on a new hard drive will it find the product key?

How to download “get windows 10 app”. I upgraded to Windows 10 via Windows update but I performed the reinstallation of windows 10 from the settings app and selecting the restore option, choosing to delete everything. Is this thing giving the same result of the formatting option said in the article? Or maybe there is still some windows 8. Once i upgraded my network connection didn’t work perfectly I try to install the new versions of the drivers for my mother board but it didn’t work Officially I don have internet connection on Windows That’s easy enough BUT what are you all doing about booting off of a thumb drive on a surface pro?

Mine isn’t doing it. For devices with UEFI security you have to set up your usb stick in a different way. Have a look on Google. Even specific ones for the SP3. Sent from mobile. Im interested to know how to clean install win 10 on surface 3 and pro 3. I called ms and they didnt really provide a solution.

I’d like to of course have everything intact so when I do a reset it still works perfectly. Can I use my windows 7 product key, after upgrading and then doing a clean install for win 10? As mentioned by several users above, you don’t need to enter the product key during the clean install after you have performed the upgrade first. Microsoft may have associated you’re hardware information as licensed.

My test procedure: 1. Clean install a Windows 7 with OEM product key on my machine label 2. Upgrade activated Win7 to Win10 using the Windows update method 3. Format already installed Win10 4. Perform a clean install of Windows 10 with USB 5. Do not enter skip any product key during the installation process 6. After the installation is completed, Windows 10 is already activated.

I already did an upgrade of my Windows 8. So if I do a fresh install of Windows 10 in this machine, I need to use my key for Windows 8.

Can I also use this new cd key to make a fresh installation of Windows 10? You do not use your key from 8. After the upgrade, make sure that the upgraded W10 is activated. Once activated, you can then do a clean install of W10, and when asked for a key simply skip entering it. Once the clean install is completed, it should already be activated. Because the activation server will recognize your hardware and activate it.

Changed your hardware? I just did a factory reset and windows 10 upgrade was automatic. Works perfectly I dnt get update but tray r showing. My windows 10 desktop update is stuck on “preparing for installation.. It has been stuck there for over half an hour. Can anyone help me? What could be the issue? I think during installation you can choose to download updates for the installer or not.

Try ‘don’ t download updates’? What helped me was disabling the network adapter or turning off and on your wireless connection it should resolve the issue. This article is hugely confusing. So, you have to upgrade to windows 10 first via windows update, then download the ISO and select ‘ upgrade this pc’.

That’s not what the article says. Step 1: you need a win8 or win7 installation with a valid key Step2: you update through windows update to win Step 3: win 10 will then activate and your win10 activation will be linked to your hardware you can forget about your win7 or win8 key Step 4 optional : if you want to do a clean installation, you have to create a bootable usb stick or dvd so that you can start the installation during boot-time.

There you choose the ‘Custom’ installation, not the upgrade. Step 5: during installation, you will be asked for an activation key. You skip this. Step 6: after the installation, win10 will automatically activate because it knows you have a valid activation key for this hardware setup it got that from your upgrade before.

So if you never did an upgrade, you don’t have a win10 activation and you can only do a clean install of win10 if you’d buy a win10 activation key. Now, how do you fix that? If you’re unable to complete this step, look at “edit 5” down below 2. Now, run the command prompt as an administrator. Type in “wuauclt. EDIT: For those who still have issues, several users reported that setting their time forward to the First of August for example and then doing the above steps again helped them resolve the issue.

Just be cautious that you want to do an upgrade, not a clean install! If you do a clean install, Windows 10 will not activate. You would need a new product key for that. Once you’ve completed the upgrade and checked that Windows is activated, you can do a clean reinstall if necessary. Now, ain’t that an accomplishment?

EDIT 5: If you’re unable to delete the contents of the folder due to them being in use, try the following: 1. Run the command prompt as an administrator. Type in “net stop wuauserv”. You should see a message indicating that the Windows Update service has been stopped. Now, go back to the folder and now you should be able to delete all its contents. Go back to the command prompt and this time, type in “net start wuauserv”.

This time, the message will tell you the Windows Update service has been started. Go back to step 2 in the original post. So, I in order to upgrade I have to install Windows 7 I got with my notebook, then upgrade to Windows 10, and then do a clean Windows 10 install again?

This is absurd. I know, right. I had to download Windows Just wow. That’s like all day work. I will probably wait until somebody figures this out. How To install it on a mac? I dont have a product key Help anybody???? I downloaded a build iso image about 3. I need to know if this upgrade method will yield a full version of windows Yes, you can use that for the upgrade.

It will install sole updates after that but in the end you’ll have a fully up-to-date win10 setup. A clean install would still be safer but one of my pc’s was set up like this and no issues with stability and performance so far.

I have a Toshiba Encore 8 inch tablet that came with Microsoft Office.

Windows 10 clean install can’t find a valid partition – Microsoft Community

 
Use a Windows 10 DVD or USB drive with installer on to begin installation. Follow the on screen instructions to create a new Windows install. EaseUS Partition Master is the top recommendation of a magic partition tool that lets you install Windows 10 on SSD from HDD/SSD within. It’s also possible to use the “Reset this PC” feature to quickly wipe out the hard drive and reinstall the operating system without additional.