How To Do A Clean Install Of Windows 10 And Keep Files

We recently experienced an installation of Windows 10 with organisation files that were corrupt to the signal that certain sections of the Settings app would automatically close when being opened, amongst other bugs around the platform.

After attempting typical repair options, we used a Windows 10 ISO to perform an in-place upgrade, reinstalling Windows 10 while keeping our applications and all.

If this sounds familiar, nosotros take covered a similar process using Windows 10'south congenital-in "Reset this PC" pick, but that removes your programs and but retains your files and settings on the newly installed operating organisation, whereas over again, the in-identify upgrade even preserves the software you have installed.

Running an in-place upgrade worked to prepare our instance of Windows 10 that couldn't otherwise be repaired with Command Prompt commands such as SFC /scannow and DISM /Online /Cleanup-Epitome /RestoreHealth – neither of which would terminate their performance on our installation.

The reinstallation tin be initiated from inside Windows using the setup.exe file on a Windows 10 ISO/USB drive or from the Media Cosmos tool, and the procedure took around one-half an hour to cease on our desktop PC.

Since even your applications are retained on the resulting installation, if all goes as planned you won't accept to do much after and it's certainly a path of less resistance compared to fully reinstalling Windows.

Getting started with an in-place upgrade

For starters, the in-place upgrade isn't an selection if y'all can't boot into your installation. You must be logged in to a Windows account and that account must accept administrator admission. If you're not an admin, you lot will be prompted for credentials when launching the installer.

To check if you have an admin account, search Start for "change account type" or go to Control Panel\User Accounts\User Accounts\Manage Accounts\Change an Account\Change Account Type where all of the accounts on your Windows installation should be listed and those with admin-level access will say "Administrator."

Double-click your account and then click "Change the account type" for the option to go from a Standard user to an Administrator.

Yous tin likewise find this information by searching Get-go for Netplwiz.exe. With that application open up, select your account and get to Properties then the Group Membership tab for the Standard user/Administrator toggle.

If you're unable to brand your account an administrator, note that the Windows ambassador account is disabled by default and can be enabled from an elevated Command Prompt:

net user ambassador /active:yes | enables administrator account (relog)

net user | lists all Windows accounts including the ambassador account

Equally another requirement for the in-place upgrade, your Windows ISO/USB drive/Creation Tool must incorporate the same edition of your operating system (or newer), as well as the same language and architecture (32/64-bit).

You'll likewise need some spare storage on the Windows drive -- around 8GB when we tested.

Conveniently, this step in the installation will help you with storage information, displaying chapters usage for different areas of your operating organisation, and you can also cull a secondary/external storage device from a drop-down bill of fare of every drive fastened to your PC.

Although you'll keep all of your files and software, the reinstallation will delete certain items such as custom fonts, system icons and Wi-Fi credentials. However, every bit part of the process, the setup will also create a Windows.old folder which should take everything from your previous installation.

If you have a UEFI organization with Secure Boot enabled, it'south suggested that you disable Secure Boot before starting the in-place upgrade and then re-enable the feature afterward.

Really starting the in-identify upgrade

Start the Windows setup (setup.exe) by mounting the ISO or opening the Windows USB installation drive from the File Explorer.

Windows ten has native support for mounting ISOs by correct-clicking and choosing Mount or by using the following PowerShell command (our installation was so broken that the right-click option wasn't available to us):

Mount-DiskImage -ImagePath "C:\FileName.ISO"

After launching setup.exe or the Media Cosmos tool, y'all'll have the choice to upgrade at present or to create an installation ISO/USB drive -- you desire to Upgrade this PC now. Y'all might be prompted to download updates prior to this option existence bachelor.

The installer volition perform some initial setup/scans and eventually ask what you want to go along on the new re-create of Windows.

If y'all intend to go on your currently installed software on the repaired operating arrangement, make sure that "apps" are listed and not only "files" (Go along personal files and apps).

The rest of the in-place upgrade amounts to waiting about a half an hour for Windows to reinstall, which rebooted our arrangement several times and didn't crave any further intervention from us.

When completed, you lot'll load dorsum into the same Windows surroundings where you originally started the "upgrade," except with newly installed operating system files which should be bug-free.

Afterward completing the in-identify upgrade

As mentioned before, although this reinstallation retains your software and settings, the process creates a Windows.old folder with data from your previous copy of Windows. This folder occupies a large amount of storage and isn't hands deleted direct from File Explorer, though you can browse the contents at C:\Windows.former.

Disk Cleanup can delete the Windows.old folder as well as other temporary installation files used in the setup: Search the Start bill of fare for Disk Cleanup and and then click "Clean up system files" to run a secondary scan that volition locate Windows junk files.

When we scanned after the in-place upgrade, Disk Cleanup plant 3.61GB of "Previous Windows installation(s)" and 225MB of "Windows upgrade log files."

If y'all're really low on storage space, nosotros've establish that third-party software such equally Wise Disk Cleaner volition remove more data than Deejay Cleanup, and that particular tool even removed more than CCleaner.

Other than deleting excess Windows data, you'll probably have to relog into your Wi-Fi network and you may have to install some Windows updates if you lot didn't use the most recent Windows ISO. However, that ought to exist near the extent of your chores after the in-identify upgrade/repair installation.