Partition changes - Worth doing?

Thank you

I was looking for a more simple fix, which will give minor improvements. I think if I do get the the point where I feel a clean install is required, I will invest in a new machine entirely

Many people find that upgrading the HDD to an SSD fixes all their problems with performance.

Windows licensing information should be automatically installed on Microsoft servers.
So needing CDs or DVDs should not be required when installing Windows.

Windows iso are free.
Any Windows 10 version can be clean installed.
When a clean install is performed all partitions are manually deleted.
When Windows is installed it creates the new partition structure based on the selected BIOS setting.

Most owners manuals are available using Google search.

If you want to record information about the licensing see these tools:
Activation troubleshooting

The drive can be checked with tests:

Run HD Tune (free version) (all drives)
HD Tune website
Post images into the thread for results on these tabs:
a) Health
b) Benchmark
c) Full error scan

Run Sea Tools for Windows
long generic test
Post an image of the test result into the thread
SeaTools for Windows |
Seagate
How to use SeaTools for Windows | Seagate Support US

These can be performed overnight:
a) HD Tune full error scan
b) Sea Tools long generic test

Take Screenshot in Windows 10
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/...re-screenshots
How to Upload and Post Screenshots and Files at Ten Forums


These links are for older Windows iso so that Windows 10 1909 can be clean installed:

http://windowsiso.net
Microsoft Windows and Office ISO Download Tool
TechBench by WZT (v4.1.1)
UUP dump


https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...cle-fact-sheet

Getting an SSD as suggested earlier could be the answer. Smallish ones 250-500gb are quite cheap nowadays.

I've taken the decision to do a clean install tomorrow and see how it goes. I have another machine, which is a little newer. It was my late fathers and currently has no OS on it. I have no idea of the spec on that, but if the clean install on my machine doesn't leave me with something I am happy with, I may get a copy of W10 and load it on that machine.

I am not sure (Leaky memory in my old age) if my version of W10 is OEM or not, but I don't have a disk. Does anyone know if there's an easy way to tell? If the clean install doesn't work, I don't want to remove the key to use on the second machine and find myself unable to use either

I am able to get the product key from the about section of the system settings.

Thanks again folks

dalchina said:

SMACC (free) by member Superfly gives a lot of info about licensing. Or see
Determine if Windows License Type is OEM, Retail, or Volume

Note that a clean install is to unallocated space and requires you delete any and all Windows partitions (typically 4 for UEFI) as part of the procedure. (Tutorial available).

ISO's are freely downloadable for any build. (Tutorial available).
There's a tutorial showing you how to create a bootable flash drive to install Win 10.

If reinstalling Win 10 on a PC where Win 10 was previously activated, no key is needed.

So, decision now made.
I compared the spec of the two computers. Mine is the older of the two, but has a faster processor. The second machine (My late father's) had more RAM, but (This will give away some age issues I guess) it was DDR3 and mine is DDR2, so I couldn't take the RAM out of that, but one thing he did have was a second (1TB) HDD, so I have moved that into my machine. I prefer the case of my machine and it has a Sound Blaster card in, which could be handy, as I would like to do some recording, so my intention was always to stay with my machine if possible

The bottom line is that I now have an old machine, with an AMD Phenom 9150e Quad-Core, 1800Mhz processor, 2GB of DDR2 RAM, a 300GB HDD and a separate 1TB HDD.

I am not a gamer, so don't do anything particularly graphic intensive. It would cost very little to get a little more RAM perhaps.

I have backed up all of my files. Over the weekend, I will do a clean install of Windows 10 and update all of my drivers. As the machine is old, I will get an air duster and clean out the inside of the machine and then see how it performs when that is all done

BTW, using your link Dalchina, I have now determined that I have a retail version of W10 and I have the product key, so if all else fails, I may just get a new machine and I can carry W10 over to that

Thanks for all the help and advice