HELP - Idiot Msft Tech Fudged Up My PC

yahanna said:

Hi.. So I already deleted all the other unneeded drives and am left with "Drive 0 Unallocated Space". I now have 2 questions.

1) What are the exact commands to run 'clean all' for this drive?

2) What are the exact steps to make sure I'm installing this drive as UEFI? I need detailed steps. Thanks.

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1. There is no need to run the clean all command, unless you really want to let the computer sit overnight and write 0's to every sector on the HDD or SSD. Drive 0 Unallocated space is all you need.

If you really, really want to do clean all, though.... press shift+F10 in Windows setup to open a command prompt. the commands then would be:
diskpart
select disk 0
clean all <- give this overnight to complete while it writes 0's to every sector on the drive
exit
exit

Then if you were on the custom install screen with drives and partitions listed, click the Refresh link.

You can accomplish the same thing without writing 0's to every sector on the drive by using just the clean command by itself with all after it.

2. Windows 10 will install in the same mode you booted the USB flash drive in. If you booted it in UEFI mode, Windows 10 will install in UEFI mode. If you booted the flash drive in legacy BIOS (CSM) mode, then Windows 10 will install for legacy BIOS (CSM).

To make the drive UEFI there may be two options and you would need to check in the BIOS:
a) UEFI native without CSM
b) UEFI hybrid with CSM

The Windows 10 iso should be able to boot with any of the the BIOS choices.

If you definitely want the UEFI choice then you should be able to modify the BIOS before booting the windows 10 iso.
Boot to UEFI Firmware Settings from inside Windows 10 | Tutorials

These are some of the advantages of UEFI vs Legacy:

Code:

    Ability to support Windows 10 security features like Secure Boot, Windows Defender Device Guard, Windows Defender Credential Guard, and Windows Defender Exploit Guard. All require UEFI firmware.
    Faster boot and resume times.
    Ability to more easily support large hard drives (more than 2 terabytes) and drives with more than four partitions.
    Support for multicast deployment, which allows PC manufacturers to broadcast a PC image that can be received by multiple PCs without overwhelming the network or image server.
    Support for UEFI firmware drivers, applications, and option ROMs.

This tutorial has text and images to confirm that you have successfully installed UEFI:
Check if Windows 10 is using UEFI or Legacy BIOS | Tutorials

yahanna said:

Ok.. I installed win 10 now. But it looks big like its in safe mode. Maybe I need to reinstall display drivers? But the bigger question is that I can't connect to the net. I have ethernet and win 10 says that I'm not connected. How do I fix this?

Sounds like you need to start with the driver for your network card. You can download it from the computer manufacturer's website, the motherboard manufacturer's website, or the manufacturer of the network card you have.

When you perform a clean install Windows will install Microsoft and some non-Microsoft drivers.
This typically allows you to connect to the internet either by wired or wireless.

It is expected that with a clean install that Windows updates can be performed as part of the clean install.
If you cannot connect to the internet by either wireless or wired after a clean install then that is unusual.

Either you can attempt to perform another clean install and see if that fixes the problem or you can download the drivers on another computer and move them to the computer with the clean install using a flash drive.

zbook said:

When you perform a clean install Windows will install Microsoft and some non-Microsoft drivers.
This typically allows you to connect to the internet either by wired or wireless.

It is expected that with a clean install that Windows updates can be performed as part of the clean install.
If you cannot connect to the internet by either wireless or wired after a clean install then that is unusual.

Either you can attempt to perform another clean install and see if that fixes the problem or you can download the drivers on another computer and move them to the computer with the clean install using a flash drive.

Hi zbook,

I forgot to mention that the idiot tech from msft used remote computing to help me before this issue started. As he was working on my PC, I noticed he used a program called, Driver Booster which I'm sure you've heard of. I was NOT comfortable with that at all being that its not software a pro would use. Anyway, after he was done I couldn't connect to the net despite reboots. Do you think Driver Booster may have damaged my system permanently since a clean install left my PC unable to connect? If so, I will alert msft and demand compensation.

I'll clean install again as you suggested. Let me know what you think.

Usually Microsoft employees are not allowed to use third party software.
It makes one wonder if it was a scam.

Please perform another clean install.
Then install drivers only from the computer or motherboard manufacturer website.
For any driver that is needed that is not displayed then use the component manufacturer websites (Intel, AMD, Nvidia, Killer Networks, Realtek, etc.)

Third party websites that claim to increase the speed of drivers or install drivers can install unknown files.

There are no better functioning drivers than those displayed on the computer or motherboard manufacturer websites.
These are the best tested drivers for the computer or motherboard.

"Usually Microsoft employees are not allowed to use third party software.
It makes one wonder if it was a scam."
That gives me pause too. Wonder if the OP can post phone number called or how he connected to MS Support, hopefully not off a popup warning box.

zbook said:

Usually Microsoft employees are not allowed to use third party software.

Please perform another clean install.

Hi zbook,

I did another clean install and I get the same issue. I downloaded the network and chipset drivers and transferred them to the PC. But I get an error from the chipset driver installation saying "unknown error." With the network driver installation, I get an error saying, "Cannot install drivers. No intel adapters are present in this computer." See screen shot.

Btw, here's the number to msft tech dept I called: 800.642.7676. It looks like msft's number. Now I'll call them and demand to talk to a manager.

Just to let you know, I installed win 10 using the installation media. But I was never asked typical install questions like, region, and other questions. It just asked me several questions like do I want to send msft info, etc. Is this the right way to install win 10?