How to install Win10 on Dell XPS 410 without BSOD using BIOS 'Raid On'

scott784 · 26 Jul 2015

cyberSAR said:

Will do. Copying my image to my NAS and will reset shortly. Have been meaning to test that feature so it's time to try it

Yea, I think it's kind of an interesting question. We know MS will make ISOs available (at some point) but I guess no one really knows if that will be on 07/29 or some later date. But I've wondered about that 'Reset my PC' tool in Win10. Lots of people want to do clean installs of windows. But it doesn't appear that MS has specifically addressed the question of whether or not 'Reset My PC' really gives a clean install....or simply the same as the last version that was installed on the PC. People want clean installs because they want to be able to format and also be assured that no orphan files are left behind on the drive. I guess MS will post additional information very soon. But, yes, if you happen to try using that tool (and make the determination), I'd be interested to know. Thanks again

cyberSAR · 26 Jul 2015

Sorry for the delay, had to finish up the pulled pork dinner

After performing a reset I noted that it is about as close to a fresh install as you can get. All of my customizations are gone with the exception of it kept my drive partition names and created a windows.old folder of only 520kb. Had to install all windows updates since 10240 was released.

I have been doing updates since Insider program began and notice that the system is much snappier since the reset. Will be reinstalling all of my programs and monitor how it performs.

HTH

scott784 · 26 Jul 2015

cyberSAR said:

Sorry for the delay, had to finish up the pulled pork dinner

After performing a reset I noted that it is about as close to a fresh install as you can get. All of my customizations are gone with the exception of it kept my drive partition names and created a windows.old folder of only 520kb. Had to install all windows updates since 10240 was released.

I have been doing updates since Insider program began and notice that the system is much snappier since the reset. Will be reinstalling all of my programs and monitor how it performs.

HTH

That's interesting that the 'Reset My PC' tool' kept your drive partition names as well as creating a windows.old folder on your PC. That sounds like 'upgrade' behavior. But you also said it completely eliminated all of your customizations and that the system is snappier. So it almost sounds like a 'hybrid' clean install.....if that's a good way of putting it....lol. But maybe for some people (including me) that 'almost' clean install might be 'good enough'. The biggest issue (for me) is not having Win7 orphan files unnecessarily hanging around, taking up space, and potentially creating buggy behavior in the future. Thanks so much for sharing your experience on this matter.

cyberSAR · 26 Jul 2015

The more I'm playing with it it is as good as a fresh install. The windows.old folder was so small compared to an upgrade. I'm happy with it so far.

scott784 · 26 Jul 2015

cyberSAR said:

The more I'm playing with it it is as good as a fresh install. The windows.old folder was so small compared to an upgrade. I'm happy with it so far.

That's excellent! When I get my upgrade, I will plan on doing the upgrade, then using the 'Reset my PC' without any personal folders or settings (just what you did) and then immediately create a new system image on my external hard drive. From what I have read, (and your feedback), I am more confident that I won't get blue screened (at least up to this point) because the system should have the necessary SATA Controllers/drivers to make it through the process--even on my older PC.

At least after that point, I can feel free to create a USB ISO install of Win10 in the future. And in the worst case scenario, I will always have my baseline system image to fall back on. So I think I should be fine--despite the temperamental nature of my BIOS with clean installs. I think you've helped solve my problem before it's happened....lol.

PS Yes this Dell XPS 410 has been a good one (built on the tail end of XP and Vista ready). And I've ran Win7 for years now on it with no problems. (I skipped Win8 so no experience ever using that). But that BIOS issue has been my one complaint about the system from the time this PC was new. There were posts all over the internet about it (going back to 2007) related to difficulties with the SATA controllers and Intel Matrix Storage Manager. It seemed fine with reinstalls of Dell's OEM versions of the OS--but the problems centered around retail versions of Vista/Win 7 and trying to get the system to take it without blue screening during the reinstall unless the user fell back on the ATA/Auto Detect setting in the BIOS--which was never the default setting for optimal hard drive performance.

scott784 · 01 Aug 2015

Quick update for anyone reading this thread--I did a clean install of Win10 on Saturday. Fortunately, the installation media in Win10 played nicely with my RAID BIOS default setting and did not kick out the install. And when the install was finished, I was pleased to see that my Device Manager had all oft the needed drivers. It's ironic that I had a fit trying to get Vista reinstalled (when this PC was practically brand new)....and even had problems with the install of Win7 due to the RAID BIOS setting...but again everything went well with the installation of Win10.