Windows 10: Cannot install W10 Pro (full install) - wants NEW PC

A little history. I have been a PC owner/user for over 25 years, and have built my own systems from scratch for the last 20 years. I'm currently on the fourth build in my current ATX case. I had been a W2000 user, but had to migrate to Windows 7. I was happy with W7, but upgraded to W10 when the free update was offered.

The problem: I am not happy with W10. It is packed with frills, many of which I could do without, but appears to lack what I truly value - Stability. Every day, I suffer blue screens of death and/or screen freezes, both of which require a reboot. Just recently, Windows 10 triggered a "PC reset" on my system, as a result of which I had to reinstall numerous apps.

So I have decided to take matters into my own hands. I want to install a fresh and full version of W10, and allow whatever cumulative updates are out there to be installed afterwards.

I should mention that I have TWO hard disk drives in my system. Before starting on this project, I used Paragon Software's Hard Disk Manager 15 to migrate my OS into the secondary HDD, which also copied all my data onto that disk, and thus I have two fully operational systems, and can boot from either. I adjust the BIOS settings to decide which HDD to boot from.

I bought the full installation DVD which arrived today, and was looking forward to installing W10 from it. The problem I have is that the Windows installation DVD I bought cannot be used on my system - it says it can only be installed on a "new" PC.

I was looking through this thread on this forum, and I have formed the impression that if I were to delete the partition on my target hard drive, the Windows installer might accept my PC as "new" and allow the installation to go ahead.

The Paragon software I have is able to delete a drive partition. If I simply delete the partition from my spare (target) drive, would I then be able to install this version of Windows from the DVD?


PS my current installation dates back to 2005 - no installation from flash drive possible. Other than that, it's fine.

Kiri - thank you for your interest.

I have to tell you now that in the past 20+ years, installing an operating system has been (for me) a simple matter of inserting a disk into a reader, and following some on screen prompts in a process that might take half an hour. I am looking to keep the solution to my current problem as simple as possible, along the lines of previous Windows installations I have done.

Windows on my system has already "reset"/reinstalled itself, but I am not happy with the results, as I still get screen freezes, BSOD, and I have lost all sound output.

I did try the .ISO file option a few days ago - I now have a Windows .ISO file on my system, but when I tried to burn it to DVD, I got that familiar burner speed incompatibility problem, with some very vague suggestion of what remedial steps to take. In fact I've never got that burner to create a DVD, but have been able to burn CDs with it. With the advent of flash drives, this has not been a problem, as flash drives offer a cheap and much more convenient way of transferring substantial amounts of data.

It would appear that the full installation option with an FPP licence key is my last hope. Yes I did look through your installation procedure (third link in your reply post). I know you are appalled that I spent money on the full install disk, but the simple fact is that I could EARN that money in about half the time it would take me to wade through and act upon your somewhat detailed set of steps to install Windows without DVD or USB. But I am afraid that at my time of life, I have neither the time nor the inclination to go down that route!

Most probably you have bought a so called OEM installation media, which is only meant to be used on new machines and do not allow license transfer to new hardware.

Quite so, but I don't care about transferring the licence to new hardware. I have only this PC and an Android tablet and phone, and that is the sum total of my computer hardware. I am not running a business.

So, if you or anyone can answer my last question, which was "If I simply delete the partition from my spare (target) drive, would I then be able to install this version of Windows from the DVD?", I will be most grateful!

You need to just have one drive and wipe all partition do NOT create any more so windows has in effect a new disk it will create whats needed. you could re sell the dvd and use the iso it gives you and option to create usb when you download

Did you enter the product key that came with the DVD when asked during setup? If you did, try it again but this time click the link on that screen that says I don't have a product key.

Samuria said:

You need to just have one drive and wipe all partition do NOT create any more so windows has in effect a new disk it will create whats needed.

That's what I thought. Will the presence of my other HDD cause any problems when installing?

NavyLCDR said:

Did you enter the product key that came with the DVD when asked during setup? If you did, try it again but this time click the link on that screen that says I don't have a product key.

No. The installation stopped as soon as the process detected that mine is not a "new" PC. Why would I not want to enter a product key when I have one supplied on the disk package?



Another problem I have, which may be the cause of others, is that 2017-12 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1709 for x86-based Systems (KB4054517) will not install!

If it finds any windows it will abort also it can put boot files on the wrong drive if there is a second disk

Uncle Bucket said:

No. The installation stopped as soon as the process detected that mine is not a "new" PC. Why would I not want to enter a product key when I have one supplied on the disk package?

Why would you want to waste a new product key on a computer that already has a digital license for Windows 10 established for it?

But it does sound like you are going to need it install it with only one blank hard drive connected.