Windows 10 Clean Install

Kari said:

In most cases it cannot. See my previous post for one example.

Kari

Oh yes, thanks again Kari.

dst11 said:

I did that too and I got a 4GB file. 5GB ISO by direct download, 4GB with the MCT. Hey, I can burn this to a DVD+R!

I have a 4.59-GB ISO file downloaded directly from Microsoft via TechBench by WZT (v4.1.1)
One more option for you.

If the OP is interested in playing with Win10XPE, they may consider using it to clean-install Windows 10: Win10XPE - Build Your Own Rescue Media

Matthew Wai said:

I have a 4.59-GB ISO file downloaded directly from Microsoft via TechBench by WZT (v4.1.1)
One more option for you.

i select 'Windows (Final)', '1909', 'Windows 10', English', 'x64' and I got the exact same size with the ISO I downloaded from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/soft...d/windows10ISO; 5421459456 bytes. Thanks for the link. No need to change UAs anymore!

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AddRAM said:

Once again ( I`m sure it`s already been said ) disconnect all your other hard drives when installing W10, just disconnect their power cables.

Is there any danger if you don't select the Windows 7 partition when the Windows 10 installer asks where to install? Has the Windows 10 installer erase someone's Windows 7 installation?

You have to delete the partitions. See Fresh Install Windows 10 - Recovery Partition

This is a tutorial on dual boot:

Dual Boot Windows 10 with Windows 7 or Windows 8

NavyLCDR said:

You don't have to delete all the partitions on a drive. If you want to install Windowa 10 and leave the Windows 7 partition intact, that is completely doable.

There are two ways to install Windows 10 without erasing your previous OS. Lets say I have a 256 drive with Windows 7 installed. The first method, that I would use:
Use MiniTool Partition Wizard to both resize the Windows 7 partition to 128 GB and move it to the right end of the drive (end of the drive). Then boot from the Windows 10 USB flash drive, select the custom install option, then on the next screen delete every partition on the drive except for the Windows 7 at the end. You should end up with 128 GB unalloacated space followed by the Windows 7 partition. Highlight the unallocated space and click next.

Windows setup will create a new system partition, and all the other usual Windows 10 partitions on the front half of the drive, and it will boot into Windows 10 only. Then you can use the bcdboot command to add Windows 7 to the boot menu setting up dual boot if you want to. The Windows 7 partition will also be accessible from Windows 10 to copy data.

The second method would be to use MiniTool Partition Wizard to shrink the Windows 7 partition from the right end, creating 128 GB empty space behind it. Then create an empty partition in the free space and format it NTFS. Then boot from the Windows 10 USB flash drive, select the custom install option, highlight the newly created empty NTFS partition to install to and click next. Now, if you have enough free space in your existing system partition on the drive, Windows 10 will upgrade that system partition to dual boot the old OS and Windows 10, and will install Windows 10 to the empty partition.

Note, I'm only using the 128 GB sizes as an example, but whatever method you use, I highly suggest making at least 64 GB available for the Windows 10 install. I know a lot of people recommend disconnecting all other drives in a multi-drive system. Yes, this can prevent a lot of headaches. But, if you know what you are doing and how to create system partitions, if needed, it is not needed to remove other hard drives. All of my computers have multiple drives, and I never disconnect them. But I also know exactly where all my system partitions are and which partition the computer is booting from.

Thanks for the detailed reply! I have a followup question if you have time. I see when the W10 partition is on the left and the W7 partition is on the right (way 1), Setup doesn't see the W7 partition and multi-boot must be setup manually. But when the W7 partition is on the left and the W10 partition is on the right (way 2), Setup sees the W7 partition and multi-boot is setup automatically. Is there a reason for that? I plan to install W10 on a new disc (SSD). W7 is on the old drive (HDD). Does that change things?

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zbook said:

This is a tutorial on dual boot:

Dual Boot Windows 10 with Windows 7 or Windows 8

Thanks for the link. I'll take a look!