Best way to perform a clean installation...

I'm running Win 10 Pro Insider 2004 (19564.1005) and I've been noticing little problems here and there. These are very small, but at the same time, can be frustrating. Performance degradation to the point of being non usable and having to reboot, windows update doesn't always work, programs in the notification area will either freeze temporarily or permanently, requiring an "end process" command via task manager to revive/restart said program, etc...

Currently, the "Evaluation Copy is set to expire on 7/31/2020" message that pops up every 15 seconds is what really motivated me to write this post and start planning a clean install.

I use my computer for work as a web developer. I have a lot of programs running on my computer at a time

My strategy for storage has always been:

• Primary Drive for OS & Programs
• Secondary Drive for Downloads/Documents/Pictures (my Library folders
• Tertiary Drive for Media/Personal Files/etc
• Quaternary Drive for Client/Business Related Files

The only folder I have never messed with is the user profile folder (ie. user/cntquinn/) - You know, the folder that contains Documents/Downloads/Favorites/AppData etc...

I have a few questions regarding a clean installation:

What is the best way to backup individual program settings? I'm guessing I should load each program individually and see if there is a way to save/backup settings manually and then do so to a storage device not going to be used for Windows?

How often should one do a clean install of Windows? The last time I did a clean install of Windows 10 was at least 2 years ago. I'm concerned that there are unnecessary "Services" / "Scheduled Tasks" / stray files & registry entries in every area of my system drive.

Is there a better way to manage the user profile folder mentioned above? Can you explain what that folder is for and if it's better to reuse that folder? My "Library" folders are stored on another drive, along with any files/folders that are created by me. Files created by installed programs or by other means, are stored in their default location within the user profile folder located in the system drive.

Are there any other folders you can suggest to have backed up and readily accessible? Of course I will be backing up the entire system disk, just in case.

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A tutorial on this site that uses a powershell command to list all programs installed on a machine and then export them to a txt file is going to be my starting point/guide for what needs to be installed after Windows, so that's handled.

My computer specs are listed in my profile and are up to date.

Maybe someone out there has a checklist or similar structured guide for performing a clean install of Windows for maintenance reasons. I want to do it, but I don't want to miss something or waste a lot of time because I had to do a full restore from the backup I created.

After all that typing I realized that there are plenty of tutorials on what to backup/steps to consider and basically any and all you need to know before and after doing a clean install. I'm going to post this anyway...in hopes that you will participate.

List your before and after tasks when it comes to doing a clean install :)

If you have a large enough drive, you can shrink the existing partition containing the OS and in the new unallocated space create a new partition and do a Windows install to the new partition and dual boot temporarily until you get the new install running the way you want, then delete the partition containing the old install.

What if it's a SSD Drive? I could clone the current system partition to another drive and use the SSD, right?

codebeastmode said:

What if it's a SSD Drive? I could clone the current system partition to another drive and use the SSD, right?

Yes, that would be a possibility.

When there are problems with a computer there are various troubleshooting steps to determine whether there are hardware, software, or firmware problems.

If there are Windows problems you can start with an in place upgrade repair.
If that does not fix problems you can reset save files, custom install, or refresh windows.
A clean install should fix problems related to Windows and partitions.
When performing a clean install it's an opportune time to modify BIOS / Legacy / UEFI / MBR / GPT settings.


Reset Windows 10
Custom Install Windows 10
How to Restore Files from Windows.old Folder in Windows 10
Repair Install Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade
Clean Install Windows 10
Refresh Windows 10

codebeastmode said:

I have a few questions regarding a clean installation:

How often should one do a clean install of Windows?

Is there a better way to manage the user profile folder mentioned above? Can you explain what that folder is for and if it's better to reuse that folder?

Are there any other folders you can suggest to have backed up and readily accessible?

In the last 10 years or so, I have done a clean install ONLY when I change motherboards. Haven't had any reason to do otherwise and cannot detect any performance issues. There's a strong possibility that I WON'T do a clean install the next time I change motherboards--purely to see if that works well.

I largely ignore the User folder and its subfolders. I look at it maybe 3 or 4 times a year. I save files directly to D, a separate drive entirely. I don't use "libraries" at all.

I habitually back up bookmarks and email that are found somewhere on C, usually by backing up C:\Users\my user name\AppData\Roaming\ with an ordinary file-by-file backup program. Maybe monthly.

Other than that, the only Windows/system backup I do is a Macrium image of ALL partitions on the system drive.