Which method to remove the "Dell-ness" of a 2nd hand laptop.

Hello @Pavl,

Pavl said:

But I would like to know the preferred/best practice method to do this.
Would it be right to use a downloaded iso image and do an in-place upgrade but choose NOT to keep existing stuff ?
Or is there a better way to do a clean/er upgrade ?

Would prefer to keep this machine separate from my MS account if possible.
Happy to do whatever meddling required up to and including changing the ssd for a larger one (500 Gb Evo 860 perhaps ?).

You could perform an In-Place-Upgrade - Repair Install, but that would NOT give you a nice new, clean, fresh install.

As you have just acquired it, you would be better off performing a Clean Install and do NOT connect to the Internet during installation . . .

> How to Clean Install Windows 10

You will however, need the Product Key BEFORE you perform the Clean Install. Here are a couple of methods that will retrieve it for you . . .

> Belarc Advisor - Shows in your Browser.
> ShowKeyPlus - Win10.Guru - Toolkit Item.
> Speccy - Download Page.

I hope this helps.

Hello @Pavl,

Pavl said:

EDIT:
Typo/brain fade ......
SSDis not full, only has 38 Gb on it, misread the screen.
Win10p has a digital license ... but dont know "who" this is linked to.
END of EDIT.

I do NOT use a Digital License, so perhaps another member can help you with regard to that.

I hope this helps.

Before doing anything, back up your third-party hardware drivers [i.e. non-MS drivers] so you can be certain of getting them back after your clean install.
Backup and Restore Device Drivers - TenForumsTutorials

I also suggest that you make a new system image of the current state of the OS drive so you can be confident of getting back to square one if it all starts to go wrong.

If your Windows is activated with a digital licence then that applies to the computer itself. The licence remains valid despite a clean install. The tutorial tells you how to skip the Product key step during the clean install. Your computer will then activate automatically before or shortly after you next go online.
Clean Install - TenForumsTutorials

Best of luck,
Denis

Try3 said:

Before doing anything, back up your third-party hardware drivers [i.e. non-MS drivers] so you can be certain of getting them back after your clean install.
Backup and Restore Device Drivers - TenForumsTutorials

I also suggest that you make a new system image of the current state of the OS drive so you can be confident of getting back to square one if it all starts to go wrong.

If your Windows is activated with a digital licence then that applies to the computer itself. The licence remains valid despite a clean install. The tutorial tells you how to skip the Product key step during the clean install. Your computer will then activate automatically before or shortly after you next go online.
Clean Install - TenForumsTutorials

Best of luck,
Denis

Agree 100%

- You can't trust a second hand computer. It may have malicious software. A clean install is the way to go.
- A OEM installation has a generic key. In your case it is useless.
- If it has Win 10 pro activated you don't need a license. The computer ID is already stored on M$ servers so it will activate even on a clean install.
- Some hardware requires special drivers not on the Win 10 installation files. It can save you time if you backup all drivers.

Windows can be installed in two ways: Legacy-MBR or UEFI-GPT
To install as Legacy-MBR you must boot the installation drive as Legacy
To install as UEFI-GPT you must boot the installation drive as UEFI.

As you have a new MB, you should install as UEFI-GPT
Detach any other drives from the MB.

During POST, press F12(?) to launch the boot menu. You will see two options for the USB drive. USB UEFI (Name) and USB (Name). Select USB UEFI (Name).
Go to install and delete ALL partitions on the SSD till you have one and only one unallocated space and then proceed.
If you don't want to use MS account, don't enable updates or connect to the internet during installation.

Pavl said:

As MS installer will wipe the drive anyway ... do I strictly need to scrub it first ?

Paul,

No, not at all.

Denis