Some questions regarding clean installation of Windows 10


  1. Posts : 57
    Windows 10
       #1

    Some questions regarding clean installation of Windows 10


    I have looked at this guide:
    Windows 10 - Clean Install - Windows 10 Forums

    But I am still a bit confused regarding the part to choose "where you want to install Windows 10"
    When at the screen showing you the different hard drive partitions, I still have no idea what to do. Should I only reformat the part where I am going to install Windows 10 on, or should I delete every partition until I get 1 unallocated drive? Which is better? What are the consequences of both options? What actually happens in both situations? How do I re-create my recovery D: - partition afterwards, if I choose the second option I mentioned? (I have backed up all files from my D-partition, but not really sure how to re-create it when it's deleted.

    Also, will my computer name stay? For example: When I first bought the computer I had to give it a name, like "PC-1", will that name be gone? (will it become unrecognized for software, like I'm talking about in the next question)

    The question regarding the name can be connected to the following question...:
    I have an Office 365 license activated on the computer (on the site, it says it's activated on "PC-1") which I want to perform a clean install on. Do I have to deactivate it first, or can I just keep it like that and reïnstall it without having license-problems? When doing a clean install, will it "forget" my "PC-1" and so will it cause conflicts with my activation of Office 365?
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 14,046
    Windows 11 Pro X64 22H2 22621.1848
       #2

    Post a snapshot of a fullscreen Disk Management Window:

    To open Disk Management, press Windows key+r, type diskmgmt.msc and press Enter or click GO. Make it full screen.
    Expand the fields as necessary so everything can be seen.

    Windows 10: How to Take a Screenshot in Windows 10
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 57
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Here you go.

    Some questions regarding clean installation of Windows 10-diskm.png
    Any comment on the Office 365 question, or the one regarding the computer name?
    Last edited by huyy7u8; 27 Aug 2015 at 03:00.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 92
    Windows 10
       #4

    It's your choice which partitions you want to retain, Windows 10 can run from a single formatted partition but IIRC that can be problematic if you want to use bitlocker later on.

    I would urge caution regarding the recovery partition, check with Lenovo (presumably) if they have a utility for re-creating them first. If you want to back it up, just copying the files probably won't be sufficient, you'd need to back up the partition itself using Macrium Reflect or similar software.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 57
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #5

    xtcrefugee said:
    It's your choice which partitions you want to retain, Windows 10 can run from a single formatted partition but IIRC that can be problematic if you want to use bitlocker later on.

    I would urge caution regarding the recovery partition, check with Lenovo (presumably) if they have a utility for re-creating them first. If you want to back it up, just copying the files probably won't be sufficient, you'd need to back up the partition itself using Macrium Reflect or similar software.
    That doesn't really clear up a lot for me
    *I want to be sure the device will work "normally", as intended, without any drawbacks or anything essential that's missing or not functioning correctly.
    Just like I newly bought my laptop, but with Windows 10 on it in stead of Windows 8 (speaking of OS only, ofcourse, not new hardware.....)
    As I can tell from some Googling, the EFI and OEM partitions seem to be something essential? Then why are some people deleting it?
    I really don't understand a lot when it comes down to this subject... If I keep all the partitions and I only format the primary partition where I should install Windows 10 on, then what about the other partitions? Don't they need an OS to run on, or will they still be running on the OS prior to the clean install? (also Windows 10 since an upgrade is needed before clean installation for license activation)
    I've never really used Bitlocker, but why exactly could that be problematic when you only format the primary partition? (that already makes me feel my clean installation has flaws in it, which is not what I want as I stated above*)
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 68,840
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
       #6

    Sonar637 - Thu, 27 Aug 2015 04:58:46 -0600 said:
    I have already collected all drivers necessary for my Lenovo Z50-70 (lenovo is very good at making hardware drivers available on their site) and have already upgraded to Windows 10 to activate my license, but there a few questions I have concerning the clean install process itself.

    1. during the process you'll have to choose a hard drive partition on where to install Windows 10 on. As usual, there are multiple partitions. I know which one to choose, but I do not know what to do with all the other partitions. I have read multiple tutorials and the opinions differ. Some people delete ALL hard drive partitions until they have one unallocated drive to install Windows 10 on, but other people only format the one partition with the most GB on (the actual C: drive partition that's been used to store data on, not the recovery or the reserve, etc)
    What do you think is best to do, and why? You have explained this in your tutorial
    Windows 10 - Clean Install - Windows 10 Forums
    but I still do not fully understand what the benefits are, or what you actually should do best.

    2. I have an Office 365 license activated on my laptop (a license where I have to pay a sum annualy to get the latest version of Microsoft Office)
    Do I have to de-activate the license before performing the clean install (deactivating is performed on my microsoft account, on a specific URL) or can I install office again on my laptop afterwards, without having any license conflicts? (I currently have 3 of my 5 permitted activations active. I wanna be sure that it'll stay like that and I won't have to activate a 4th time after the clean install, while the 3rd one is practically not active anymore)

    3. When I first got my laptop, I had to fill in a few things or configure some settings, like the PC name. Will I have to do that again, or will the PC name stay? (not a major issue as I can change the PC name afterwards)


    Thank you for your time in reading this and kind regards
    Hello Sonar, :)

    Q1) I would recommend to just leave the OEM recovery partitions alone. This way you have the option to still do a factory recovery.

    Q2) Since you already upgraded, you will have already seen that your Office 365 is still there and activated.

    Q3) Since it's an upgrade, the PC name should be the same. If it changed, then you can just change it back.

    Computer Name - Change in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums
      My Computers


  7. Posts : 57
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #7

    Ok, thank you everyone! :)
    Questions have been answered so I'm marking this as solved.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 92
    Windows 10
       #8

    Sonar637 said:
    That doesn't really clear up a lot for me
    *I want to be sure the device will work "normally", as intended, without any drawbacks or anything essential that's missing or not functioning correctly.
    Just like I newly bought my laptop, but with Windows 10 on it in stead of Windows 8 (speaking of OS only, ofcourse, not new hardware.....)
    As I can tell from some Googling, the EFI and OEM partitions seem to be something essential? Then why are some people deleting it?
    I really don't understand a lot when it comes down to this subject... If I keep all the partitions and I only format the primary partition where I should install Windows 10 on, then what about the other partitions? Don't they need an OS to run on, or will they still be running on the OS prior to the clean install? (also Windows 10 since an upgrade is needed before clean installation for license activation)
    I've never really used Bitlocker, but why exactly could that be problematic when you only format the primary partition? (that already makes me feel my clean installation has flaws in it, which is not what I want as I stated above*)
    The problem is we can't give you a simple answer unless we know what those other partitions do. Maybe some other Lenovo owner can shed some light on that, or maybe you'd be better off asking what those partitions relate to on their support forums rather than here. They wouldn't be essential to the proper operation of Windows 10 if that's what you're asking, but you might lose the ability to restore your old version of Windows using your OEM's recovery method, maybe some diagnostics utilities if one of those relates to that, etc.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 68,840
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
       #9

    Glad we could help. :)
      My Computers


 

  Related Discussions
Our Sites
Site Links
About Us
Windows 10 Forums is an independent web site and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Microsoft Corporation. "Windows 10" and related materials are trademarks of Microsoft Corp.

© Designer Media Ltd
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 12:30.
Find Us




Windows 10 Forums