Hi
Please advise what is the best method of carrying out a clean install of windows 10;
1: Go to the Microsoft Windows 10 download site and download an image to a USB
2: Via system and settings / recovery mode. There are two sections, Recovery and Advanced Start-up
I have malware on my PC and I believe a clean install would be the best option to remove
Thanks in advance
In order to do a clean install of Windows 10 you have to make the USB flash drive or DVD, boot the computer from it, erase the existing Windows on the hard drive, and install to the empty space.
Hi and thanks for the very prompt response. I have had a dry run on an old laptop which had windows 10 installed, wasn't worried if I messed up before I try on my desktop. It worked, I made USB copy, booted the laptop to it, but when I came to the section on the partitions, I had problems. Do I delete or format. I took the delete route and the windows loaded ok, except it took approx. 6 goes, as every time it gone from getting the copy of the Windows file through to getting finished, it just went in to a loop and rebooted to the USB stick. In the end after the 6th attempt, I removed the USB and all appeared to go OK
Would you have a reference to a YouTube video which I could easily follow ( my knowledge of PC's is very limited) I don't want to make any mistakes on my HP desktop.
Sice this is an OEM HP laptop I would opt for the factory reset first. This way you won't have to go looking for drivers and software needed to use that laptop. Since there's always a plethora for said model, choosing the correct one's can be a daunting task.
Hi, can you do a factory reset first when ( I should have mentioned, I upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10) you are going to wipe the hard drive first before you install the fresh copy of windows 10
You can always try a reset first, it won't hurt anything and only cost you time if the results are not what you want. Also, your laptop kept booting into the Windows 10 installation flash drive because that is what was set as the first priority in the boot order in BIOS/UEFI settings. The correct action is to either just remove the flash drive and reboot (like you finally did), or to change the boot order in BIOS/UEFI settings so the hard drive is first.
The factory reset will result in 1 of 3 possible outcomes:
1. It will restore the computer from the factory recovery partition and go back to Windows 7, which you can then upgrade again to Windows 10.
2. It will reset Windows 10. This uses files that are stored in the existing Windows partition on the hard drive - and that is why I don't particularly like that method for removing malware or virus infection.
or
3. It will most likely just fail. Built-in Windows reset and recovery has proven to be not very reliable in the past.
thanks to NavyLCDR and Plankton, very comprehensive advise, great set of tutorials. I will go for the fresh install with the USB.
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