I’m looking to buy a new laptop soon and I see that the majority no longer come with an optical drive. I’ll probably buy an external because I still have a number of games and things on CD that i’d like to use.
But for someone who didn’t otherwise need an external drive, whats the process now for doing a clean install of windows? Especially if the one installed is so corrupted for some reason that you can’t even get online?
Do you get Windows on a USB stick nowadays instead of an install CD?
Microsoft has a tool that’ll let you download a copy of Windows 10 to a USB key. You install it from that and enter your activation key afterwards (or sign-in with a Microsoft account)
Probably 99% of online stores sell a new copy of Windows 10 as a product key only. You’d need to figure out how to install it. Most likely by using the above tool.
New laptops often have a recovery partition on the hard drive which you can use to do a clean install. It will have the OS installation files plus whatver laptop-specific customization the manufacturer adds. As long as the hard drive still works, you can typically select the recovery partition during boot and use it to do a full install. If the whole drive fails, then you’ll have to do something like use an external drive or USB key.
Small problem with that…
Palooka has it for the Windows USB install, At Best Buy and other places there is also the option now of getting Windows 10 in a USB stick when before it was only a DVD (a pricy solution as it will be a new key), if one does the method pointed out by Palooka to download the installer and set the USB drive, there should be no cost to make a clean installation. Just be sure to back up your data and get the number key from the windows that is installed already in the laptop.
BTW, that tool to set a usb installation can be downloaded and set up the installer USB in a different computer, just be sure to download the proper 64 or 32 bit installers.
The assumption is everyone has at least borrowing access to another computer someplace somehow. And it’s not a crazy assumption at all.
Agreed. Not unreasonable to assume that you have access to a functional computer while trying to fix the broken one. You can also plan ahead and put a recovery image on a USB stick while your computer is working.
If the Windows installation on a brand-new computer was so corrupted you couldn’t even go online, I’d think you’d be returning the computer.
Dewey_Finn, I was thinking about sometime in the future, not a clean install as soon as I bought it.
In that case, create a USB stick for doing a clean installation of Windows, perhaps in addition to a USB recovery drive. (If you’re cautious, you can update these regularly.)
Download and use [RUFUS] (https://rufus.ie/)
Rufus is a utility that helps format and create bootable USB flash drives, such as USB keys/pendrives, memory sticks, etc.
It can be especially useful for cases where:
you need to create USB installation media from bootable ISOs (Windows, Linux, UEFI, etc.)
you need to work on a system that doesn’t have an OS installed
you need to flash a BIOS or other firmware from DOS
you want to run a low-level utility
Despite its small size, Rufus provides everything you need!
I just did this. My old computer died (well, I killed the BIOS) and all I had to create an old stick without going to work was an old Macbook. It was a little bit trickier but still easy, I just used the generic unregistered Win10 from Microsoft and put the key in later which is trivial.