I’ve got an HP laptop that is installed with Windows 10, but of course has all the HP crap, and crap from other companies that I have no desire to use. I like the hardware quality of an HP, so in the past I’ve just been willing to spend time getting rid of the unwanted software.
The computer has an option to reset Windows 10. Will this revert the computer to only Windows 10 OS and drivers without the OEM software? And at that point, will I be able to make a clean recovery disc?
No it will be the same install as the computer shipped with and will have all the crapware. People don’t like crapware but it saves them around 25-50 dollars off each PC re the fees the software vendors pay for pre-installs. Interestingly Microsoft is militantly anti-crapware and PCs from the Microsoft store like the surface series have super clean installs.
If it shipped with win10, then I imagine the reset will just revert to the HP image, including the bloatware.
If it was upgraded from a previous version, the reset might leave you with a vanilla install.
Either way, make sure you have a record of your license keys for any installed software such as Office etc.
Not a problem, as long as I’m correct in my assumption that the license key for Windows 10 itself is in the BIOS.
Your license key should be in the BIOS but it’s always good to keep a copy. MSFT help desk in my experience has been really good about activating Windows software when you have a problem. I did this about 6 weeks ago when my notebook was shut off by the corporate IT department of the company I used to work for. I had a Windows PRO *upgrade *license, which according to licensing terms can only be used to upgrade a machine that has a Win Pro OEM license. Took 45 minutes but they lit me up.
Microsoft Store PC’s *all *ship with the Signature image. It’s crapware free, requires signed drivers, and has to pass a battery of tests. To me, it’s definitely worth the probably $25 price premium you might pay to be sans crapware free. (It’s kinda hard to tell what the price premium is because the Microsoft Store sells hardware that has a unique SKU (in other words, the hardware configuration will not be exactly the same as what you find at Best Buy or Amazon or directly from the OEM).
FWIW, MSFT believes that the standard OEM image with crapware reduces the PC performance at least one CPU grade (in other words, that core i7 + crapware = performance of a core i5 machine).
Download the tool on this page, run it, and save to a USB. Then use that to get a ‘clean’ install of Windows 10.
Yes. That’s a version of the download of Windows 10 that is being pushed to me daily on my Windows 7 desktop and laptop. (Which I’m refusing. They’re both 8 years old.)
I’m referring to a brand new laptop with Windows 10 pre-installed. Is there any difference?
(And your copy and paste instructions only works for a USB. I would like to be able to create an install disc of Windows 10 on DVD. I’ve found no indication that that’s possible.)
Sorry, I’d thought that you had some familiarity with this sort of thing…I’d suggest you read through the whole page.
You can use the same tool to download an ISO, which you can then burn to DVD. (USB will work just fine as well)
What you’ll be downloading will simply be the latest image of Windows 10.
Crap, forgot to say.
I believe, but am not certain, that the reset buried in the Settings will do much the same thing, but I may be completely wrong, and it may go to the recovery partition that HP provided. If the latter, then you’ll have spent all that time for nothing.
That’s why I’m suggesting downloading the image from Microsoft directly. No matter what, you’ll get the clean install you wanted.
Hope that makes it clearer!
If I had some familiarity with this sort of thing, why would I be asking? I’d be doing.
I read the pages you’re sending me to a couple of weeks ago. They indicate that I cannot make a Windows 10 install disc from the version that is on my computer, that I must use the same Windows 10 download that MS is trying to push to me on my other computers. They indicate that even should I use a USB or DVD to set up an install disc, that that will NOT be an install disc, but only a recovery disc that will then download Windows 10. Am I wrong?
Yes, you’re wrong. 
The tool on the page I’ve linked to will get you a full image of Windows 10 for a clean install. You can use it to create installation media - either a DVD or on a USB stick. Either one will work for a clean install. It will be an install media, not a recovery disk. You can do pretty well all of this from your new laptop, by the way.
Expand out the section “Using the media creation tool” just below the blue button saying “Download tool now”. Then expand out the section saying “Perform a clean installation using a USB or DVD”.
So. Download the tool and run it. When you run it, you’ll get a couple of options.
*Upgrade this PC now
*Create installation media for another PC
You apparently want a DVD, so you’ll pick the latter. It’ll ask you for the Language, Edition, and Architecture of Windows 10 you’ll want. Since you’re reinstalling what you’ve already got, just select what is listed for your comp. You can find it in Settings > System > About.
Then you get the option to use
*USB Flash Drive
*ISO file.
Either will work for a clean install. If you choose the former, it’ll ask you which flash drive to put it on ( so plug one in), download Windows 10 in the background, and then transfer it to the USB flash drive.
Choose the latter (ISO file) and it will download the ISO to wherever you like. You can then right click on the file and burn it to a DVD.
With either one, have it in your new laptop and restart it. You may have to change the boot order at startup, or it may notice it automatically. Either way, boot from the USB drive or the DVD, and install Windows. There will probably be a number of partitions; install it to the biggest one and leave the others alone. One, at least, will be the HP recovery partition; this will bring it back to the original state, including crapware, but it’s good to leave it on in case of serious screwup.
I’m not sure how much more information you’ll need. If you’ve ever installed Windows, though, things should be pretty familiar from here on out.
Very few new laptops come with a Windows installation disc or even a manufacturer ‘factory restore’ disc any more. Most have a ‘restore’ partition on the hard drive instead. It is simply a snapshot of your system exactly as it was when you took it out of the box new. Unfortunately, that means all crapware/bloatware gets reinstalled.
There are several very good clean-up utilities that will help you get rid of most, if not all, of the junk on your system. One of the most simple to use is aptly named PCdecrapifier. My favorite for software removal (and one that I would recommend keeping installed in case you need it in the future) is RevoUninstaller. It will remove all the associated data and registry entries when you uninstall a program, which Windows Control Panel doesn’t always do. It will also use ‘muscle’ to force malware/spyware to uninstall.
Something that I use on a daily basis is CCleaner. It’s a great tool for cleaning junk off your system on a regular basis. It is also a very simple and easy way to see what is starting when your system boots up and running in the background, consuming memory and slowing things down. You can very easily disable anything that isn’t essential so your system starts faster and without unnecessary items.
All of those programs are FREE and I’ve used them extensively for years with no problems! Hope this helps!
It is utterly hilarious that there exists a business model where people are charged a premium for having a vanilla install : the most basic quality of every other operating system in existence.
And it’s purely an effect of Microsoft’s shoddy dysfunctional practices; nothing to do with it being proprietary or closed-source. There are many sold operating systems, from Oracle and IBM down where there’s no extra-added value crap included, and the client would sue if it were.
horse puckey. it’s purely an effect of PC OEMs liking money, and taking money from companies like McAfee, Symantec, etc. to include their shovelware in the system image. There’s not a damn thing Microsoft can do about it.
What I do for a MS-Windows machine to create a clean and updated install ISO file is to slipstream the updates using a tool such as nlite.
Here is a tutorial for MS-Windows 10. If you don’t want to add the updates/patches, you can skip those steps (bad idea).
You can control what extra crap you want added to the ISO. It’s a good idea to include drivers and such for your particular machine.
Google “slipstream nlite” and such for more info.
Since Microsoft Sales were entirely capable of forcing re-sellers not to sell or include other Operating Systems — one source of these wretched people’s monopoly — they could be capable of using the same pressures to make the re-sellers sell Microsoft products clean.
They could even compensate the sellers from their own bloated profits.
This supposing such incompetent fuckwits had the last tattered remnants of honesty.