A clean install of Windows 10 is sometimes necessary. Whether you just bought a new computer or want to clean up your existing system. Fortunately, a reinstall is a breeze. There are just quite a few options. In this article we look specifically at installing Windows 10 from a USB stick.
You can now simply install Windows from a USB stick. You will need a Windows 10 installation file for this. Microsoft makes a program available that helps you download Windows and make a USB stick. Download the Windows 10 utility here.
Tip: Don't forget to back up your personal files before reinstalling Windows 10.
When you have downloaded and started the software, a drop-down menu will appear in which you choose Create installation media (…) for another PC. When you click Next one the program advises which version of Windows to download. It is wise not to change anything about this.
In the next step choose USB flash drive and choose the drive of the USB stick. The program will now download the correct version of Windows and make the USB stick so that the system can see it as a startup disk.
Start Windows 10 installation
To start the installation procedure of Windows 10, first insert the USB stick into the PC. When you now restart the PC, it is important to do so from the USB stick that contains the installation file. So you don't boot from the C drive where Windows is located.
Exactly how this is done differs per computer. One PC automatically recognizes the bootable media and asks if you want to use it during startup. Other computers require you to press a key during startup. Which key, that is mentioned on the first startup screen. If you don't get any questions at all and the computer starts up Windows, go to the next step.
Boot from USB stick
The way in which the computer boots up almost always works well these days. If that is not the case with you, then the computer must be forced to boot from the USB stick. We used to do that by changing the boot order in the computer's BIOS. Fortunately, these days it can also be done from Windows.
Click the start button and then Institutions. Under the tab System recovery do you find the cup Advanced Boot Options. When you click on this button, Windows will be closed and you can specify which drive to boot from. When you have chosen the USB stick, the computer will restart from the correct drive.
Finish installation procedure
When the installation has started, you will see a menu where you can select the language and the keyboard. If this is correct, click on Next one and then on Install Windows. If prompted for a product key, enter it if you have one. If you don't have that code, click I don't have a product code. Then choose the version of Windows you want to install and click Next one. You must choose the same version that was already installed.
You can now choose Upgrade or Amended. In this case we choose Amended. Now choose the drive on which you want to install Windows (the drive with text Primary under the heading Type). click on Format. Note: you are now going to delete everything from the hard drive. This is irreversible! click on Next one. The installation will now complete itself completely.
When this process is done, it's like you just picked up your computer from the store!
