OS upgrades suck. Many of us would prefer to have a shiny clean Windows 10 install, instead of an upgrade from an earlier version of Windows. Well, Microsoft doesn't make it easy, but there is a way to get a Windows 10 clean installation.
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This method is counter-intuitive, time-consuming, and, frankly, downright stupid. But Microsoft couldn't apparently transform our Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 key to a Windows 10 key - admittedly, this would have some problems - so this is our only option.
To follow this method, we need to have a legitimate Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 license and be eligible for the free Windows 10 upgrade.
First, do a Windows 10 upgrade
No matter how much we want a clean Windows 10 install, we need to do an upgrade of Windows 8.1 or Windows 7 just once on our PC.
After we upgrade to Windows 10, Microsoft will store our computer's Hardware Identification (HWID) to their servers, and they will recognize it on future installations. HWID is a unique number that is generated according to our PC's hardware.
After that, we can do a clean Windows 10 install, without a product key. Since the HWID stays the same, Microsoft will activate Windows, even without the product key, as soon as we are online.
So, we just do the damn upgrade, no way around it. If you need any help with that, check out our guide:
Upgrade Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 Without a Reservation
(it will work for Windows 7 too)
It doesn't matter if we select to keep our files, apps, and settings, or we select to keep nothing at all. After all, with a clean Windows 10 installation we will not be able to uninstall Windows 10.
Make sure Windows 10 is activated
The method to do a clean Windows 10 install will only work if Windows was activates after the upgrade.
So, we open the file explorer, right-click on "This PC" and select "Properties".
On the bottom of the System Properties window, we will find our activation status.
Because Microsoft's servers have been a bit overloaded the last couple of days, with the Windows 10 launch, there is a chance the activation hasn't gone through yet.
The best advice is "patience". Provided we upgraded from a genuine version of Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, it's a matter of time until the activation goes through to the servers.
How to do a clean Windows 10 install
This part of the guide will also work if we have bought a Windows 10 key and want to install Windows 10.
For a clean Windows 10 install, we need to either create a Windows 10 USB or download the Windows 10 ISO and burn it on a DVD.
Then, we set up our BIOS or UEFI to boot from the installation medium, or we select it from a boot menu if our motherboard has one.
We need to press a key to enter the installation...
If we created a USB or ISO with both architectures, we get to select which one we want.
Remember, 64-bit Windows is only necessary if we have 6GB RAM or more. For 4GB RAM or less, 32-bit is enough, and it uses less RAM than 64-bit.
So, we select the language, the time and currency format, and the Keyboard...
...and click on "Install now".
If we do a clean Windows 10 install after an upgrade, when asked for the product key we click "Skip".
We don't type the Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 product key; that won't work.
We read and accept the license terms...
...and select Custom install.
Having upgraded from a previous version of Windows, we will probably have three partitions. One large Windows partition, a "System Reserved" partition of 100MB (Windows 7) or 350MB (Windows 8.1), and an OEM (Reserved) windows partition.
We don't need any of those partitions. Unless we had a separate "Data" partition, we can delete all of them. Just make sure you didn't forget any personal files inside Windows because deleting the partition will erase them.
After that, we select the unallocated space and click next.
From here on, a large part of the installation is automated.
The PC will reboot a couple of times automatically.
Once the main installation is done, it will again ask us for a product key. We again skip this procedure, with the "Do this later" option.
It's a good idea to customize our personal settings, to ensure our privacy.
Make sure you read all the descriptions and decide which options you want to turn off, if any. It's completely up to you.
After selecting our options, we can either login with our Microsoft account...
...or skip this step and create a local account.
Windows will take a couple of minutes to set up everything.
And, this is it. We now have a clean Windows 10 install
As soon as we are online, it should be automatically activated.
Can I find the Windows 10 product key?
There is a lot of misinformation, especially in forums, regarding whether after the upgrade we get a unique Windows 10 product key, that we can retrieve using software such as Belarc Advisor or NirSoft ProduKey.
Well, you can get a product key from Windows 10, but it will be less than useless.
You see, when we upgrade from Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, we don't get a unique product key. We just get a generic product key, that can't be used by itself to install Windows.
There are not too many such product keys used. YTMG3-N6DKC-DKB77-7M9GH-8HVX7 is usually the one for Windows 10 Home and VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T for Windows 10 Pro.
So, don't bother getting the product key. A clean Windows 10 install after the upgrade doesn't need a product key, and if we used the generic product key, Windows wouldn't be able to activate.
So, the advice to use Belarc or NirSoft or any other app is not just useless, it will create a problem with the activation.
Did you have any trouble with the clean Windows 10 install?
Do you intend to do a clean Windows 10 install, even though you went through the upgrade? Did you have trouble at any part of the procedure? Leave us a comment.
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Jimmy george says
If u used the media creation tool to download...What is the size of the iso file(Windows 10 Home 64bit Eng-UK)
In my first attempt the file size was 3.11gb...however the "burn to DVD" failed...clearly somethin went wrong during the download...even though it finished.
On top of that u dont even get to pause the download.
yesterdays download size is 2.44gb...don't want to waste another dvd
what is the md5 checksum of these iso files...is it the same for every user...bcz it seems like when downloading using the media tool some bits are lost and in the end the incomplete file is reassembled.
Thanks
Hi @Alphaflame:disqus
All the ISOs for the same language and architecture are supposed to be identical, what happens in your case definitely isn't normal.
I will download this particular ISO on two computers and calculate the MD5 checksum, to see if there might be a problem with the tool itself.
Meanwhile, do you have a second PC where you could try and download the ISO, to exclude any hardware fault as a factor?
Hey there jimi, if yu have a usb stick kicking aroind it is defonately faster and to me it is just so much easier. Never mind wasting a disc each time the burn becomes curupt, i always save the iso on an external hd and just burn it to the stick when i need it. Make sure yu do a chk sum too, very important always. I cant remember the last time ive burnt anything to a disc. Ive been using ubuntu for so long now, i just use windows these days for shits n giggles as a comparison and to see what new fuss were always given about winblows... Ops windows.
Once yu get very easily used to a bootable usb stick yu,ll prob never go back to disc, considering there following the path of the floppy, hope this helps.
I thaught id also add that i also had to watch which win 10 iso i downloaded. The international one was missing a file or two, something with windows media, but more so it came down to wether my origional win 7 i was upgrading from was international or north american,, i had to stick with the N amer download for it to recognize the key.
I tried the download again and this time the file size for around 2.56GB O_o
I dont think it's a hardware fault since a couple of days back i burned the Windows 7 ISO after downloading it via torrent and verifying it via md5 checksum...and it took less than 8min....everything went smoothly.
Clearly the download is gng wrong somewhere.
What is file size supposed to be???? and if u could pass the md5 checksum.
Thanks for the reply!!!
So, I downloaded this particular ISO on two virtual machines, one with Windows 10 and one with Windows 8.1
I have to admit I got weird results.
Both were the exact same size 3,347,709,952 bytes, or 3,12GB.
But, strangely, they have different MD5 Checksums.
http://i.imgur.com/ftt61tc.png
and
http://i.imgur.com/eEi1j5E.png
I can't explain for sure why I'm getting different checksums for the exact same filesize. Maybe the download tool adds some date or other statistical data that is enough to change the checksum without changing the size.
You can try something else. Get a download manager, such as bitcomet: https://www.pcsteps.com/67-faster-download-files-torrents-bitcomet/ and download Windows 10 through the HTTP link for Linux.
You can use this link, it will work for the next 24 hours.
http://software-download.microsoft.com/pr/Win10_EnglishInternational_x64.iso?t=7a06cd90-41fa-4931-bb96-b9e91b5149d6&e=1440431274&h=7a894c69fbdd118bbd40cd9b4ab8c78b
Unfortunately, the Linux links only give a choice of English and English International. The above link is for the international version. It's 3.82GB.
http://i.imgur.com/7kpmERu.png
I hope this works for you.
By the time you replied i had already started the download of Win 10 64 bit from the techbench link , in file download manager...however instead of selecting Win 10 English international i just went with Win 10 Eng and size was 3.8GB as opposed to 3.82GB.
Is that gng to be a problem???
How is this different from the ISO file that we download frm media tool...i read it's valid for both home and Pro
If i burn this to a DVD will I be able to boot from it and clean install Win 10 Home 64bit Eng UK(provided i have already done the upgrade...using media tool )??
Thanks for the effort and time :-)
The plain English ISO file is indeed 3.80GB, you shouldn't have a problem.
Yes, there is no distinction between home and pro versions for these ISOs. I haven't tried an installation with one, but I guess it will give you a choice of version during the installation.
I don't expect you to have any trouble doing the clear install after the update. Since the ISO won't be corrupted this time, you should be fine.
Thanks.
On the following: "To follow this method, we need to have a legitimate Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 license and be eligible for the free Windows 10 upgrade." Have a Toshiba T135 with Windows 7 Home Prem SP1 laptop and considering a clean install of W10.
The issue is that the Product Key on the COA is not legible. The person who previously owned the laptop for a short while did not know what the COA was, and did not care. I do have the T135 Recovery disks to return to factory defaults, but don't think that will help any with a W10 clean install. Would I need to purchase a Product Key for W10 to do the aforementioned clean install? I did reserve a W10 during the Microsoft free upgrade, but have no clue where it went!
Since you haven't upgraded Windows 7 to Windows 10 before July 29th, I'm afraid that the plain reservation isn't enough for the free upgrade now. You could give it a try, though.
In any case, you can find your Windows 7 product key using these methods: https://www.pcsteps.com/4358-how-to-find-windows-product-key/
Thanks for the info!
This website is very informative. (thumbs up)
I used the Windows 10 Upgrade 24074, Windows 10 Upgrade Assistant for Assistive Technology users.
It has not expired yet, but, to my understanding it could any time.
Windows 10 Home installed, and is working well, so far...
Planning to do a clean install in a few days. Is using the Media Creation Tool an option?