Perhaps many PC users do not know that you can reinstall Windows 10 without losing documents, photos, music and other personal data. In this guide, we'll take a look at how to properly reinstall Windows 10 without losing data.
Using Windows 10 since pre-release versions I will not say that I often but periodically received various troubles with the operating system, some could be solved easily, others simply did not leave options and had to reinstall the system. As a result, the most reliable tool for dealing with system errors has been developed, no matter how funny it sounds - re Windows installation 10.
Reinstallation is guaranteed to help if your Windows system 10 keeps crashing or you get one or more errors when opening programs or applications. In short, you will have to reinstall the OS if you have problems that are fatal. For example, if Windows 10 is very slow, even after using possible solutions from the Internet, you might want to consider reinstalling Windows 10.
The presented method of reinstalling Windows 10 does not require you to enter a product key, that is, you can reinstall Windows 10 without a key.
This method is only applicable if Windows 10 is booting. If your PC won't boot, you'll need to do a clean install of Windows 10.
Step 1: Connect a bootable Windows 10 flash drive to your computer. If you have a Windows 10 bootable DVD, insert it into your optical drive.
And if you have an image file, go to the folder containing the ISO file, right click on it and then click To plug to open the contents of the ISO image in Windows Explorer.
Those of you who do not have a Windows 10 USB, DVD or ISO file should download the Windows 10 ISO image from Microsoft using the official tool. The tool, with default settings, will download the same version of Windows 10 as the one installed on your computer (32-bit or 64-bit).
Step 2: Open up This computer(My Computer), right click on the USB or DVD drive, click.
Likewise, if you have mounted a Windows 10 ISO image, right-click on the mounted drive, and click.
Step 3: Double click on the file Setup.exe... Click Yes in the User Account Control dialog box.
Step 4: In a few seconds, and you will see a window - Getting important updates with two options:
If your computer is connected to the Internet, we recommend that you select the first one - Download and install updates (recommended).
You can uncheck the box I want to help improve Windows to avoid sending anonymous data to Microsoft about the installation process.
Step 5: After pressing the button Further, the installation will check for updates. If option is selected Not now in the previous step, you will not see this screen.
It may take several minutes to check for updates.
You can see the following screen in a few minutes - Let's see if you are ready to install... At the moment, it is checking that the computer can work with Windows 10, and also checking the space required to perform the operation.
Step 7: Finally, you will see a window -.
By choosing -, we will reinstall Windows 10 without deleting files, check before clicking on the Next button.
Advice: You can also select the first option, Keep personal files and apps, if you don't want to lose your installed apps from the store. But! if you have problems with one or more modern applications such as Edge, or Store, Photos, Mail, please select the option - Save only my personal files.
Step 8: You will see again the window - this time, boldly click on the button Install.
Click on the Install button to start installing / reinstalling Windows 10. During the Windows 10 installation, your computer may restart several times.
Step 9: The next step is to configure the parameters. You can choose "Use default settings" or "Customize settings", which allows you to change the default privacy settings in Windows 10. Of course, you can change these settings later on the system itself.
When complete, you will be prompted to sign in with a Microsoft account, or you can create a new local user account.
As mentioned above, the system will not require a Windows 10 product key after reinstallation if it has already been installed.
All your files will be in the same place where you left them. You only need to install your favorite programs and applications again.
Let us know in the comments below if you experience any issues while reinstalling Windows 10.
If your computer starts to slow down and pop-up windows signal errors, manual cleaning of the computer does not give the expected result, we are left with one effective method- complete reinstallation of Windows 10. If you think it is difficult, you are mistaken, it is not. Follow the instructions and you will be able to reinstall.
Before reinstalling windows, you will have to format local disk, erase all data. If your hard disk is split into several disks, the contents of other disks will remain unchanged. Therefore, copy all the data that is valuable to you to another disk partition or, even better, if you copy it to a cloud server or to an external media.
If you want to install or reinstall a licensed version of Windows, check for an activation key. The activation key will come in handy again.
After this simple procedure, the computer will boot from your chosen disk or flash drive.
If everything is done correctly, the Windows Setup window will appear on the monitor screen. You just have to follow the instructions of the system and wait until the files are unpacked, select a local drive for installation and format it.
During the installation process, you will need to enter an activation key. If you are reinstalling or do not have the key, you can skip this step.
When the installation is complete, the computer should boot into normal operating mode.
To avoid confusion, let's figure out how reinstalling using the "Start Over" differs from the previously available rollback of the system to its original state.
Since the introduction of Windows 10, it has the option "Return the computer to the initial state". It is located in the "Options" → "Update and Security" section under the item "Recovery".
With its help, you can reset the system, leaving your personal files intact. The procedure will return initially installed version Windows 10 and will erase all the programs you installed. But if your computer has software preinstalled by the manufacturer, it won't go anywhere.
The Start Over feature, added by the Creators Update, works a little differently. It also resets (and in fact, reinstalls) Windows 10 without affecting personal files. But at the same time, it immediately updates the system to the current version and removes both the programs you supplied and those preinstalled by the manufacturer (except for applications from the Windows Store).
So, if your goal is a fresh version of Windows 10 with untouched personal files, reset to default settings and completely cleared of unnecessary software, then the Start Over option is right for you. To activate it, follow the instructions below.
Windows will reinstall itself and install all the necessary drivers itself. If necessary, you can install them yourself by downloading from the website of the PC manufacturer or using
Over time, any operating system inevitably starts to run slower than we would like. And Windows 10, of course, is no exception. In this case, you can try speed up the loading and operation of the system... But sometimes you just want to return it to its original, clean, so to speak "factory" state.
There are at least two ways to reinstall Windows 10. The first is this. I have discussed it in a separate article and, in my opinion, provides better performance than rollback. However, it is not suitable if you want to keep your important files intact on your computer or laptop. Therefore, here we will talk about the second method - resetting (or rolling back) the "tens" to its original state, while preserving all personal data. In addition to saving files, this method has one more advantage: it does not require writing a clean image of the system to a USB flash drive or disk. But there is also a significant disadvantage: the rollback of the "ten" to the factory state lasts longer than its clean installation. Therefore, I recommend using it only when you really cannot do without it.
To roll back Windows 10 to its original state you need to use a special tool built into this operating system. To do this, follow the path: Settings(the gear icon in the Start menu or Win + i) - Updates and security - Recovery... In the item "Return the computer to its original state", you must click on the button " Begin».
After that, the "ten" will offer us two options: save personal files or delete everything and put the system clean. We are considering a save option.
Preparation begins. And then it suddenly turns out that despite the promise to keep the programs, some of them will still be deleted. And a large part - essentially everything, except for those applications that are in the Windows store. This is, of course, sad. But, if you look from the other side, then among all these programs there may be those that we no longer need. They waste system resources and, of course, can slow it down. "Let them go away!" - we decide, but before pressing the "Next" button we remember (or better write down) which of this list of programs we need. They will need to be reinstalled from the official sites. By the way, I have links to some of them in the article "How to find the official sites of programs for Windows 10".
After clicking "Next", the system writes "Everything is ready for the computer in its original state" and warns about the consequences of further actions. These include removing all applications and programs that did not come with your computer and changing the default settings. We agree with this and click " Reset". The computer begins to return to its original state. This process is not fast: I ran it on a rather weak laptop, and in total it took me more than two hours! Whereas for a clean install of Windows 10 (before the desktop appeared) on the same computer it took about half an hour.
The restoration program continued for about 15 minutes. Then the system rebooted and the message "Preparation in progress" appeared, then "Returning the computer to its original state" indicating the% of work done. This step took me 42 minutes. Then the Windows installation started with a circle and percentages inside it on a black background in the center of the screen. This continued for about an hour (I forgot to record the exact time). After all this, the computer rebooted, the desktop appeared, and the installation of all the necessary drivers and updates for the “ten” itself began. This process took about an hour and a half more.
Finally, I repeat that, of course, it will be much better and faster install Windows 10 clean... Resetting to the original version can be used when a clean install is not suitable for some reason.
Hello friends! A friend of mine also installed "unknown" Windows 7 a year ago and asked me to update it to Windows 10, and then do a clean reinstallation of Win 10, let's see what happens.
Without a doubt, a newly installed operating system is much more stable and faster than one that has been running for several years. With all the garbage from previous operating systems (cluttered registry, violations in system files, many unnecessary programs, etc.) will go to the new Win 10! But it's one thing when all this rubbish works fine and everything suits you, but another thing slows down and freezes! But reinstalling Windows 10 is not at all necessary; you just need to do a clean reinstallation of the operating system.
A clean reinstallation of Windows 10 can be done in two cases: directly in a running operating system, and also if Win 10 does not boot.
Reinstallation can be done with saving files in user profiles (documents, photos, music, downloads), or without.
I do not like to write superficial articles, so I have written everything in detail for you below.
How are we going to reinstall
Since many laptops do not have a floppy drive, most likely you will create an installation USB flash drive.
So, we have created a USB flash drive, connect it to our laptop or computer and start reinstalling.
Reinstall Windows 10 right in a running operating system
Start->Options
Updates and security
Recovery
Begin
Select the option to keep files, and your data in custom folders will not be deleted.
If you want to completely clear HDD from the previous operating system, select "Remove All".
A list of programs to be removed will be indicated.
The computer restarts
The process of resetting the computer to its original state begins
Note: Friends, if at this stage the computer immediately reboots into the operating system with the error "Problem when returning the PC to its original state", then go to the second part of the article "Reinstalling Windows 10 if the operating system does not load", this method will definitely work ...
In most cases, everything will be fine and the reinstallation process will continue.
We enter our account
Boot up clean Windows 10 with no apps installed.
Reinstall Windows 10 in case the operating system does not load
