Is it safe to reformat Windows 10?

TheScavenger

I saw this and it looks really easy



However, I have no USB device (probably be useful, but all I have is my android and I have no way to connect it to my PC. No USB cable or anything at all) or Windows 10 disk at all. Microsoft gave me a free upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10. So if I do that in the video, it should automatically reformat without needing a disk or anything, correct?

My computer is getting kinda slow and bogged down with junk, and hasn't actually been reformatted for 4-5 years now. I did a straight up upgrade from Windows 7 to 10 (though I noticed doing that, made some programs act glitchy and my PC slowed down just a bit). I might have a virus or something, but no virus scanner finds anything. But even if I do or do not, I'd rather just start from scratch.

If I can just reformat without a USB or Windows 10 disk, I'll definitely be doing that tonight. But everyone who asked in the comments in the video if they needed a disk or not got trolled or ignored, and the person who made the video, never said if you need a disk or not. But I never even had a disk to begin with, Microsoft just updated itself on its own.

Thanks

TheScavenger

If I need a windows 10 disk or USB, guess I have to pay my tech guy 50 dollars to do it for me lol. Not a big deal, but I'd have to schedule an appointment with him and its kinda a hassle.

gervaise1

One of my children did it from within Windows 10. From what he said he did what was in the video and had no problems at all. (No disc or usb, all done online.)

TheScavenger

Thanks! He didn't need a Windows 10 cd or USB or anything like that? It just reformatted and installed it again all automatically, like it (sorta) did when it got upgraded from windows 7 to 10?

gervaise1

TheScavenger said:

Thanks! He didn't need a Windows 10 cd or USB or anything like that? It just reformatted and installed it again all automatically, like it (sorta) did when it got upgraded from windows 7 to 10?

Yep.

Wizardry

Sounds like you need to do a backup first and make sure you have a license ,example a win 8 or win 7 license then the upgrade is free to 10.

GladDog

You should always do a backup before you reformat.

Go to start/settings/backup and restore.

I'm at work so I am not looking at the screen for Win10, but on that page is the option to restore without saving data.  This is essentially a reformat.  Also, you do not need to activate Windows if you are using an activated copy.  I just did this to my backup computer, and it is now running flawlessly.

Gestankfaust

It has been safe for months....if you are reformatting. The "upgrade" is the problem for people. A fresh version is great. Don't let anyone tell you different.

GladDog

Gestankfaust said:

It has been safe for months....if you are reformatting. The "upgrade" is the problem for people. A fresh version is great. Don't let anyone tell you different.

Win 10 is different from other versions.  You don't need to reformat before you install, even with the upgrade version.  Just do a restore without saving data.  This will reformat the drive.  If you save data, then you may not get the pristine feel of a fresh OS, but if you restore without saving data, you will get that new car smell OS feel.

Gestankfaust

GladDog said:

Gestankfaust said:

It has been safe for months....if you are reformatting. The "upgrade" is the problem for people. A fresh version is great. Don't let anyone tell you different.

Win 10 is different from other versions.  You don't need to reformat before you install, even with the upgrade version.  Just do a restore without saving data.  This will reformat the drive.  If you save data, then you may not get the pristine feel of a fresh OS, but if you restore without saving data, you will get that new car smell OS feel.

/sigh

No..it is not. Win 10 was done from the ground up. So if you want the benefits....you do a full install. Which includes the reformat. I don't care what you people have read....I do the actual work.

Octagon7711

I would do a backup just to be safe.  From what I read Win 10 doesn't use a key it just take a snapshot of your pc hardware, so installing from scratch shouldn't be a problem. Unless you have special drivers that are not supported by  Win 10 then you might lose it during a reformat.

Vrika

You don't need Win 10 installation dics for that.

But if you want, an USB stick would cost less than 10$ and there's an automated program to create bootable Win 10 installation USB available here:
 https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10/

It wouldn't be a bad investment to buy a cheap USB drive, make it a bootable Win 10 installation media, and then you could also backup some important files on it as long as you get at least 8GB USB drive.

Nightlite

Yes, you can do it from within Windows 10.

-Do the upgrade to windows 10
-Back up any important files on a separate partition from the OS. usually the drive
-Type "reset" in the search bar, and choose reset this PC
- When you pick do not keep any files, it is the basically a clean format install.

This Functionality is a bare metal reset, intended for when you are going to sell a PC or Laptop. It is secure and a very nice function. OA3 activation will kick in afterwords and you will have an activated and clean Windows 10 install.

craftseeker

Gestankfaust said:

GladDog said:

Gestankfaust said:

It has been safe for months....if you are reformatting. The "upgrade" is the problem for people. A fresh version is great. Don't let anyone tell you different.

Win 10 is different from other versions.  You don't need to reformat before you install, even with the upgrade version.  Just do a restore without saving data.  This will reformat the drive.  If you save data, then you may not get the pristine feel of a fresh OS, but if you restore without saving data, you will get that new car smell OS feel.

/sigh

No..it is not. Win 10 was done from the ground up. So if you want the benefits....you do a full install. Which includes the reformat. I don't care what you people have read....I do the actual work.

Thanks for that. I suspected that might be the case. But, just to be sure, if I have previously upgraded from Win7 to Win10 will I need to have my product key available for the reformat/reinstall?

Grunty

TheScavenger said:

If I need a windows 10 disk or USB, guess I have to pay my tech guy 50 dollars to do it for me lol. Not a big deal, but I'd have to schedule an appointment with him and its kinda a hassle.

Or you could by a DVD/CD drive and a SATA cable for about $25.00 if it's a desktop PC.   $40 for a portable one. 

2 to 4 philips head screws in the box and 20 minutes will get the drive installed. Then $15.00 for a few DVD discs. Download the Win 10 install .iso file and install it to a Disc and you've got a permanent copy.

GladDog

craftseeker said:

Gestankfaust said:

GladDog said:

Gestankfaust said:

It has been safe for months....if you are reformatting. The "upgrade" is the problem for people. A fresh version is great. Don't let anyone tell you different.

Win 10 is different from other versions.  You don't need to reformat before you install, even with the upgrade version.  Just do a restore without saving data.  This will reformat the drive.  If you save data, then you may not get the pristine feel of a fresh OS, but if you restore without saving data, you will get that new car smell OS feel.

/sigh

No..it is not. Win 10 was done from the ground up. So if you want the benefits....you do a full install. Which includes the reformat. I don't care what you people have read....I do the actual work.

Thanks for that. I suspected that might be the case. But, just to be sure, if I have previously upgraded from Win7 to Win10 will I need to have my product key available for the reformat/reinstall?

Your Win 7 key will not work with Win 10.  You need to reinstall 7, activate it, then upgrade.  Or you can stay on the phone for a half hour with an 'activation specialist' and get a new code, as long as you do it before July 29th.

BTW, I was using Win 10 in early 2013.  I have a long history with Microsoft, and have alpha and beta tested every OS since Win 95.  I was surprised when they invited me to alpha Win 10.  I was very unkind about Win 8 in their alpha and beta forums, and I figured I would not be invited to Win 10, but I was!  All three of my systems using Win 8 were immediately upgraded to Win 10 alpha; even in alpha it was way better than 8.

Go ahead and check on websites that are dedicated to Windows.  They will tell you that restoring without saving data will leave you with a new system.  Don't take the word of hacks (me included) on a gaming site.  Go to the source.

KyutaSyuko

GladDog said:

Your Win 7 key will not work with Win 10.  You need to reinstall 7, activate it, then upgrade.  Or you can stay on the phone for a half hour with an 'activation specialist' and get a new code, as long as you do it before July 29th.

Actually Microsoft changed it so that Win 7/8/8.1 keys will work for Win 10 until 29 July.  I did a clean install of Win 10 on my cousin's computer using the Win 7 key no problem.

MishkataPingvin

Once you have upgraded from Win7/8 and your Win10 is registered (motherboard HW ID) in MS servers,
you no longer need to reinstall Win7 or 8 to reactivate.
If you open Disk Management you will also see couple of hidden partitions (450MB and 100MB) which also store important information on your hardware and license key.
If you log in in windows with MS account your license keys will be stored automatically there.

Ridelynn

You can download Windows 10 from Microsoft if you want to burn a CD or make a USB install device.

Obviously, with no second computer, you download it and create a media device before you format the PC and reinstall.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/software-download/windows10?wa=wsignin1.0

I have not tried the built-in restore options, but I have heard they do work, as Nightlite spoke about earlier.

Your activation key is stored with Microsoft when you first did the upgrade, most people do not need to reactivate. I have formatted and re-installed from an upgraded Windows 10 machine, it will ask for a CD key during the install, but you can skip that step and install - so long as you chose the correct version of Windows, once it gets online and contacts the activation server it will re-register without needing to input the key again.

filmoret

Just do what the video says.  No need for anything just do what it says very easy.

filmoret

Ouch the amount of bad advice given in this thread is astonishing.

GladDog

KyutaSyuko said:

GladDog said:

Your Win 7 key will not work with Win 10.  You need to reinstall 7, activate it, then upgrade.  Or you can stay on the phone for a half hour with an 'activation specialist' and get a new code, as long as you do it before July 29th.

Actually Microsoft changed it so that Win 7/8/8.1 keys will work for Win 10 until 29 July.  I did a clean install of Win 10 on my cousin's computer using the Win 7 key no problem.

Win 8 keys work, but not Win 7 keys.  I tried with my main system when I put a bigger SSD in it, and the Win 7 key did not work.  I was on the phone with an 'activation specialist' for about 25 minutes getting a new key.  When I upgraded my travel laptop, I put a clean install of Win10 and used my Win 8 key, and it worked.  Both of these installs happened within the last two months.

ADDED AS EDIT

Your Win 7 key worked?  Mine did not, and about 8 months ago I tried to do another clean Win 10 install using another Win 7 key, which did not work either.  I had to install 7, activate, and then upgrade to 10.

TheScavenger

Well, I reformatted. Was super easy, and took pretty much exactly two hours. I started a little before 7:30 and back up and running at 9:30 or so

It was all automatic for most part. Didn't need a USB, a windows disk or anything. And, its a lot faster already, without all the junk that was on there. Websites/chrome/firefox load faster is what I notice the most. Firefox always kinda was laggy, and so was Chrome. Of course, it is pretty much a complete new install...so its expected things to be faster after 5 or so years of not reinstalling.

I probably should have installed Windows 10 brand new instead of overwriting Windows 7, that is when I notice things got slower and programs acting weird.  Or maybe I had spyware/malware/virus, but no scanner ever found any, so I dunno. Some of the newer viruses hide so good that no virus scanner picks them up (even with malware bytes). Or maybe I just loaded too much junk on my PC or whatever.

In any case, super easy to do it. Exactly like video showed. And by the time I was done watching a movie, the computer was minutes away from being finished.

TheScavenger

I did order an SSD though (they are half off on Amazon), so I'll be restoring a second time this weekend. But to be honest, its so easy and fast that I don't mind. Microsoft did AWESOME with Windows 10, in how easy it is to restore and everything. And boots up so much faster than Windows 7.

I didn't want to use my PC and wait until the weekend, with how buggy my PC was acting. Nothing major, just slow and programs acting weird...it had been like 5 or 6 years. And even me that isn't exactly the most techy person in the world, I found reformatting Windows 10 sooo easy. Its pretty much automatic, and really fast. 

Now I remember reformatting on Windows 7 (always had to use the disk too). And that was the biggest pain in the ass ever, AND it was literally an ALL day project...12 hours and still trying to work on Windows 7 (and the ones before it too). The longest part was all the dumb updates I'd have to install. Windows 10, I didn't even need to do that, or it did it automatically.

maskedweasel

A while back they added windows 7 key support along with windows 8.. .HOWEVER  before you do that, you can run belarc  

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

I use it at my company before I change out users or reformat a PC so that I have all of their license keys (will give you your windows 10 key so you always have it, as well as microsoft office keys and any other software that requires registration keys)

A handy little program for auditing systems.

Then you can, if you want, download the free windows OS directly from microsoft to burn to a disk or put on a USB drive.  

There are other ways too,  just some information that could be helpful.