Critical Steps for a Complete Operating System Wipe

Have you ever been in a situation where you needed to clean install Windows on your PC? If you’re one of the lucky users who haven’t been in that situation, there is no guarantee you will never feel the need to. This is why knowing what comes with clean installing Windows on your PC is so important.

In this article, we will explain all the critical aspects of clean installing Windows and what you should do and keep in mind before starting with a fresh copy of Windows.

1. Clean Installs Can Fix a Lot of Issues

Clean installing Windows is like solving multiple problems with one solution. If your PC has been infected with malware, viruses, or other threats, clean installing Windows will very likely be the last resort in order to keep things back on track.

Even if you’re not in a huge amount of trouble, starting with a fresh copy of Windows helps when you have many unnecessary files, browser extensions, and incompatible programs that you simply don’t have the time and energy to delete individually. After a fresh installation of Windows, you might see an increase in the performance of your PC.

Sometimes, it’s simply not possible to resolve some issues, including faulty drivers, hardware conflicts, or system errors. And while you should always look for solutions specific to a particular problem, starting with a fresh copy of Windows can solve many issues that are not visible to you, thus preventing your PC from slowing down over time.

2. A Clean Install Will Wipe All Your Data on Your PC

A clean install means your Windows PC will go back to the same state as when you first turned on your computer. All the applications, setting preferences, files, folders, and everything you changed while using the PC will be wiped out from the system.

You will once again need to create an account on your PC, and if it’s Windows 11, an internet connection is a must during installation. You can learn how to bypass the internet connection requirement during Windows 11 setup process .

3. …So Back Up Your Data Before You Start

Before clean installing Windows, you should back up all your important data so that you can restore them after the installation is complete. By taking a backup of all your important files and folders, you ensure immediate access to those important files after the clean installation.

f you are using Windows 10, you should check out our ultimate Windows 10 data backup guide to learn how to prevent data loss. You can also create a full backup on Windows 11 PC so that your data remains available after your clean install the operating system.

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4. You’ll Need to Boot From a USB

Directly installing Windows through the Windows setup program is an easy way to upgrade or replace your current operating system with the new one. However, the direct install is unreliable and may not work if your system is infected by malware or corrupted.

To ensure a smooth installation, you should always boot from a USB or CD/DVD drive.

5. Remember to Choose the Right Windows Edtion During Setup

When you decide to start with a fresh copy of Windows, choosing the right edition of Windows is one of the many important things you need to remember. If you were using Windows 11 Home and decided to re-install it, you’ll need to select Windows 11 Home again during setup.

If you don’t select the one you’re running, your system won’t recognize it and will ask for an activation key, which you don’t have for that particular Windows edition.

6. Make Sure Your Copy of Windows Is Activated

If Windows is activated on your PC and your Microsoft account is linked to the license key, it becomes easier to reactivate Windows later. Before clean installing Windows, make sure to remember to check the Windows activation status from the Settings app.

If you don’t know how all of that works, you can check out what Windows Activation key is and how it works .

7. Know Which Interface Your System Supports

64-bit Windows 11, 10, 8/8.1, 7, and Vista all require a UEFI-based system to boot from a GUID Partition Table (GPT) drive. If your system has a BIOS interface running any of the above OSes, you will need to convert your portion style to Master Boot Record (MBR).

If your system detects the incompatibility, you will get an error message that says, “Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk is of the GPT partition style” during Windows installation. This error message suggests that you need to change the disk partition style from GPT to MBR . You can switch to MBR during installation as well as before proceeding with clean installing Windows. Also, check out our comparison between MBR and GPT and which one you should use.

8. Reinstall Your Drivers and Programs After Installation Is Complete

After you are done Installing Windows, you might not get everything working. For example, the keyboard might not work after the clean installation of Windows. In such scenarios, you should reinstall your drivers and install everything you see on the Windows Update page in the Settings app. Also, you can check out what to do when you can’t install drivers on Windows .

Clean Installing Windows Is Handy… but It’s Not a Silver Bullet

Clean installing Windows should come to your mind when you have gone through every possible solution that exists for that set of problems. While it can solve many problems, remember that it can’t fix everything wrong with your PC. You might face a problem because of broken hardware, and in such scenarios, clean installing Windows can offer no solution. Sometimes, the problems are so severe that you have no other choice but to repair or buy a new PC from the market.

In this article, we will explain all the critical aspects of clean installing Windows and what you should do and keep in mind before starting with a fresh copy of Windows.