Win10 upgrade

Supatramp

While reading about Win10 upgrading, I've also read about doing a 'clean install'.

Can someone explain why simply upgrading isn't sufficient, and how this 'clean install' is done please. And having done it, what are the benefits?

Thanks.

wongataa

Glitches can occur during an upgrade install. A clean install means that the disk is wiped clean before installing - starting from scratch. The benefit is that you clear out your system and there can be no glitches from performing an upgrade.

grumpycrab

In my experience upgrading (whether via Windows Update or media-my preferred method) IS sufficent for most people; I've seen no major issues even when upgrading computers 3 or more years old.

Clean installing zaps all previous C: drive data (and, usually, all physical disk data). The advantages of this are obvious. In ALL types of installation data backups must be made. There are lots of guides out there. eg.
http://www.howtogeek.com/224342/how-to-clean-install-windows-10/

dipsomaniac

when i upgraded a netbook from win7 to win10 my c drive had 35gb of system files. when i did a clean install it only took up 8gb of space

esuhl

As above, with a "clean installation" you delete all files from the partition(s) where you will be installing Windows.

Installing on to clean/empty partitions is "better" because with an in-place upgrade, every person's PC will have different files. With the clean installation, everyone is starting from the same blank slate (as far as software is concerned). In theory, this means that clean installations will have been better tested for bugs.

Doing the in-place upgrade means that you don't have to reinstall your programs and move your personal files (although you should still have everything important backed-up just in case).

Personally, I'd prefer to do a clean installation as it may be more reliable, and it's also a good time to start afresh without all the junk and programs that I installed and never use. My OS and personal data are on different drives anyway, so it's almost as easy to do a clean installation as an upgrade.

Although a few people have had issues with the upgrade, it seems rare, so it's more a matter of personal choice.

frankie

So is there an idiot's guide; step by step on how to do a 'clean' win 10 install?

I have 'upgraded twice before and win 10 had all sorts of problems such as icons not working, apps not loading and I've ended up reverting back to win 8.1.

I have downloaded the media tool and installed the win 10 install media to USB.

Where do I go from here ensuring win 8.1 and all my files stay safe if I need to get them back?

grumpycrab

There's a guide (link) in post 3. Remember the whole point of a clean install is to delete everything and so you must backup your data first.

Although Windows Easy Transfer hasn't been updated for W10, laplink have a free tool to help with moving data (I'd still have a separate backup - as per normal procedure).
http://pcmoverfree.azurewebsites.net/