Doing a Completely Clean Install of Windows 10

Its frustrating that you have to download WIndows 10 every time you run the MCT. 

Uh, the reason you run the MCT is to do one of two things:

             1.  Create bootable USB media using it and fetching the latest ISO.

             2.  Just to fetch an ISO (Create media for another computer), which you can then use to create bootable media with the utility of your choice (Rufus, in my case).

I do the latter and seldom, if ever, download the ISO more than once or twice during the lifespan of a given version of Windows 10.  I just recreate bootable media from said saved ISO any time I need it.

I would consider burning the ISO to optical media (DVD) if the devices giving you issues with USB happen to have optical drives.

Edited by britechguy, 19 November 2018 - 11:45 AM.
Added note about optical media.

I'm having problems getting some laptops to recognise USBs done using the Rufus method. is there a way of doing it with DISM?

Rufus is completely unnecessary.  For UEFI laptops simply format your USB fat32.  Mount the iso and copy all the files over.  That is all there is to it.

Great information britechguy,

agree with the other..should be a sticky

You  can bet your life I'll have to revert to your info at some future point, being new to W10   

Thank you so much for this tutorial! It was so helpful in my case!

Information provided is useful and it helps others as well.

Edited by JohnBrighltin, 17 December 2018 - 03:21 PM.

Thank you for this really helpful guide.

One thing is that in some other forum, it is advised not to run the MCT to create a bootable media from an infected PC. What would be your opinion on that ? Does it really matter ?

One thing is that in some other forum, it is advised not to run the MCT to create a bootable media from an infected PC.

I would never, even for a second, consider trying to create installation media of any kind on a machine that is known to be infected.  This is, to me, so blindingly obvious that I thought it absolutely goes without saying.

I absolutely agree with that position.  Only create install media on a machine known to be in an uninfected state.

I would never, even for a second, consider trying to create installation media of any kind on a machine that is known to be infected.  This is, to me, so blindingly obvious that I thought it absolutely goes without saying.

Of course I would never do it that way (common sense). But I have no idea about the risks of doing so, do you think it is because of attacks on the .exe (modification of the exe/virus infection) or maybe attacks on the device (autorun malware) ?

I don't even care.  Someone could tell me there is zero risk and I still wouldn't do it.  You don't build a house on quicksand so why would you create installation media, for anything, on a malfunctioning machine, and particularly one that's thought do be doing so because it's infected?  Some things just make no sense and it's just so easy to avoid them that one should, on principle.

dhagerjohns, Thank you for your help with the driver ? I am not familiar with DISM so I am a bit confused. Are the commands actually making a complete ISO on a USB of a functioning install INCLUDING the desired drivers, Then following clean install w/ generic drivers, illustrating how to extract the desired drivers and installing them in the clean install and finally making a "clean" iso with desired drivers ? I'm thinking of making slipstreamed install disks of older windows ie winxp sp3. Am I way confused here?

Drifty 

Yea, this is for Windows 10.  The drivers will be installed with Windows, and load properly.  I like to do this so Windows loads my video drivers etc. without searching for them.  Honestly for Xp it has been so long I really can't remember how I set it up.  I was far less knowledgeable back then, and I had some sort of command file which did it for me, but that is long gone.

One thing is that in some other forum, it is advised not to run the MCT to create a bootable media from an infected PC.

 
I would never, even for a second, consider trying to create installation media of any kind on a machine that is known to be infected.  This is, to me, so blindingly obvious that I thought it absolutely goes without saying.
 
I absolutely agree with that position.  Only create install media on a machine known to be in an uninfected state.

 

I'm having problems getting some laptops to recognise USBs done using the Rufus method. is there a way of doing it with DISM?

Rufus is completely unnecessary.  For UEFI laptops simply format your USB fat32.  Mount the iso and copy all the files over.  That is all there is to it.

 

direct copy out of ISO? Is it REALLY this easy? wow.......

 

 

I'm having problems getting some laptops to recognise USBs done using the Rufus method. is there a way of doing it with DISM?

Rufus is completely unnecessary.  For UEFI laptops simply format your USB fat32.  Mount the iso and copy all the files over.  That is all there is to it.

 

direct copy out of ISO? Is it REALLY this easy? wow.......

 

The problem being that you cannot BOOT from media (USB or otherwise) that is not set up appropriately to allow it.

If you are trying to do a completely clean install you must boot from either the USB or optical media.

If one is trying to do an install-over install, and see either one of these sets of instructions in regard to that:

Non Destructive Repair of Windows 10 - Answers to commonly asked questions

Doing an In-place "Upgrade" to Reinstall Windows 10 Keeping Apps/Programs and User Files

then mounting the ISO and copying the files over from it into a folder on the hard drive is a reasonable option.   That's not what's being discussed here.

Understood. I followed the diversion from the topic while contemplating copying files straight out of an iso file that easily. Sorry I wandered astray.