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Windows 10 Fresh Installation Guide

Danger

Performing a fresh Windows installation will remove everything on your computer!

Before you begin, back up all important data to an external drive, cloud storage, or another computer.

Note

This guide refers to two computers:

  • Target PC: The computer you want to install Windows 10 on.
  • Setup PC: A functioning computer used to create installation media.

These can be the same computer if you're reinstalling Windows on your current PC, but you’ll need to create the installation media before wiping anything.

Requirements

Requirements

  • An empty USB drive with at least 8GB of storage.
  • Physical access to a working computer (Setup PC) with a stable internet connection and a USB port.
  • Physical access to the computer you wish to do a fresh Windows 10 install on (Target PC).
  • The Target PC must meet Windows 10 hardware requirements.

Create Windows 10 Installation Media (on Setup PC)

Plug your USB drive into the Setup PC.

Download Windows 10 Installation Media Tool

Visit the official Microsoft website

  • Under Create Windows 10 installation media, click Download Now.

Run the Tool

Warning

The selected USB drive will be completely wiped during this process.

This may take a while depending on your internet connection quality.

  • When prompted What do you want to do?, click Create installation media
  • Select your preferred language, architecture (choose 64-bit unless you have a specific reason), and make sure the edition is Windows 10.
  • When prompted Choose which media to use, click USB flash drive.
  • Select your removable USB drive from the list of available drives.
  • Wait while Windows 10 is downloaded.

Install Windows 10

Boot from USB Drive

Can't see your USB or NVMe drive?

If your USB installer isn’t booting, or your NVMe SSD isn’t showing up during installation:

  • Enable UEFI boot mode in your BIOS (not Legacy or CSM).
  • Disable Secure Boot temporarily.
  • Ensure the USB was created with the GPT partition scheme (Media Creation Tool does this by default).
  • If you're using an old ISO, try a newer one — some older builds lack NVMe drivers.
  • Plug the USB drive into the Target PC.
  • Boot the Target PC. If already on, restart it.
  • Enter the BIOS/UEFI setup by pressing the correct key repeatedly during startup (commonly F2, F12, Del, or Esc). If you're unsure, either try them one by one on startup, or look up your motherboard model's BIOS/UEFI key online.
  • Set the USB drive as the primary boot device. (This varies by motherboard, so if it isn't obvious, google it!)
  • Save and exit the BIOS. The computer should now boot from the USB drive. You may have to save and reboot.

Windows Setup

  • Choose your language, time, and keyboard preferences, then click Next.
  • Click Install now.
  • Enter your Windows 10 product key or click I don't have a product key to enter it later.
  • Accept the license terms and click Next.

Choose Installation Type

  • Select Custom: Install Windows only (advanced).
  • You will see a list of existing partitions on your hard drive. These partitions might be labeled as "Drive 0 Partition 1," "Drive 0 Partition 2," etc.
    • Click on each partition and select Delete. Confirm any warnings.
    • You should now see a single entry labeled "Drive 0 Unallocated Space" or similar.
  • With all partitions deleted, select the unallocated space and click New,
    then Apply to let Windows create the necessary system partitions.
  • Choose the newly created primary partition and click Next.

Perform Windows Update

After a fresh Windows install, it's good practice to perform an automatic update.

  • Go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update and click Check for updates. If prompted, install all available updates.