Tutorial: Reinstalling Windows from Scratch

A few days ago I finally found the time to fully reinstall my Windows system, and since there are several steps requiring some research to be well prepared, I decided to offer you a step-by-step tutorial.

Step 1: Back up your files

If you're reinstalling Windows over your current system, it goes without saying that you need to back up your files to an external device, or to a dedicated partition.

I recommend getting into the habit of backing up your files/software to a dedicated partition, so you won't have any worries for your future installations

List your installed software

Even if you back up your software to a dedicated partition, some programs automatically install onto the system partition. The best approach is to browse through your "Program Files" and "Program Files (x86)" directories and make an inventory of everything you'll need to reinstall afterwards.

Step 2: Create an installation media

Installing Windows requires creating an installation media from which the machine you're going to reinstall will boot.

Be careful, you're not installing Windows onto this media, you're only preparing an installer!

Choosing the media

For this operation you can use any removable storage device such as a USB flash drive or an external hard drive as long as it has at least 8GB of data storage.

You should know that the installation media creation tool will use the entire storage device (all partitions will be merged into one) and all data will be erased, so make sure to choose a device with full awareness of this!

I don't recommend using an SD card as media, as it will only work if your card reader is connected via USB (external) and not PCI (internal).

Creating a media

The simplest option is to use the installation media creation tool provided by Microsoft, which will let you either create the media directly, or download the official ISO file to use another piece of software afterwards.

Download link: https://www.microsoft.com/fr-fr/software-download/windows10

If you already have a Windows .iso file, you can also use the open-source software Rufus, which is very effective for creating bootable media.

If you're not currently running Windows, the download link listed above will detect your system and redirect you to the download page for the official .iso file.

I then recommend going through balenaEtcher to create your media, it works perfectly!

Note that there is only one official ISO file, whether you want to install a Home or Professional version, the upgrade happens at the time of activation.

Step 3: Install the system

Once your installation media is created, all you need to do is restart your machine while leaving the storage device plugged in and the Windows installer should appear instantly.

If that's not the case and Windows starts up as usual, restart your machine, open your BIOS (Esc or F11 at startup) and change the boot device priority order, to put your removable device first.

Choosing the partition

The first step will be to select on which disk, and on which partition you want to install the system.

It's important to know that you cannot install Windows twice on two partitions of the same hard drive, this would cause conflicts.

If you want to create a Linux dual-boot, be sure to complete your Windows installation before installing Linux on an adjacent partition, otherwise you may not be able to choose your system at startup.

Finishing the installation

Then all that's left is to wait and answer a few questions asked during installation, but these settings are minimal and have little impact on the system.

They do, however, affect the amount of data Microsoft can collect while you use your machine.

Step 4: Configure the system

Once this step is complete, you'll have access to a brand new system, normally faster and above all much cleaner! But there are still a few configurations (sometimes optional) before you can fully enjoy your machine.

Create a local account

During installation you were required to create a Microsoft account (or sign in to an existing one), but personally I like my usage not to necessarily be tied to my Microsoft account.

The best solution is therefore to create a new local administrator account, and delete the one you're currently signed in with.

To do this, simply go to Settings > Accounts > Family & other users > Add another user to this PC

Then click "I don't have this person's sign-in information" and complete the account creation.

All that's left is to sign out of the current session to sign in with the new account (and delete the old one)

Activate the product key

As you might have guessed, before you can legally use Windows, you'll need to enter your product key (in other words, your license) in order to activate it.

If during installation you used an existing Microsoft account that had already been used to set up a machine, this step might be optional since your account may already be linked to a product key.

If you don't have one, you can buy a license on the official Microsoft website, or from retailers like LDLC for example!

To check this, or to enter your new product key, simply go to Settings > Update & Security > Activation and follow the procedure!

Reinstall the drivers

Once your system is installed and activated, you'll now need to reinstall your drivers! Drivers are software that translate communications between your machine's components and the operating system.

Some generic drivers are already included within Windows, but more specific drivers may be missing and cause malfunctions.

Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, keyboard backlighting, and more!

I recommend downloading the utility from the TousLesDrivers website to run a hardware detection scan of your machine so you can access all the drivers not recognized by Windows, and install them one by one.

If you still encounter malfunctions, go to your machine manufacturer's website with your model and look for the missing drivers.