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Author Topic: Win 10 reinstallation  (Read 879 times)

Offline Max

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Win 10 reinstallation
« on: July 20, 2018, 06:18:47 AM »
How do I reinstall Win 10 (older laptop) ? It was one of the free downloads from several years ago so there's no hard disk to work with.
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Offline Bizman

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Re: Win 10 reinstallation
« Reply #1 on: July 20, 2018, 06:59:12 AM »
At the very simplest you just go to the Settings of your existing Windows and reset it. If you want a clean install choose the destructive method instead of saving your settings. That will get rid of remnants of the previous OS: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4026528/windows-reset-or-reinstall-windows-10.

If however you'd want to get a new hard disk (like an SSD for speed) for the old computer, download and create the installation media from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 and install from scratch. Take note of which version of 10 you currently have.

If/when the installation asks for the license code, choose "I don't have a license code". Since you already have a valid copy installed on that very laptop, the license is hard coded somewhere and will automatically activate with that code as long as the version is the same (Home or Pro).

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I've got an older system by today's standards that still runs the game well by my standards.

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Offline Chalenge

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Re: Win 10 reinstallation
« Reply #2 on: July 20, 2018, 03:52:29 PM »
Macrium Reflect (Free) will image your drive to another drive or SSD either one. Just another tool to add to the arsenal.

The reset method is something I do after every major Windows update.
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Offline Max

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Re: Win 10 reinstallation
« Reply #3 on: July 21, 2018, 06:54:09 AM »
The laptop in question is an old ASUS ROG model, which has some odd things going on. The HD may be gone or going...I'm not enough of a gearhead to make the call. In any case, since it's not booting up properly in W10, will I need to go into BIOS and change boot order to recognize the flash drive I'll be using to store the the software Bizman mentioned?
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Offline Bizman

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Re: Win 10 reinstallation
« Reply #4 on: July 21, 2018, 07:29:46 AM »
You may be able to reach the boot menu by tapping either Esc or F8 during startup depending on which model of ROG you're having. If that doesn't work, keep the stick plugged in and change the boot order in BIOS.

If you get a new empty hard disk the system may automatically boot from the stick until you've installed the OS.
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Quote from: BaldEagl, applies to myself, too
I've got an older system by today's standards that still runs the game well by my standards.

Kotisivuni

Offline Chalenge

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Re: Win 10 reinstallation
« Reply #5 on: July 21, 2018, 09:29:27 AM »
Quote from: Max on July 21, 2018, 06:54:09 AM
The laptop in question is an old ASUS ROG model, which has some odd things going on. The HD may be gone or going...I'm not enough of a gearhead to make the call. In any case, since it's not booting up properly in W10, will I need to go into BIOS and change boot order to recognize the flash drive I'll be using to store the the software Bizman mentioned?

Acronis, the people that offer "True Image," also have a free program called Drive Monitor which will report the health of the drive to some degree. Unfortunately, you have to run the drive long enough for it to be analyzed. Since you are obviously concerned already, then I would plan to make the move and get it done before checking the health of the drive. It could be a simple problem with the OS, or it could be worse. There is no way of knowing with the information at hand.

I would change the boot order, image the drive to your SSD (Macrium Reflect), reset the OS, and then install the Drive Monitor program if you want to know the health of the HDD. No reason to bin the thing until you know the facts.

If you begin to experience audio anomalies and lost data then you want to think about replacing the PSU if possible (perhaps the brick power supply?), or prepare for the worst with a complete replacement.
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Offline Bizman

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Re: Win 10 reinstallation
« Reply #6 on: July 21, 2018, 09:59:49 AM »
For testing a hard disk, disk manufacturers have their own tests. I've found Seagate's test to be the most compatible, although just yesterday it couldn't find the disk at all and neither did Western Digital's test so the HP motherboard must have been incompatible. https://www.seagate.com/gb/en/support/downloads/seatools/seatools-win-master/ is the link. Check the disk to be tested and under Basic tests you can choose the test. I usually start with the short generic and if it fails it's clear that the disk has to be replaced. If the short test passes but there's reason to suspect a failure, Long generic will tell if there's anything wrong. If you have a Seagate disk, there's more options to choose from but any found disk can be tested with the generic tests.
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Quote from: BaldEagl, applies to myself, too
I've got an older system by today's standards that still runs the game well by my standards.

Kotisivuni

Offline Max

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Re: Win 10 reinstallation
« Reply #7 on: July 21, 2018, 02:33:19 PM »
I made the media flash drive but the program couldn't find a hard drive. Did a You Tube search for hard drive replacement...opened the access panel and found the HD in the left bay. The videao showed the HD in the right bay, I swapped bays and rebooted. I got as far as this:
how to screenshot on windows 7

I tried Partition 4 but none of them would allow installation. What's next?
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Offline Bizman

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Re: Win 10 reinstallation
« Reply #8 on: July 21, 2018, 02:36:32 PM »
If you're going to reinstall from scratch, simply delete each and every partition. That will give you one single unallocated area where you can install the new OS. It will take care of partitioning by itself, recreating the small ones as necessary.
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Quote from: BaldEagl, applies to myself, too
I've got an older system by today's standards that still runs the game well by my standards.

Kotisivuni

Offline Max

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Re: Win 10 reinstallation
« Reply #9 on: July 21, 2018, 02:44:41 PM »
That's working!  :banana:

Once Win10 re-installs, I'll download and run the Seagate utility to check the HD health.

All done---success!
« Last Edit: July 21, 2018, 04:22:23 PM by Max »
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Offline Bizman

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Re: Win 10 reinstallation
« Reply #10 on: July 22, 2018, 11:36:17 AM »
Glad you got it working!  :cheers:
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Quote from: BaldEagl, applies to myself, too
I've got an older system by today's standards that still runs the game well by my standards.

Kotisivuni
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