Windows 10 Clean Installation Guide

.

 

I just downloaded Windows 10 files from my MiniPC manufactures website to do a clean install, 3 x 2GB zip files, so i extracted the files, but when i try and copy the files to an fat32 formatted usb flash, I get an error that "install.wim" is to big, it`s 4.7GB

Thanks for any help.

John.

 

because the USB must be formatted in NTFS. this is not Windows 98 SE d00d

 

The downloaded and extracted the files to an ntfs formatted drive, but i cannot boot from the usb drive.

This is supposed to be to do a clean install, the online support dont seem to know what they are doing.



John.

 

Open that OS image in Ntlite and use image splitting if file size > 4GB.

 

Where did you get that ISO from? if you followed the guide from scratch, it would have downloaded a clean ISO using the Microsoft Windows 10 Download tool and it would've burned it to a CD or USB Flash Drive in FAT32 format.

If you have downloaded the ISO from somewhere else, then I cannot help BUT even if you burn it in NTFS format using RUFUS, it would make it bootable provided it's a legit ISO

 

On the site, there's a "download tool now" option, download that to a folder on the computer, and then run the tool from there to make it create a bootable USB. Just copying the files will not accomplish this.

 

I installed Ntlite,

Do you have a link, I cannot find it.

John.

 

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
direct: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=691209

 

Alternatively, I find this site better for all MSFT ISO from insiders, office and Windows.
https://tb.rg-adguard.net/index.php

 

Was not aware of this, thanks for posting!

 

As I was going through this guide, I noticed that it has not been updated in roughly 2 years. But the applications have been. Can you take some time when you have time to give a once through and refresh anything new that might be outdated in here? O&O Shutup10 has many more options and many of your options are moved or relabeled as something different. Thanks in advance if you can!

 

I updated it, thank j00 for teh reminder buddy:

Do not use Windows 10 without doing this.....

 

Bloatware free edition is done permanently? @Phoenix will miss ya mate, ill try to say hi once in awhile and lurk your posts, but im pretty lazy these days haha

 

@Phoenix I really love your guide, but is there a way I can "create a copy" of the default windows msi installation before starting the guide? I know it doesn't void your warranty, but I want to play on the safe side and be able to restore the default OS if I ever have to return the laptop to MSI.

 

Use Macrium Reflect to image your entire drive to an external HDD or SSD.

 

Cheers, that's what I'll do.

 

@Phoenix thanks for this guide! Two questions:

Almost done with this, but why is it recommended to disable automatic driver updates? I'm gonna regret asking this

Also: I did an image clone with Macrium Reflect on the MSI OS and also added boot option.
Then after that I started this guide. Do I still have the boot option? Do I need to re"install" the boot option? I assumed it wasn't removed and just did a new clone after the fresh W10 installation.

 

There is an MSI Recovery app in your start menu, launch it and have it create a USB flash disk to restore back the laptop to factory should you ever need to

 

Driver updates disabled because it is best to stick to the manufacturer drivers as sometimes the Windows Updated drivers are just generic ones, take for example, touchpad drivers, where if updated, you may or not lose some or all of your extra touchpad enhancements. that is just on example.

Although to be fair, the Windows update drivers have become better and more accurate now to the point where this is not a mandatory step. I never get any driver updates anyway because I always have the latest drivers, see for example the drivers I posted here, most of them are generic and will work for your laptop except maybe but not sure, the card reader drivers:

MSI GT73VR 7RF TITAN PRO Drivers

 

Damnit, too late now... Already on fresh W10. I did however cloned the drive with Macrium Reflect before.

Now to figure out what drivers I should install from the MSI page and which ones not.

 

see the above post on the previous page

and don't worry about not creating the MSI Recovery flash disk, their OS is bloated and has all outdated drivers you'll never wanna use it again anyway

 

Yeah I was a bit fast, apologies!

Since you have an MSI as well, do you recommend installing all the drivers from https://www.msi.com/Laptop/support/GE63VR-7RF-Raider#down-driver ?
Or which ones should I definitely not install?

 

Those are pretty recent drivers, install everything except:

Nahimic VR
TriDef VR

Welcome to the MSI Gaming Team.. Please steal the image in my sig and put it in your signature

 

Sorry to bother you one last time, but you seem to be listing items from the "Utilities" tab, I'm talking about these:

 

Drivers, install everything BUT the LAN/WLAN Drivers and make sure you don't install the Killer Networking app, just the INF Driver by updating from the device manager. Here are the latest ones:

NOTE: After downloading the drivers, before extracting them, right click on the ZIP file, go to properties, then choose UNBLOCK from the bottom right as they might have a blocked status since they came from the Internet which will cause issues when installing if they're blocked.

LAN Killer E2500 Driver v9.0.0.46 (go to device manager, then right click on the ethernet controller(s), then choose Update Driver Software, then manually browse to the folder which you extracted)

- Intel WLAN Driver v20.10.2 / BT v20.0.0
- Killer WLAN Driver v12.0.0.448/BT v10.0.0.438

Obviously if you don't have an Intel WLAN Card, just install the Killer ones for the WLAN and Bluetooth but the LAN Driver is the same for all machines

 

Thank you for the answer Phoenix! Doing this right now.

 

Be smart....be like Phoenix .......

 

Hello @Phoenix do you recommend just running the https://www.obsidian-pc.com/en/obsidiantools.html#.Wi4iHVWWaJA after installing a fresh windows 10 for installing all drivers for clevo laptops. I think it's more convenient than manually installing drivers one by one. And what do you think of this software https://www.iobit.com/en/driver-booster-pro.php? I found it on steam with mix reviews but its free and the price for lifetime key is cheap. Unfortunately it has mix reviews but revision 4 have mostly positive.

 

Never touch driver download software!!

 

Care to elaborate on that please. Even the tool that came from Obsidian?

 

They tend to break often than fix things.
I'd stick with drivers provided by OEM and update only GPU, SSD firmwares and others are unnecessary unless its Intel MEI if they explicitly say some specific driver version has a possible backdoor to exploit, otherwise I wouldn't touch them. Even IRST(Intel Rapid Storage Tech.) is similar, unless your BIOS has updated IRST ROMs, its preferable to stick with what vendors provided you.

 

what Papusan said. avoid anything from that company like the plague and the Obsidian Tool is not free anymore so unlrss you buy a license, then dont bother

 

To put it further... Would you like install everything of drivers offered from Win update? It's exactly the same ****y.

THIS!!
There are better channels to look if you absolutely <need> new drivers. And who is crazy enough to let others aka M$ or obscure software companies decide what you want to put in your computer? Maybe let others determining what sorts of software you should run as well?

 

As long as they have reason to believe we are all stupid and they are stupid enough to think they are smarter than us, this will continue to be a problem. The fact that some actually are not smart enough to know better only makes it worse.

This garbage is from the same retarded monkeys that gave us this...

And, this...

A mind is a terrible thing to waste.

 

What happened to the Obsidian Tool? I remember it was quite the awesome little tool that was available around here.

 

One simple Example never install ****y from Win Updates or drivers from all the companies who want your hard earned money... One of many reasons.

Its's still in the forum. But not all need the tool.

 

I do not really see a compelling need for a special tool for drivers. But, some people get really worked up about it and think they need to constantly pursue newer drivers to keep their PC working correctly. The opposite is more accurate. If everything works correctly, performance is excellent, system is stable, updating to new drivers is not a smart thing to do. It might not be as stable or perform as well after updating drivers. The only good time is when you identify a problem with a specific bad driver that needs to be corrected.

 

Is UAC responsible for the BS message "you need permission from...... to make changes to this file" when trying to delete files?

 

Sometimes yes, sometimes not. Depends a lot on the situation.

 

No. Where is the file located? Who is the owner under permissions?

 

No worries I know about that owner/permission thing. Just piss and curious if the UAC have any relation to it. By the way do you recommend this https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/3841-add-take-ownership-context-menu-windows-10-a.html. Basically a 1 click thing to change ownership of any file & folder. Not sure though if the site can be trusted.

 

That looks a bit like UAC -> But this behavior can also be caused by a virus of sorts.

My windows install does not show folders like that and never did, so I am quite unsure how you got to that point. What windows version are you running?

 

Sorry I think we had a misunderstanding, I have no problem or virus in my computer I'm just curious. That pic is showing the added function in the context menu for easy 1click of taking ownership of any folder and files based on the instruction on the link. No need for going to (properties, security, advance, change etc.) to change the ownership of a file or folder.

 

I was going to make a new Clean Install Guide and update the OP but then I thought it's better for me to wait till the release of Redstone 4 since radical changes will happen once again.

 

For starters there are new options to setup and cortana is becoming intelligent too.
I used NTLite to get rid off most telemetry and other things I don't use.
Grab the insider version of ISO from MSFT and try it in a VM, it is really good. I dare say its better than public release.

 

Hey Phoenix,

I followed your directions but have seemed to lost the Windows Search Function. I quite like it because I could just press the Windows button and type immediately, any way to get that back without reinstallation?

Cheers.

 

Did you install Classic Shell? If so, then the moment you press the start menu button it has a search box as well.

AND, Everything is a much better search tool, it finds any file you want within a second and doesn't even need the Windows indexing service to work.

I download the portable version, extract it somewhere, then drag drop the EXE to the taskbar but you have to right click on it, go to properties, compatibility, and set it to run as admin always

 

I might give that a try. I'm so used to pressing START and typing immediately. Thanks for the prompt reply

 

Pin everything Icon next to start button.