I've had my computer for over a decade and a couple of years ago, a technician installed new RAM and a fresh copy of Windows 10. Now I'm looking to do a full reformat and reinstall Windows myself, but I don't have any installation discs or USB drives with Windows on them. Can someone guide me through the process of doing a complete reformat and reinstall?
3 Answers
Since your computer is over 10 years old, consider that sometimes the hardware itself can be the reason for slowdowns rather than just software issues. If you can, check the health of your hard drive using a free tool like HD Tune. If it's not performing well, upgrading to an SSD could significantly improve your system's speed!
If you have an 8GB or larger USB thumb drive, you can use that to create a Windows installation media. You'll need to download the Windows Media Creation Tool from Microsoft's website to get started. It's pretty straightforward; just follow the prompts to create your drive, and then you can boot from it to install Windows.
To reset your PC, go to: Start > Settings > Update & Security > Recovery, and select 'Reset this PC'. Choose 'Remove everything', and then you can install it locally instead of downloading—just make sure you back up your important files first.
Thanks for the steps! I’ll make sure to back up everything before proceeding.