A few questions about doing a clean install of w10

[PCEnthusiast66]

So I'm planning on buying a new PCIe NVMe SSD for my PC which currently just has one traditional SSD for storage. My system has been getting a little buggy as of late so I've decided I want to also reset windows completely (including deleting all files), and this would ofc make sense to do now since I want the OS on the NVMe SSD anyway. 

 

I'd consider myself at least somewhat technically proficient but I do not have all that much experience in partitioning and disk/OS setup etc so I have a couple questions. First off how should I approach the windows installation process for the new drive? Can I just install it using the installation media I have from when I originally bought the license and can I still activate windows using the same key I've already technically used once?

 

Also, at what point and how would I go about wiping the old SSD completely for use as a secondary drive? Would I just plug it into the new system and use a tool inside windows or what is the best approach?

[Master Disaster]

1) Yes your existing key will work after a HDD swap.

 

2) You should create a new installer with the latest version of Windows. You need an 8GB or bigger flash drive then you download Microsoft's Media Creation Tool, run it, point it to the flash drive and let it work. Once its done you'll have a bootable flash drive with the latest version of Windows on it.

 

3) You don't need to worry about partitioning. Before you start the install shut down and unplug all your other drives apart from the one you want Windows on. You can pull the SATA cables from the board or either the SATA or Power cables from the drives, it doesn't matter which you choose, any other NVMe drives will need disconnecting too. We do this to make sure Windows doesn't dump the bootloader on to your existing bootable drive (because Windows loves doing that) which will cause major issues when you format the other drive later on. Once they're unplugged you boot from the flash drive, follow setup and once you get to the partitioning screen just click next, do not manually partition anything, just click next and Windows will automatically handle everything for you. Finish setup and once you're in Windows you can shut down and reconnect your other drives back up.

 

4) To format a drive in Windows use Disk Management, its very self explanatory but if you still need help reply back here..

[SupaKomputa]

You won't need a new license for the new drive.

You can use the old drive as is, without wiping it, incase of the main drive error, you can just switch it to the old drive and have a functional backup windows for troubleshooting.

All you need to do is point to which drive you want to boot in the bios.

As for installation, i suggest you unplug any drive beforehand, use the latest windows image downloaded from MS as it would contain the latest update than the original install media. Would save you a lot of time catching the current update.

Burn the image to a USB with RUFUS preselecting UEFI boot mode.

[Radium_Angel]

16 minutes ago, PCEnthusiast66 said:

Can I just install it using the installation media I have from when I originally bought the license

Yes

16 minutes ago, PCEnthusiast66 said:

can I still activate windows using the same key I've already technically used once?

Theoretically? Yes

[C2dan88]

17 minutes ago, PCEnthusiast66 said:

Can I just install it using the installation media I have from when I originally bought the license

You can, but you can download the latest build of Windows using Win10 Media Creation tool where it downloads and creates bootable usb for you.

 

Yes you use the same key. Or before wiping your drive create a MS Account (if you have done so already). You key will stored in the cloud. When reinstalling do not a key instead login to your ms account and Windows will reactivate that way.

 

17 minutes ago, PCEnthusiast66 said:

Also, at what point and how would I go about wiping the old SSD completely for use as a secondary drive? Would I just plug it into the new system and use a tool inside windows or what is the best approach?

You can format the SSD from the installer at the "Where do you want to install Windows" screen. Just select your drive from the list and select format. or you can do this after installing Windows to your new drive and use Disk Manager to format the drive.

[Enderman]

You should use the media creation tool to make a new USB drive with the latest version of windows.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/software-download/windows10

 

Also it's recommended you unplug all drives except the one you're installing to or you can have issues.

 

Windows should activate itself automatically when you connect to the internet because it remembers your motherboard.

Unless you linked your license to your microsoft account in which case you'll need to log in.

[PCEnthusiast66]

Alright thanks a lot guys! I think I've gotten everything I needed to know now, so I'll mark this as solved with @Master Disaster's post as the solution thanks to his in-depth explanation.