Can't reset Win 10, "no changes were made"

[Jakers038]

Basically I want to reset Windows 10 (1903), but I can't because I keep getting a message that says that resetting failed and that no changes were made. At first I tried resetting with keep files and data, but after that failed, I tried to reset without keeping data and that also didn't work. So what am I even supposed to do? I've been pressing the check for updates for windows for days now,but I don't even get any real updates, just antivirus definitions. Mixed reality doesn't work and can't be fixed even after reinstalling it and Forza Horizon 4 also stopped working, reinstalled it, but again nothing, so I think that something with windows is problematic, but since I can't reset it, then I have no idea what to do.

 

I found this video, I only tried the first method and it didn't work, I didn't bother with the other methods since most comments seem to say that nothing worked for them.

 

 

[Bazadar]

I know when I had a problem like this before, I just did a fresh install

Do you have another Windows 10 PC?

[Arika]

back up what ever data you need to keep to another drive and just reinstall from scratch. something got messed up on the recovery partition.

[Jakers038]

5 hours ago, Bazadar said:

I know when I had a problem like this before, I just did a fresh install

Do you have another Windows 10 PC?

Nope and I never actually installed windows myself (though ironically I changed every single part of hardware, including switching a PC case and connecting it to a motherboard, which is harder than almost anything else), so I'm a bit afraid of screwing something up tbh, so I have a few questions:

 

1. What do I need? Do I need a usb flash drive or can I just have the install files on one of my two drives? (an ssd where the os is currently at and a hdd) , I don't have a windows cd or even a cd reader on my pc case, so it has to be one of those two.

 

2. Where do I get the actual files for the installation? My pc service guy installed a pirated version with his flash stick a long time ago, then in the meantime I bought a key online to get rid of the watermark thing, so now I have an activated version, but I only got the key when I bought that, no files. Also, do I even need to buy it anymore (because of the watermark) or is windows now completely free? I know that something became free recently, but I don't know what exactly.

 

3. Once I get whatever files I need in a flash drive or hdd or wherever I need them, do I select that drive to boot from instead of my current ssd?

 

4. Do I wipe the C partition completely and install Windows there?

[C2dan88]

1. You need a 8GB flash drive or larger.

 

2. You use the free microsoft media creation tool to create usb installation media https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10

 

3. Restart PC and boot into bios with flashdrive connected, find the boot section and set the flash drive as first drive. Press F10 to save changes. 

You pc should restart and boot to the usb flash drive with showing windows10 installation wizard.

 

4. Yes, if you want remove everything from your drive. At the "Where do you want to install windows to" screen it will list all your drives. From the list select the drive you want windows to install to, if data is already on the drive click format button. Then click next to install windows to that drive. After a few min, pc should reboot and boot to the selected drive where the installation process resumes. Plenty of websites/youtube vids explaining how to install windows

 

After windows is installed, you may need to install the drivers for your hardware. Best to goto your motherboard manufacturers website and get chipset, sata, lan and audio. For GPU drivers you get from either Intel, AMD, or Nvidia depending on the manufacture of your gpu is.