Posted October 13, 2015 So im in the process of upgrading my gaming machine to win 10, I was wonmdering how can I fresh install windows, I know that I need to upgrade 1st, thus why im making this thread now.Note I AM NOT talking about refreshing, I want to fully reformat the drive and put windows back on it since this windows installation has some permission issues that I cannot fix and I dont wanna run into them again. System Specs CPU: Ryzen 5 5600x | Mobo: Gigabyte B550i Aorus Pro AX | RAM: Hyper X Fury 3600 64gb | GPU: Nvidia FE 4090 | Storage: WD Blk SN750 NVMe - 1tb, Samsung 860 Evo - 1tb, WD Blk - 6tb/5tb, WD Red - 10tb | PSU:Corsair ax860 | Cooling: AMD Wraith Stealth Displays: 55" Samsung 4k Q80R, 24" BenQ XL2420TE/XL2411Z & Asus VG248QE | Kb: K70 RGB Blue | Mouse: Logitech G903 | Case: Fractal Torrent RGB | Extra: HTC Vive, Fanatec CSR/Shifters/CSR Elite Pedals w/ Rennsport stand, Thustmaster Warthog HOTAS, Track IR5,, ARCTIC Z3 Pro Triple Monitor Arm | OS: Win 10 Pro 64 bit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted October 13, 2015 So im in the process of upgrading my gaming machine to win 10, I was wonmdering how can I fresh install windows, I know that I need to upgrade 1st, thus why im making this thread now. Note I AM NOT talking about refreshing, I want to fully reformat the drive and put windows back on it since this windows installation has some permission issues that I cannot fix and I dont wanna run into them again. Make a bootable flash drive, delete the drive partitions on your C drive you want gone (all of them) and then make sure to install EFI format. Done. |PSU Tier List /80 Plus Efficiency| PSU stuff if you need it. My system: PCPartPicker || For Corsair support tag @Corsair Josephor @Corsair Nick || My 5MT Legacy GT Wagon || Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted October 13, 2015 You need a USB stick or blank CD you can burn to. Download their upgrade tool here and select USB or CD and it will write Windows 10 to selected media. CPU: Intel i5 4690k @ 4.3 GHz GPU: MSI GTX 980 Cooling: be quiet! Pure Rock OS: Windows 7 Monitor: BenQ XL2411Z Motherboard: AsRock Z97 PRO4 PSU: Corsair 600W CX600M Keyboard: Razer BlackWidow Ultimate SSD: Intel 120GB 520 Headset: HyperX Cloud II RAM: 12GB Crucial Ballistix Case: Corsair 750D Mouse: Logitech G502 HDD: Seagate 1TB Speakers: Audioengine A5+ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted October 13, 2015 Author Make a bootable flash drive, delete the drive partitions on your C drive you want gone (all of them) and then make sure to install EFI format. Done. You need a USB stick or blank CD you can burn to. Download their upgrade tool here and select USB or CD and it will write Windows 10 to selected media. I should have been more clear. My Main issue is with the activation process. I know windows 10 generally handles this stuff automatically now, but im just worried if I wipe the drive and try to reinstall windows its gonna give me an "eh I dunno, buy a key" System Specs CPU: Ryzen 5 5600x | Mobo: Gigabyte B550i Aorus Pro AX | RAM: Hyper X Fury 3600 64gb | GPU: Nvidia FE 4090 | Storage: WD Blk SN750 NVMe - 1tb, Samsung 860 Evo - 1tb, WD Blk - 6tb/5tb, WD Red - 10tb | PSU:Corsair ax860 | Cooling: AMD Wraith Stealth Displays: 55" Samsung 4k Q80R, 24" BenQ XL2420TE/XL2411Z & Asus VG248QE | Kb: K70 RGB Blue | Mouse: Logitech G903 | Case: Fractal Torrent RGB | Extra: HTC Vive, Fanatec CSR/Shifters/CSR Elite Pedals w/ Rennsport stand, Thustmaster Warthog HOTAS, Track IR5,, ARCTIC Z3 Pro Triple Monitor Arm | OS: Win 10 Pro 64 bit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted October 13, 2015 I should have been more clear. My Main issue is with the activation process. I know windows 10 generally handles this stuff automatically now, but im just worried if I wipe the drive and try to reinstall windows its gonna give me an "eh I dunno, buy a key" If you do an upgrade and have never had a pirated copy of Windows on your PC ever then you're good. What I mean by this: I have had both a legal copy of Windows 7 and an illegal (sort of) copy of Windows 8.1 on my machine. I currently use the legal copy of Windows 7 as Windows 10 had issues on my system but when I had Windows 10 I did the following: Had Windows 7 on machine. Did a fresh install of Windows 10 instead of an upgrade. I get the notification that my copy isn't legal. Well this is because I have a copy of Windows 8.1 I use exclusively for Macrium Reflect which has saved me a few times. It used to be a legit key but since Windows 8 has issues on my system (same ones W10 has) I ended up de-activating it so the key could be used for another PC later. So this is why W10 told me I had an illegitimate copy of Windows - I sort've had. So I ended up doing a fresh install of Windows 7 then upgrading to 10 so a legit key was tied to my motherboard. Later, as I mentioned I reverted back to 7 as 10 has issues for me but I now have a legitimate key tied to 10. So basically, if you've ever had an illegitimate copy of Windows on your machine then that's of concern. |PSU Tier List /80 Plus Efficiency| PSU stuff if you need it. My system: PCPartPicker || For Corsair support tag @Corsair Josephor @Corsair Nick || My 5MT Legacy GT Wagon || Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted October 13, 2015 Author If you do an upgrade and have never had a pirated copy of Windows on your PC ever then you're good. What I mean by this: I have had both a legal copy of Windows 7 and an illegal (sort of) copy of Windows 8.1 on my machine. I currently use the legal copy of Windows 7 as Windows 10 had issues on my system but when I had Windows 10 I did the following: Had Windows 7 on machine. Did a fresh install of Windows 10 instead of an upgrade. I get the notification that my copy isn't legal. Well this is because I have a copy of Windows 8.1 I use exclusively for Macrium Reflect which has saved me a few times. It used to be a legit key but since Windows 8 has issues on my system (same ones W10 has) I ended up de-activating it so the key could be used for another PC later. So this is why W10 told me I had an illegitimate copy of Windows - I sort've had. So I ended up doing a fresh install of Windows 7 then upgrading to 10 so a legit key was tied to my motherboard. Later, as I mentioned I reverted back to 7 as 10 has issues for me but I now have a legitimate key tied to 10. So basically, if you've ever had an illegitimate copy of Windows on your machine then that's of concern. I always buy my OSes. Im just paranoid something is gonna get lost in translation so to speak when the OS came out I was looking into things like key extraction and what not just to be safe but ya seems to not be necessary, but I dunno how much of those kinda things are based off a "refresh" rather then a "purge" of windows System Specs CPU: Ryzen 5 5600x | Mobo: Gigabyte B550i Aorus Pro AX | RAM: Hyper X Fury 3600 64gb | GPU: Nvidia FE 4090 | Storage: WD Blk SN750 NVMe - 1tb, Samsung 860 Evo - 1tb, WD Blk - 6tb/5tb, WD Red - 10tb | PSU:Corsair ax860 | Cooling: AMD Wraith Stealth Displays: 55" Samsung 4k Q80R, 24" BenQ XL2420TE/XL2411Z & Asus VG248QE | Kb: K70 RGB Blue | Mouse: Logitech G903 | Case: Fractal Torrent RGB | Extra: HTC Vive, Fanatec CSR/Shifters/CSR Elite Pedals w/ Rennsport stand, Thustmaster Warthog HOTAS, Track IR5,, ARCTIC Z3 Pro Triple Monitor Arm | OS: Win 10 Pro 64 bit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted October 13, 2015 I always buy my OSes. Im just paranoid something is gonna get lost in translation so to speak when the OS came out I was looking into things like key extraction and what not just to be safe but ya seems to not be necessary, but I dunno how much of those kinda things are based off a "refresh" rather then a "purge" of windows You should be fine, just go through the EFI installation like I said. Definitely worth the extra 30 seconds it takes to speed up boot times and automatic driver finding within Windows. |PSU Tier List /80 Plus Efficiency| PSU stuff if you need it. My system: PCPartPicker || For Corsair support tag @Corsair Josephor @Corsair Nick || My 5MT Legacy GT Wagon || Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted October 13, 2015 Author You should be fine, just go through the EFI installation like I said. Definitely worth the extra 30 seconds it takes to speed up boot times and automatic driver finding within Windows. mind explaining this EFI installation thing a bit? its the 1st ive heard of it tbh, System Specs CPU: Ryzen 5 5600x | Mobo: Gigabyte B550i Aorus Pro AX | RAM: Hyper X Fury 3600 64gb | GPU: Nvidia FE 4090 | Storage: WD Blk SN750 NVMe - 1tb, Samsung 860 Evo - 1tb, WD Blk - 6tb/5tb, WD Red - 10tb | PSU:Corsair ax860 | Cooling: AMD Wraith Stealth Displays: 55" Samsung 4k Q80R, 24" BenQ XL2420TE/XL2411Z & Asus VG248QE | Kb: K70 RGB Blue | Mouse: Logitech G903 | Case: Fractal Torrent RGB | Extra: HTC Vive, Fanatec CSR/Shifters/CSR Elite Pedals w/ Rennsport stand, Thustmaster Warthog HOTAS, Track IR5,, ARCTIC Z3 Pro Triple Monitor Arm | OS: Win 10 Pro 64 bit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted October 13, 2015 mind explaining this EFI installation thing a bit? its the 1st ive heard of it tbh, All prebuilts have it. That's why you see the motherboard manufacturer's logo instead of the blue Windows logo. Basically it makes everything faster to boot, shut down, restart, etc. Drivers, at least in my experience, are more easily automagically detected by Windows (hardware native ones like GPU drivers, USB 3 drivers, etc) though I'm not 100% sure this is something that actually happens. Basically, what you need: Make sure EFi-only is the boot option in your BIOS. No Legacy allowed! When installing Windows so that it doesn't break itself, delete all drive partitions from your C drive in that menu when you can. Then, when the C drive is clean, click on New. There will be some large number of megabytes listed. Just ignore that number and click Apply. there should now be 4 partitions on your C drive now. Make sure "Primary" is the drive selected and continue the installation as per normal. |PSU Tier List /80 Plus Efficiency| PSU stuff if you need it. My system: PCPartPicker || For Corsair support tag @Corsair Josephor @Corsair Nick || My 5MT Legacy GT Wagon || Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted October 13, 2015 Author All prebuilts have it. That's why you see the motherboard manufacturer's logo instead of the blue Windows logo. Basically it makes everything faster to boot, shut down, restart, etc. Drivers, at least in my experience, are more easily automagically detected by Windows (hardware native ones like GPU drivers, USB 3 drivers, etc) though I'm not 100% sure this is something that actually happens. Basically, what you need: Make sure EFi-only is the boot option in your BIOS. No Legacy allowed! When installing Windows so that it doesn't break itself, delete all drive partitions from your C drive in that menu when you can. Then, when the C drive is clean, click on New. There will be some large number of megabytes listed. Just ignore that number and click Apply. there should now be 4 partitions on your C drive now. Make sure "Primary" is the drive selected and continue the installation as per normal. mkay, unfortinately im at an impass and cant proceed cause windows doesnt wanna activate for...reasons keep getting some error code System Specs CPU: Ryzen 5 5600x | Mobo: Gigabyte B550i Aorus Pro AX | RAM: Hyper X Fury 3600 64gb | GPU: Nvidia FE 4090 | Storage: WD Blk SN750 NVMe - 1tb, Samsung 860 Evo - 1tb, WD Blk - 6tb/5tb, WD Red - 10tb | PSU:Corsair ax860 | Cooling: AMD Wraith Stealth Displays: 55" Samsung 4k Q80R, 24" BenQ XL2420TE/XL2411Z & Asus VG248QE | Kb: K70 RGB Blue | Mouse: Logitech G903 | Case: Fractal Torrent RGB | Extra: HTC Vive, Fanatec CSR/Shifters/CSR Elite Pedals w/ Rennsport stand, Thustmaster Warthog HOTAS, Track IR5,, ARCTIC Z3 Pro Triple Monitor Arm | OS: Win 10 Pro 64 bit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted October 13, 2015 mkay, unfortinately im at an impass and cant proceed cause windows doesnt wanna activate for...reasons keep getting some error code You can install Windows 10 without a product key you know. Not sure I quite understand your problem. |PSU Tier List /80 Plus Efficiency| PSU stuff if you need it. My system: PCPartPicker || For Corsair support tag @Corsair Josephor @Corsair Nick || My 5MT Legacy GT Wagon || Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted October 13, 2015 Author You can install Windows 10 without a product key you know. Not sure I quite understand your problem. it wasnt activating I dunno how else to explain, anyways I turned off my windows firewall manager and its activated. System Specs CPU: Ryzen 5 5600x | Mobo: Gigabyte B550i Aorus Pro AX | RAM: Hyper X Fury 3600 64gb | GPU: Nvidia FE 4090 | Storage: WD Blk SN750 NVMe - 1tb, Samsung 860 Evo - 1tb, WD Blk - 6tb/5tb, WD Red - 10tb | PSU:Corsair ax860 | Cooling: AMD Wraith Stealth Displays: 55" Samsung 4k Q80R, 24" BenQ XL2420TE/XL2411Z & Asus VG248QE | Kb: K70 RGB Blue | Mouse: Logitech G903 | Case: Fractal Torrent RGB | Extra: HTC Vive, Fanatec CSR/Shifters/CSR Elite Pedals w/ Rennsport stand, Thustmaster Warthog HOTAS, Track IR5,, ARCTIC Z3 Pro Triple Monitor Arm | OS: Win 10 Pro 64 bit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted October 13, 2015 it wasnt activating I dunno how else to explain, anyways I turned off my windows firewall manager and its activated. Well GG! |PSU Tier List /80 Plus Efficiency| PSU stuff if you need it. My system: PCPartPicker || For Corsair support tag @Corsair Josephor @Corsair Nick || My 5MT Legacy GT Wagon || Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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