Windows 10 Clean install

[Maxintosh]

I have a laptop that i have purchased from a local retail store, the preloaded windows 10 on my laptop has a lot of other unwanted stuff installed which forces me to go for a clean installation. Now since the laptops these days dont come with a product key printed on its back. I will not have an access to the product key for my installed windows. with no product key i wont be able to activate my windows hence i cannot perform a clean installation. I have downloaded and burnt the ISO for windows 10 from microsoft website. how do i do it ?

[Electronics Wizardy]

The key is built into the laptop, if you reinstall it will acivate automatically.

[3rrant]

2 minutes ago, Maxintosh said:

I have a laptop that i have purchased from a local retail store, the preloaded windows 10 on my laptop has a lot of other unwanted stuff installed which forces me to go for a clean installation. Now since the laptops these days dont come with a product key printed on its back. I will not have an access to the product key for my installed windows. with no product key i wont be able to activate my windows hence i cannot perform a clean installation. I have downloaded and burnt the ISO for windows 10 from microsoft website. how do i do it ?

If you connect your windows account to the existing Windows 10 install, then re-install and select "I don't own a key" in the setup process it should automatically re-enable itself when you log into your account on the fresh installed OS.

[Maxintosh]

Just now, Electronics Wizardy said:

The key is built into the laptop, if you reinstall it will acivate automatically.

Thankyou also will it also happen if i change or format the HDD/SSD in my laptop ? the key is embedded on the board or the HDD ?

[Maxintosh]

Just now, ErrantNyles said:

If you connect your windows account to the existing Windows 10 install, then re-install and select "I don't own a key" in the setup process it should automatically re-enable itself when you log into your account on the fresh installed OS.

What if i dont have a microsoft account ?

[Enderman]

1 minute ago, Maxintosh said:

Thankyou also will it also happen if i change or format the HDD/SSD in my laptop ? the key is embedded on the board or the HDD ?

Yes, it only deactivates if you change the motherboard, which you can't really do on a laptop.

 

But just FYI if you ever have a PC and want to move your windows to another PC with a different mobo, or you want to swap the mobo on the PC, all you need to do is make a microsoft account.

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-link-your-windows-10-product-key-microsoft-account

[Nostalgia_Realm]

3 minutes ago, Maxintosh said:

What if i dont have a microsoft account ?

You don't need one at all.  If a device has been activated once while it was connected to the internet, it will reactivate automatically after a reinstall. It might not do this when you change the motherboard or CPU, but that's not the case here. If you want to activate your Windows 10 install after said changes, coupling a Microsoft account to the product key would be a good idea.

 

This is from Microsoft's own site:

Quote

 

How you activate Windows 10 after reinstalling it depends on how Windows 10 was originally installed on your device.

 

If you activated a free upgrade to Windows 10 or bought and activated Windows 10 from the Store, you have a digital license for your device. This means you can reinstall the same edition of Windows 10 that your device has a digital license for without entering a product key. During reinstallation, if you’re asked to enter a product key, you can skip this step. Windows 10 will automatically activate online after the installation is complete.

 

 

[Maxintosh]

Thankyou guys  this helped a lot !