Reinstall of windows 10 on device

I installed windows 10 preview on an older computer with an ssd installed, it dual booted with a copy of windows 7 pro.. I later removed the ssd and installed in a laptop that had windows 10 already on it and did clean install which successfully updated, and removed windows 7 pro from during the format.

I am now trying to reinstall regular version of windows 10 or insider preview on that same computer with a hard drive in it. Computer would not install windows 10 from usb. Tried several methods, device simply would not go past screen saying invalid paramters. Was able to get Windows 7 to install on this device from the original dvd which i bought so that I could reinstall as often as I like. When I try the install through windows 7 off the usb, i get an error that it can not find a valid product key on the device. Many discussions say it will auto activate as motherboard etc stored on microsoft servers, and if it does not just press skip to install and activate later. Screen is not giving me option to skip.

I also put the hard drive from the laptop in this desktop. It had a valid key as was purchased with preinstalled. Cannot get usb to boot with just the drive with windows 10 on device, and will not boot directly from this hard drive. Put the windows 7 drive in with the windows 10 drive as second hard drive. Installation still does not see the key on the second hard drive.

How can I get this active on my computer legally. I know I am eligible but do not want to use one of the sights that gives you a sketchy product key and than your device deactivates later.

I tried using the windows 7 product key it states it didn’t work, Please check it and try again, or try a differect key.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have come to love windows 10.

How to use Reset this PC to easily reinstall Windows 10

Mayank Parmar

After prolonged use or after installing Windows 10 updates, third-party apps, drivers, or antivirus software, it is not uncommon for your computer to start performing poorly. To help with this, Microsoft offers a variety of refresh options that allow you to execute a factory reset or reinstallation of Windows 10.

The top one is ‘Reset this PC,’ which is available in all versions of Windows 10. Another option is ‘Fresh Start,’ which allows you to reinstall Windows while removing bloatware and crapware loaded on your system by the device manufacturer.

With the release of Windows 10 version 2004, the May 2020 Update, Microsoft has changed things a bit to simplify this process.

Reset this PC now offers a cloud reset feature that downloads the latest version of Windows 10 from Microsoft’s servers and uses that version for the reinstall. It is a great way to upgrade to the newest feature update while performing a reinstall of Windows 10.

Windows 10 2004 has also merged the removal of preinstalled manufacturer programs from the ‘Fresh Start’ feature into the ‘Reset this PC’ feature. This means that Fresh Start is no longer officially available, though there are ways around that in the May 2020 Update.

In this Windows 10 article, we’ll guide you through the various steps you can use to reset and reinstall Windows 10.

How to reinstall Windows 10 using a local reset

The local reset option allows you to reset Windows 10 to its default state using the already installed recovery image. With the Local reset option, you can keep your files or remove everything.

When performing a reset of your PC with this method, the same version of Windows 10 will be reinstalled.

To reset your PC back to factory settings using a local recovery image, following these steps:

Go to Settings >Update & Security >Recovery. Under Reset this PC, click on Get started.

When Reset this PC opens, select the ‘Keep my Files‘ option, to retain your data during the reinstall, or ‘Remove Everything.’

You will now be presented with an option asking how you would like to reinstall Windows 10. At this screen, click on the ‘Local reinstall‘ option.

You will now be asked to confirm your selection. Please review the selected options and click on the Next button.

You will now be prompted to reinstall preinstalled applications. As this is a refresh of your existing install, and not a clean install, at the Restore preinstalled apps prompt, select Yes and then press Next.

You will now be shown a final screen asking you to confirm your final selections. When ready, click on the Reset button.

Windows will now use the current version of Windows 10 that is already installed to reinstall the operating system. This process may take some time, so please be patient.

You will be prompted to reboot the computer to finish the installation.

When done, the same version of Windows 10 will be reinstalled on the computer, and your data will be left intact. Any preinstalled manufacturer applications will also be installed.

How to reinstall Windows 10 using a cloud reset

Starting with May 2020 Update, Windows 10 allows you to use a new feature called ‘Cloud Download’ that will download the latest version of Windows 10 from Microsoft’s servers and use that to reinstall the operating system.

Using this method provides an easy way to perform a clean install of Windows 10 while upgrading to the latest version at the same time.

It should be noted that using a cloud reset requires between 3 — 4GB of free storage space to download the new version of Windows 10.

To reset your PC back to factory settings using a fresh image from the cloud, please follow these steps:

Go to Settings >Update & Security >Recovery. Under Reset this PC, click on Get started.

When Reset this PC opens, select the ‘Keep my Files‘ option, to retain your data during the reinstall, or ‘Remove Everything.’

You will now be presented with an option asking how you would like to reinstall Windows 10. At this screen, click on the ‘Cloud download‘ option.

You will now be asked to confirm your selection. Please review the selected options and click on the Next button.

You will now be prompted to reinstall preinstalled applications. As this is a refresh of your existing install, and not a clean install, at the Restore preinstalled apps prompt, select Yes and then press Next.

You will now be shown a final screen asking you to confirm your final selections. When ready, click on the Reset button.

The required files will now be downloaded, and Windows 10 will be reinstalled. This process may take a while, so please be patient.

You will be prompted to reboot the computer to finish the installation.

When done, the latest version of Windows 10 will be reinstalled on the computer, and your data will be left intact. Any preinstalled manufacturer applications will also be installed.

How to perform a clean install of Windows 10

Fresh Start also allows you to perform a clean install of Windows 10, and you can choose to keep your files or remove everything.

Unlike Local Reinstall and Cloud Download, Windows 10’s Fresh Start removes all applications, including bloatware and crapware loaded by the manufacturer.

To access the Fresh Start feature in Windows 10 version 1909 and older, you would need to go to Windows Security > Device performance & health and click on Additional info under Fresh Start.

In Windows 10 version 2004 or newer, Fresh Start has been merged with the Reset this PC feature, and you can follow these steps to use it:

Go to Settings >Update & Security >Recovery. Under Reset this PC, click on Get started.

When Reset this PC opens, select the ‘Keep my Files‘ option, to retain your data during the reinstall, or ‘Remove Everything.’

You will now be presented with an option asking how you would like to reinstall Windows 10. At this screen, click on the ‘Local reinstall‘ to install the same version of Windows 10 or ‘Cloud download’ to install the latest version of the operating system.

You will now be asked to confirm your selection. Please review the selected options and click on the Next button.

You will now be prompted to reinstall preinstalled applications. As this is a refresh of your existing install, and not a clean install, at the Restore preinstalled apps prompt, select NO and then press Next.

You will now be shown a final screen asking you to confirm your final selections. When ready, click on the Reset button.

Windows will now use the current version of Windows 10 that is already installed to reinstall the operating system. This process may take some time, so please be patient.

You will be prompted to reboot the computer to finish the installation.

When done, you will now have a clean install of Windows 10, with all manufacturer preinstalled applications removed from the operating system.

How to reinstall or reset Windows 10 via the Cloud download option

In this post, we will talk about the Cloud Reset option in Windows 10. Windows 10 offers to reinstall or reset Windows 10 using the Recovery method right from within the OS. It does not need to download any form of ISO, and it works well. The Windows team is taking it one step ahead by offering the same feature which can not be initiated from the Cloud. The process downloads a new image from the cloud instead of using the existing Windows 10 files store on the machine. In this post, we will show you how to reinstall or reset Windows 10 via the Cloud. This feature will be available from Windows 10 1909 onwards.

One of the major drawbacks of recovery or reset without any ISO is when the installation is in a terrible state or is too corrupted. The process will ask you for an ISO if it finds something beyond repair or usable. That is where this latest cloud download option in Reset this PC can help.

Says Microsoft, The cloud download option will reinstall the same build, version, and edition, that is currently installed on your device. This new cloud download option is available to all Windows 10 devices and is different from the “Recover from the cloud” feature available on some earlier Windows 10 devices.

How to reset or reinstall Windows 10 via Cloud Reset

To reset your Windows 10 computer using the Cloud download option, follow these steps:

1. Open Windows 10 Settings
2. Select on Update and Security settings
3. Click on Recovery
4. Navigate to Reset this PC section
5. Click the Get started button
6. Select the Keep my files or Remove everything option
7. Select the Cloud download option
8. Select Reset.

Microsoft rolled out this feature when a lot of feedback came which talked about unsuccessful attempts to use Reset this PC feature. To make the process more reliable and faster, this feature is being introduced. Here is how it works. There are three phases of this process:

1. Initiate Cloud Reinstall/Reset
2. Preparation
3. Offline.

Using Cloud reinstall, Windows Team has saved you from the trouble of downloading the ISO. Many complained about the trouble they face downloading the ISO from the internet or creating the bootable device. Now, Microsoft Cloud Reset will do this job for you.

1] Initiate Windows 10 Cloud Reset/Reinstall

To reset your Windows 10 computer using the Cloud Download option, follow these steps:

1. Open Settings
2. Navigate to Update & Security
3. Click Recovery
4. Select Get started under Reset this PC
5. You will see two options Cloud download & Local Reinstall
6. Select Cloud download to proceed
7. Once you are sure, click the Reset button.

Windows 10 will now start downloading the files from the Cloud to perform a Reset or Reinstall. The Cloud download option will connect to Windows Update over your current network connection. If you have a high-speed internet connection, then it is going to be a lot faster.

You can also access this feature via the Advanced Startup Options. After selecting Troubleshoot > Reset the PC option, you will be offered two options – Cloud download and Local reinstall.

2] Preparation phase

As soon as you click on Cloud download, the reset process starts its work in the background. It checks for the following things to make sure the download works as expected.

1. Ensure the device is not on battery power
2. Checks if the Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE) is present and enabled
3. Scans to find a list of optional features and languages are installed
4. Checks connectivity with the Windows Update and determines download size.

When you are done with your options in the front-end and click on the Reset button, the download starts. Once the download is complete, the process will move to the Offline phase by rebooting the computer in Windows RE.

3] Offline phase

The steps involved are:

• Boot to Windows RE
• Apply image from the downloaded payload
• Gather user profile from the previous OS and apply to the new OS
• It gathers Drivers
• Optional features and languages of the prior installation, and use it to the new one.
• Switch OS root folder from the previous OS to the new OS
• Delete downloaded payload
• Reboot into the new OS, and apply drivers, OEM customization, preinstalled apps.
• Reboot to the Out-Of-Box-Experience (OOBE)
• (Keep my files) Skip OOBE and proceed to login screen

This will complete Cloud Reset or Reinstall in Windows 10.

Troubleshooting if Cloud reinstall fails

If your computer is not able to boot into Windows, you can reset the computer using the cloud download option from the Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE). When Windows is unable to boot after two consecutive failed attempts, the device should boot into Windows RE automatically.

If you previously connected over WiFi, then it will still work but will depend on drivers loaded by the PC manufacturer. We always suggest using an Ethernet port if available.

Does Windows 10 Cloud Download look good?

There are a few things still missing in the Cloud download. In case of a connection failure, does it redownload the whole ISO again? Because this has been the primary reason why many prefer to download the ISO and create bootable devices. Does it roll back if there are multiple failures? Does it allow you to use Windows while the download is in progress? It is important for those who don’t have very high-speed internet and download an ISO that can take about 40 minutes.