How To Format A Computer Windows 10

How to reinstall your Windows 11 or Windows 10, format the drive and reset everything – without losing your programs and files

In this article, we will learn how to reinstall Windows on your PC, and do a complete system wipe and refresh – while however retaining your programs, profile, settings, documents, pictures, music, movies, favorites, wallpaper and everything else.

A Windows wipe and reinstall is a useful procedure in many cases. It could be a virus infection, a Windows Updates failure, or simply Windows 11 / Windows 10 becoming too boring or problem-ridden for use. In these cases, PC repair professionals would sometimes recommend to dorsum up the computer, wipe its hard drive, and reinstall Windows; then, to recover your stuff from backup.

Traditionally, this has been a cumbersome process, and what'due south worse – with traditional backups, you just become a fractional recovery – user files only – losing all programs, settings, personalization, profiles, passwords etc. In this article, we'll meet how to do a consummate fill-in and recovery without losing anything!

How to Backup your Windows PC

The starting time step in a reinstall like this is to back up everything y'all've got. After you reset the system, your programs and data will exist gone, and you will need to restore them to get dorsum to normal. The product we will be using for this is Migration Kit Pro, which allows to easily back up, and most chiefly to easily restore programs, settings and files after reinstalling Windows (even if you are switching to a different Windows version!). Alternatively, you lot can also use whatever 3rd political party backup product that can perform a full organisation paradigm backup, although that would only allow you to restore files, not programs.

How to fill-in your Windows so that you lot can restore programs, settings and files afterward the reinstall

Before nosotros brainstorm, the most important part is to have a full, complete fill-in of your computer. This is crucial – without this footstep, you will lose your programs and data if you wipe the system clean.

Download and run Zinstall Migration Kit Pro on your figurer.
Apply its third option, "Moving from Machine to Container".
Select the C: bulldoze on Source option, and select a place to shop your fill-in container (it's just a large file) in the Target browse selection.
A good place to store the container is a USB external hard drive, but whatsoever identify which is exterior the computer we are wiping will practise fine, such as a network drive, another hard drive in the calculator etc.
First the backup procedure. This should take a long while, and you volition see a message confirming that the container has been created successfully.

That's it – with just a few clicks, your stuff is at present safe, and we tin proceed to resetting Windows on this computer.

How to Reinstall Windows

Once you accept your backup, it's fourth dimension to perform the actual Windows wipe and install. In that location are several ways to do information technology:

Option i: If y'all are on Windows 11 or Windows 10, it is quite easy to reset it, and y'all don't fifty-fifty to wipe the drive. Here's how:

Open up Offset Menu, and select "Settings".
In Settings, go to the System tab.
In that menu, get to Recovery.
There, look for "Reset this PC", and hit Get Started. This will open the Reset magician.
Select the option to Remove everything.
Follow the prompts until the wizard starts resetting your Windows to its original "out of the box" country.

In one case done, proceed to the "Restore your programs, settings and files from backup" department.

Option two: If you are not on Windows eleven or Windows 10, or the congenital-in Reset process does non work for some reason, attempt using the PC Manufacturer's Factory Reset option. Each PC vendor has different instructions on how to do that. Typically, you demand to restart the calculator, and and then hit one of the function keys (F2, F8, F9, F10, F11, F12) to admission the manufacturer factory reset menu. Then, follow the instructions to completely reset the computer to mill land. Once washed, go along to the "Restore your programs, settings and files from backup" section.

Option 3: If all else fails, you can manually install a fresh copy of Windows 11 or Windows x on the computer, wiping the previous installation. Hither is how to practice that:

First, we'll create a Windows 11 or Windows ten USB installation drive. Here is how:
On whatsoever working reckoner (you tin exercise that on the i you will exist wiping), download Microsoft's Windows xi or Windows 10 Media Creation Tool
The tool is available here:
https://become.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=691209
One time yous download information technology, plug a blank USB stick into the computer.
Then, tell the tool to create an installation media on that USB stick (DO Non printing "Upgrade At present", since that would upgrade the computer you are doing this on).
Once the tool is done, take the USB stick and plug it into the computer that we are wiping and reinstalling.
Reboot the computer that we are reinstalling so that information technology runs from the USB stick and starts the Windows xi or Windows 10 installation procedure.
In the installation procedure, tell the tool to practice a Custom install, and so use the wizard to wipe the existing Windows, and reinstall a new, fresh copy of Windows instead.

In one case washed, proceed to the "Restore your programs, settings and files from fill-in" section.

How to Restore your programs and files from backup

Once you have your fresh new Windows installation, information technology is fourth dimension to restore your programs, settings and files from the backup yous've made before.
To practice that, run Zinstall Migration Kit Pro and employ the 4th option, "Moving from Container to Machine".
Point it to the fill-in container you've created in the first department, and information technology will restore everything, including programs, settings and files, to the new Windows.
If y'all don't want to restore everything, you tin also exclude some programs / folders you don't want to recover.

That'due south it – you lot accept a successfully reset your figurer, and kept your programs, accounts and files correct they should be!

Set to go?

Ready to backup your Windows, wipe it and so recover your programs and files? Get Zinstall Migration Kit Pro here. Any questions? Demand guidance? Looking for help with your Windows reinstall, fill-in or recovery? Our expect techs are standing past!

Contact united states by e-mail (support@zinstall.com), phone (877.444.1588), or chat (lesser-right corner of this page).

We are looking frontwards to profitable yous.