If your installation of Windows 10 is acting up or misbehaving, it is possible to perform a reinstallation of Windows 10 that keeps your files, documents, data, settings, and apps intact. Reinstalling Windows 10 does not format your PC, and can be used to correct problems with missing DLL errors, failed sfc scans, start menu doesn’t work, and more.
Windows 10 repair installs make it possible to fix your PC without resorting to a format for the first time since Windows XP.
A Windows 10 setup USB or DVD is required for these instructions!
If you do not have access to the Windows 10 setup USB or DVD, you cannot follow the instructions below. You can still try using our free Windows 10 recovery CDs to fix your Windows 10 PC and repair startup issues and system problems.
If you do not have access to the Windows 10 setup USB or DVD, you cannot follow the instructions below. You can still try using our free Windows 10 recovery CDs to fix your Windows 10 PC and repair startup issues and system problems.
You must be able to boot into Windows 10 to follow these instructions!
If you cannot boot into Windows 10, you cannot perform a safe repair install of Windows. If you are unable to boot into Windows, you will first need to repair Windows 10 boot issues by using a recovery CD like EasyRE for Windows to fix your Windows startup and log in to your PC before following the instructions below!
If you cannot boot into Windows 10, you cannot perform a safe repair install of Windows. If you are unable to boot into Windows, you will first need to repair Windows 10 boot issues by using a recovery CD like EasyRE for Windows to fix your Windows startup and log in to your PC before following the instructions below!
Contents
- 3 Windows 10 repair installation
About Windows 10 reinstall
Windows 10 reinstallation, also known as a Windows 10 in-place upgrade or Windows 10 repair install, can be used to reload Windows 10 system files, registry keys, and configuration to a known working state without the deletion or removal of user files, settings, and software. Reinstalling Windows 10 is not the same as formatting and reinstalling Windows or a clean Windows 10 install – it’s the very last thing you can try if your are experiencing problems running Windows 10 or Windows 10 applications and metro apps before resorting to a system refresh or clean install which would result in the loss of all installed software.
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When to repair install Windows 10
A Windows 10 in-place upgrade/repair installation can be performed to fix one or more of the following:
- Windows 10 start menu not working
- Windows 10 metro apps not working
- Corrupt system files due to viruses
- Failed Windows 10 updates and upgrades
- Bad Windows Update
Repair install Windows when other approaches like using dism to check and repair the health of your Windows image have failed.
Windows 10 repair installation
Requirements
- Repair installing Windows 10 requires access to the Windows 10 setup media. You can use a Windows 10 setup ISO image or Windows 10 setup DVD or USB to perform the repair installation.
- You must be able to boot into Windows 10. You cannot repair install Windows 10 by booting from the Windows 10 setup DVD or Windows 10 setup USB. If you cannot fully boot, start up, and log into Windows 10, you cannot perform a repair install and reinstalling Windows 10 will result in the loss of all user data and applications! If your PC cannot even boot up or you cannot get into Windows 10 to run the Windows 10 reinstallation, you will need to use a free, bootable Windows 10 recovery CD or Easy Recovery Essentials for Windows to fix the Windows 10 boot and get your PC booting into Windows again. Once that’s done, you can follow the steps below to begin a Windows 10 repair install.
Repair Installing Windows 10
- Begin the repair installation process by inserting the Windows 10 DVD or USB into your PC. If you have a Windows 10 ISO image, double-click the ISO image to mount it as a virtual DVD instead.
- When prompted, run “setup.exe” from your removable drive to begin setup; if you’re not prompted, manually browse to your DVD or USB drive and double-click on setup.exe to start.
- Windows 10 Setup will start with the “Get important updates” dialog. We recommend selecting “Download and install updates” on this page:
- Windows 10 will go through a series of prompts as it readies for a setup or reinstall, simply click-through as is appropriate on each page until you reach the last (and most important) page in the setup wizard:
- The last and most important page in the Windows 10 repair installation process is the page that says “Choose what to keep.” On this page, you must select the first radio button, as shown in the image below. Make sure to select “Keep personal files, apps, and Windows settings” selected and then press “Next” to begin the repair install:
- Your PC will automatically reboot several times as the system image is refreshed without losing your installed applications or changing your personalizations. Your documents will remain intact and your data will be safe.
How Windows 10 Repair Install Works
With Windows 10, Microsoft has separated the system files from the user configurations, installed applications, applied updates, and more. Using new filesystem imaging technology powered by the command-line dism tool, Microsoft has once-more made it possible to reinstall Windows without losing user settings and installed applications – something that hasn’t been possible since Windows XP.
Whether you’re trying to fix a serious update problem, get rid of a virus, or prepare to give away your PC, you may eventually need to reinstall Windows 10. This can be a little confusing for newcomers since there are several methods, each of which comes with its own set of benefits. And so, let’s take a look how to reinstall Windows 10!
How to back up your data
We strongly recommend that you back up your data before making this kind of major change to your PC. Windows 10 even makes it easy, so you don’t need to search for an additional backup tool. Just follow the basic File History steps below.
Step 1: Type “Windows update” into the Windows search bar and select Windows Update settings from the list of results. Alternatively, click on the Action Center icon in the lower-right corner of your screen, select All settings, and look for Update & Security. Once there, select the Backup tab.
If you see an on-off indicator in the next window and it’s it’s toggled to the “On” position, then that means File History has been automatically backing up your files — including your contacts, desktop files, and files housed in your OneDrive folder — meaning you probably don’t have to worry. The feature will back up your libraries as well, but it may not back up all general folders, so place valuable folders into a library to save them as necessary.
Step 2: If your File History tool is off, then you will see an option to add a drive.
Click on the addition sign next to Add a drive, and Windows 10 will search for an external drive to use for the backup.
Select the drive that you want to use for File History. This will toggle File History on and Windows 10 will automatically start backing up versions of files in your libraries. You can click More options to change how often files are backed up and how long they’re kept for. You can also configure which folders and libraries are backed up. Depending on how much data you have, however, this can take some time, so get busy with something else and wait for the backup process to finish.
You can check on the status of your File History by scrolling to the bottom of the Backup options pages and selecting See advanced settings under Related settings. This will open the Control Panel File History window, where you can see the status and access additional options.
Of course, if you prefer to transfer everything to an external hard drive or utilize a cloud storage service for your backups, please do! Whichever approach you choose, make sure nothing valuable can be lost.
Now playing:Watch this: New features coming to Windows 10
The time is nigh. Friday is the last day you can score Windows 10 for free.
Or is it?
What if you don't want to upgrade to Windows 10 right now but may want to do so down the road? There is a way.
You will need to complete several steps before July 29 comes to a close. Once you do, you can upgrade to Windows 10 at no cost whenever you like, instead of according to Microsoft's deadline.
Following Windows 8's failure to win over consumers, Microsoft has been trying hard to push people to jump to Windows 10. Since its official release a year ago, Windows 10 has been a free upgrade to Windows 7 and 8.1 users. When that freebie ends today, you technically will be forced to shell out $119 for the regular edition of Windows 10 and $199 for the Pro flavor if you want to upgrade. Fortunately, though, Microsoft has built in a safeguard through which you can avoid that scenario.
Here's how to conjure up this bit of wizardry.
First, you'll need to upgrade your Windows 7 or 8.1 computer to Windows 10. (Don't worry this is only temporary.)
Reinstall Windows 10 After Free Upgrade
To do so, you can follow the steps in this CNET article appropriately named 'Here's how to upgrade to Windows 10,' or in this article dubbed 'Windows 10 is only free for one more day. Here's how to get it.'
You'll also want to snag a copy of Windows 10 that you can install on your own without having to grab it from Microsoft's website. Your best bet is to use Microsoft's media creation tool, available on the Get Windows 10 website. With the tool, you can place a copy of Windows 10 on a DVD or USB drive to install the OS as an upgrade or as a clean installation at any time.
OK, now Windows 10 is firmly in place on your PC. Your next step is to make sure the software is registered properly. To do this, click on the Start button and then click on the Settings command.
In the Settings screen, click on the category for Update & Security.
In the Update & Security screen, click on the setting for Activation. On the right pane, you should see a bit of text next to the Product Key entry that reads: 'Windows 10 on this device is activated with a digital entitlement.' Don't worry, I'll explain what this means.
But, you protest, you don't want Windows 10 right now. Well, that brings us to the next step. You can roll your PC back to Windows 7 or 8.1. Here's how..
In Windows 10, click on the Start button and then click on the Settings command.
In the Settings screen, click on the category for Update & Security.
In the Update & Security screen, click on the setting for Recovery. On the right pane, you'll see an option to go back to Windows 7 or 8.1. Click on the Get Started button for that option, and your PC will bounce back to your previous version of Windows.
Naturally, the rollback process will take some time, but it should proceed smoothly. So, will your previous version of Windows work without any problems? That depends. I've tried this process on some Windows 8.1 PCs, and it worked smoothly. I tried it on an old Windows 7 computer and did run into a couple of glitches where I had to reinstall certain drivers to get Windows back in gear.
So you'll definitely want to nose around the OS to make sure your applications and files are intact and working.
Can You Reinstall Windows 10 After Free Upgrade
Now let's travel into the future, maybe six months from now. You've decided you want to upgrade to Windows 10 after all, and you don't want to pay for the privilege. You're in luck. Since you already installed Windows 10 once on your PC, the software has been given what Microsoft calls a 'digital entitlement.' Yep, that's the same piece of text that's listed next to the Product Key entry.
The digital entitlement ties your Windows 10 license to that specific computer. In a nutshell, this means you can freely reinstall Windows 10 on that PC even after reverting back to Windows 7 or 8.1, as long as you have already installed Windows 10 previously.
Now use the media creation tool you created six months prior to upgrade your current copy of Windows to Windows 10. Follow the steps to install Windows 10 as you had earlier, and the software will find its way onto your PC once again. If you want to be on the safe side, you can back up your PC at various steps in this entire process.
A spokeswoman from Microsoft confirmed that this method of upgrading to Windows 10 would work.
Yes, these steps take some time and you'll have to complete the first part of the process before today is over. But at least now you can keep your current version of Windows alive and jump to Windows 10 whenever you choose.
(Via ZDNet and HowtoGeek)
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