How easy it becomes to format and repair Windows 10 and
reinstall Windows cleanly eliminating PC errors
Windows 10 is
still one of the best operating systems produced by Microsoft, also for its
resistance to errors and the most common problems. This robustness is also
due to the numerous tools with which you can repair your system without ever
having to use USB sticks or optical discs with the Windows image.
In
fact, a Windows PC today can no longer be formatted, it is
precise to say that it resets, reinstalls, resets, but everything is automatic
and within the reach of even novice users, who can actually restore Windows
themselves without having to call a technician .
In
this guide we will show you how to repair Windows 10 using the
tools made available by the operating system; currently we can use both
the method that formats the system but leaves personal files intact and the
system to format all of Windows, without leaving any trace (the PC returns as
new and formatted).
1) Repair Windows by saving your personal data
To repair Windows 10 without losing personal files, press WIN+I to
open the Settings app, select theUpdate and Security menu and
finally click on the Recovery side menu. We click on
the Start
button under the Reset your PC section
and, for this part of the guide, choose the Keep my files item
; subsequently we will see the Windows download window appear, in which we
will have to choose Local reinstallation or Download via cloud (the latter is
preferable to get a clean and updated Windows 10).
After a few hours we will have Windows 10 formatted as new,
without any trace of the previous installation but with the personal files in
their place. The programs and apps will still have to be redownloaded all
over again, perhaps this time relying on open source programs or portable programs .
2) Repair Windows by erasing everything
If, however, we want to delete everything present on Windows
(perhaps to safely sell the laptop on eBay or
other sales sites) we press WIN+I , go back to the path Update
and security -> Restore and press again on Start present
under the Reset your PC section .
This time we choose Remove all as the option ; in
the new window we select Download via cloud , press on Change
settings and activate the switch under Clean data? ,
so as to format the entire drive and make it almost impossible
to recover data on your computer.
Once ready, press Next and confirm the total formatting of
Windows 10; this process could take many hours, but the time wasted in
formatting it is an extra security to prevent someone from recovering the
personal files on our computer.
3) Repair Windows 10 from recovery environment
If Windows 10 freezes on startup or keeps restarting, we can
format the system from the system's built-in recovery environment. It will
appear after 4 forced restarts of Windows or (from the login screen) by
pressing WIN+L and holding down SHIFT while
selecting the Shutdown > Restart button .
In the screen that appears, click on Troubleshoot and
select Reset your PC . The procedure is completely
similar to that seen from the Settings menu: we can choose whether to keep our
personal files ( Keep my files ) or carry out a complete
formatting ( Remove all ), so as to return the internal disk
to its original state.
4) Repair Windows 10 from USB stick or DVD
If Windows 10 doesn't even start with the recovery environment
(a rare but not impossible eventuality), the only way to format the system
requires the use of a blank USB stick of at least 16 GB or a blank DVD to burn,
both to be used on a PC that is still working.
Once the computer in question has been recovered, we open a web
browser on the Windows 10 download page and
press the Download the tool now button , present under the
section Do you want to install Windows 10 on your PC?
The official Microsoft tool for creating Windows 10 installation
media will be downloaded. Once downloaded, open the tool, wait a few
seconds and then continue by pressing Accept and then on Create
installation media .
We press Next and, on the next screen, we
remove the check mark on the item Use the recommended options for this
PC and make sure that we set the tool to install Windows 10 in Italian
and with 64-bit architecture (in the drop- down menu Architecture we
select 64 bit (x64) ).
We press Next again and in the new screen we
choose whether to create the installation media on a USB stick or whether we
want to create an ISO image to burn later.
Obviously the procedure changes based on our choice:
- USB
flash drive :
insert an empty USB stick into a socket of the same name on the computer,
place a check mark on this item;
- ISO
file :
an ISO file will be created to be saved in any folder on the computer and
which we can burn onto a blank DVD using a burning program .
Once we have created our support, insert it onto the
non-functioning PC, start it and change the boot order , so that we
can select the USB stick or DVD.
Repair from external support
After selecting the right destination, the Windows 10
installation procedure will start: in the first screen we press on Custom:
install Windows only (advanced option) .
A screen will open with the partitions on the hard disk or SSD; we
select all the partitions one at a time and press Delete until
we obtain a single partition called Unallocated Space .
Now we can finally format the computer by selecting this single
partition and pressing Next at the bottom, so as to install Windows 10 with a clean installation .
Conclusions
Windows 10 can be repaired easily without
even having to call a technician or take the computer for assistance: just
follow the best procedure for your PC, choosing whether to save your personal
data or whether to delete everything and return with Windows 10 as good as new
(without trace of our passage).
To avoid having to lose your personal files with one of the procedures described in the guide, we recommend that you make file backups as described in our guides How to back up files in Windows 10 and Best programs to make automatic and incremental backups for free .
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