The Dell XPS 13 is ready to perform out of the box. It will come installed with a fresh copy of Windows 10 and a selection of bloatware for your entertainment. If you want to wipe the slate clean and put your own operating system onto the laptop, here’s how to perform a clean install on your Dell XPS 13.
Usually, owners would install Windows 10 or Linux. I have done the former but not the latter so will build this tutorial around Windows. Most major Linux distros now come with a handy installer and the process is very similar to installing Windows, so a clean Linux install should be much the same.
Perform a clean install on your Dell XPS 13
To perform a clean Windows install you will need a USB drive large enough to take a fresh copy of Windows 10, 8GB or so would do nicely. You should also back up any data you want to keep as a clean install really does wipe the slate clean.
1. Download a copy of the Windows 10 media creation tool.
2. Select ‘Create installation for another PC’ and create your USB installation media. The XPS 13 is a 64 bit machine, so select x64 and go through the wizard.
3. Download the appropriate Wi-Fi driver and unzip them onto the USB drive.
4. Reboot your laptop and load into the BIOS. Make sure the SSD is set to AHCI mode or the Windows installer won’t detect it.
5. Press F12 as soon as you see the Dell logo.
6. Select USB in the boot menu and hit Enter.
7. Let the Windows installer boot and click Install Now.
8. Select Custom Install Windows.
9. Follow the Windows installation wizard making choices as you go.
10. Once installed and onto the desktop, install the Wi-Fi drivers from the USB and perform Windows updates and driver downloads for the rest of the hardware.
That’s all there is to performing a clean install on your Dell XPS 13. Now you have a fully loaded laptop with none of the bloatware!
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