Best way to reformat Windows 10

[Zmb95]

Im currently on Windows 10 and feel the need to reformat. Ive already made a mirror image just incase, and have backed up all the folders I would like to transfer to the clean install. However one thing that always happens to me when i reformat is i lose all my drivers , including ethernet and am unable to retrieve them or install them from the internet because of this. I was wondering if there was a good guide on how to avoid this or how to backup my drivers and easily do a reformat.

Just incase my specs are :
SSD: Corsair Force Series GT CSSD-F120GBGT-BK 2.5" 120GB
Mobo: ASUS P8H67-M PRO
HDD: Western Digital WD Blue WD10EZEX 1TB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5"
Memory: 16GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2400 CPU @ 3.10GHz 3.10GHz 3.10GHz 3.10GHz
Video Card: AMD Radeon R9 270X
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430
Monitor: BenQ XL2430T
Mouse: FinalMouse 2016
Keyboard: Corsair K70 Cherry MX Red
Headset: Sennheiser GAME ZERO
Mousepad: Zowie GSR

 

[SBMfromLA]

Why not simply go to the ASUS website and download all your motherboard drivers ahead of time?

I have a folder on my computer called Archives & Backups. One of the folders there is called "Drivers, Codecs & Hardware". I keep all of my backups for my keyboard, gamepad, mouse, headset, motherboard, graphics cards... and when updated versions come out I like keeping copies of all the previous version in case I need to revert and don't want to track down previous versions. You should start doing the same. If you don't have a secondary hard drive.. just pick one one or create a small partition to save everything too.

Also... STAY THE HECK AWAY from those automatic driver update programs you see. They're more trouble than they're worth. When I was still considered a "newbie" I used to use them since I was too lazy to track down my drivers myself.. I updated one of the Intel drivers it said was outdated and boom... My computer wouldn't boot up anymore.

 

[Zmb95]

Why not simply go to the ASUS website and download all your motherboard drivers ahead of time?

I have a folder on my computer called Archives & Backups. One of the folders there is called "Drivers, Codecs & Hardware". I keep all of my backups for my keyboard, gamepad, mouse, headset, motherboard, graphics cards... and when updated versions come out I like keeping copies of all the previous version in case I need to revert and don't want to track down previous versions. You should start doing the same. If you don't have a secondary hard drive.. just pick one one or create a small partition to save everything too.

I have an external HDD 1TB that i have a mirror backup and the folders i need backuped on. But when i went to asus's website and looked for the drivers for the motherboard it only went up to windows 8.1 64bit not windows 10.

 

[SBMfromLA]

Why not simply go to the ASUS website and download all your motherboard drivers ahead of time?

I have a folder on my computer called Archives & Backups. One of the folders there is called "Drivers, Codecs & Hardware". I keep all of my backups for my keyboard, gamepad, mouse, headset, motherboard, graphics cards... and when updated versions come out I like keeping copies of all the previous version in case I need to revert and don't want to track down previous versions. You should start doing the same. If you don't have a secondary hard drive.. just pick one one or create a small partition to save everything too.

I have an external HDD 1TB that i have a mirror backup and the folders i need backuped on. But when i went to asus's website and looked for the drivers for the motherboard it only went up to windows 8.1 64bit not windows 10.

Then that probably means a Windows 10 version isn't necessary and would be the same exact file. People with your same exact motherboard probably had the Win 8.1 version of the driver... updated to Windows 10... and had Windows install an updated version if it was required, right? It's not like their motherboards would crash after the update.

 

[R_1]

go to asus and download the drivers for your motherboard. the most important in your operation is the networking driver. if you only have the net driver, you will be able to get online and retrieve the rest of the drivers.
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P8H67M_PRO/HelpDesk_Download/
download the net driver(required) all others can be gotten later. put the driver on a thumb drive/cd, whatever short term storage you prefer.
format the drive, install windows, install net driver (or all drivers your choice). connect to net, download the rest(GPU etc)

 

[Zmb95]

go to asus and download the drivers for your motherboard. the most important in your operation is the networking driver. if you only have the net driver, you will be able to get online and retrieve the rest of the drivers.
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P8H67M_PRO/HelpDesk_Download/
download the net driver(required) all others can be gotten later. put the driver on a thumb drive/cd, whatever short term storage you prefer.
format the drive, install windows, install net driver (or all drivers your choice). connect to net, download the rest(GPU etc)

Does it matter that the latest drivers are for windows 8.1 64bit, when i have windows 10 64 bit? Or will they just be able to update to the latest version after the reformat?

 

[R_1]

if they will not install, install the drivers in compatibility mode.
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/wiki/insider_wintp-insider_devices/how-to-install-and-update-drivers-in-windows-10/a97bbbd1-9973-4d66-9a5b-291300006293

this will make them work, if windows update fails to find a new one for 10 specifically you can continue to use that one.