cloning vs. new install win 10

[leer1763]

Which is better? I cloned (SSD upgrade in lenovo laptop), but now I am seeing a few diehard "clean install" opinions. So?? The only windows I have is Win 10 home, so if I wanted to go Pro I would have to pay for a new thumb drive.

 

[Alabalcho]

The license you have is recorded by Microsoft based on your hardware. If you want to upgrade to "Pro" version (why?), you won't need a new USB drive with Windows, you need only new license key. Same media holds both Home and Pro versions.

 

[ThatVietGuy]

If you cloned the installation and it works there's no reason to go back and undo it with a clean install.

In general, though, I would always choose a clean installation over a cloned one.

 

[smorizio]

most new laptops have a restore partion that let you make a backup stick from it. if the laptop came with pro it make a windows pro image for you with all of the right drivers for your laptop. if you wipped that info contact the laptop vendor for a recovery disk.

 

[leer1763]

So how would I get a Pro key? Can it be done thru the Store app or Msoft website? I want to get it because it seems to have better admin tools.

 

[Darkbreeze]

The problem with the "restore" partition though, on laptops and prebuilt OEM systems, is that when you use THAT, you also put all of the preinstalled bloatware back on there as well. We've seen such high numbers of cases where brand new systems could barely hold their own necks up due to the weight of all the bloatware that they ran as though they were terribly infected with malware when they actually only had piles of useless "optimization" and other bundled software installed.

I ALWAYS recommend doing a clean install whenever there's a question of which way to go. That includes every time Microsoft releases a major update. Microsoft does not have a very good track record of making transitions between upgrades or major updates terribly smooth, seamless or trouble free. Usually, more often than not, problems are created that did not exist before the update or upgrade. Not in every case to be sure, but often enough to warrant avoiding the process when it is at all possible or at the very least, every other major update/upgrade.

Continuing to simply upgrade/update or reinstall the factory bloatware often just continues to put the same problems that existed from the start, right back where you left them prior to the process. I would never allow one of my machines, or any machine I work on, to go longer than two major updates without doing a clean install to the newest available Windows ISO release, and usually, unless there are circumstances that make it terribly inconvenient to do so, every major update.

If you wish to DO a clean install, you can do so as follows. This is totally up to each person to determine if that is the best course of action for them or not. In some few cases, there are very good reasons such as having software installed that cannot easily be reinstalled or a really terrible internet connection that makes it difficult to download the installers. Otherwise, I highly recommend it.

The Pro and Enterprise versions DO have better administration tools, and that is the ONLY reason to go with those versions IMO.


Windows 10 Clean install tutorial

 

[Alabalcho]

So how would I get a Pro key? Can it be done thru the Store app or Msoft website? I want to get it because it seems to have better admin tools.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/d/windows-10-pro/df77x4d43rkt/48DN