Question Fresh Windows 11 install - is it recommended wipe all HDD data at the same time ?

[madstylesnz]

Hi, I was wondering if it is better to wipe my entire hard drive when installing a new version of Windows or whether it doesn't make much difference to the performance if I just keep the files/programs intact?

Normally when I install a new version of Windows I would create a bootable USB with the Win install file and then when it asks me to install Windows it gives me the option to either keep the current files on C drive or wipe everything there and start afresh. When I upgraded from Win 10 to 11 the other day when I booted off the USB stick I did not get that option, it just installed Win 11 and kept all my files and installed programs as is.

I have an old custom built PC that is coming up to 6 years old but it is still performing well as it had powerful specs at the time I bought it. I notice that I seem to have inherited some problems I had with Win 10 where the taskbar freezes and I have to do a hard reboot to get it working again.

My understanding is that it is a good idea to completely wipe the C drive and install on a 'clean' hard drive as it is like getting a new PC and get rids of a lot of PC clutter/junk files that slow things down. Is this true or is this just an old wives tale?

 

[Aeacus]

Is this true or is this just an old wives tale?

It's true.

By making clean Win install (OS drive format), you'll start off with a clean slate, free of all software issues and malware too (except firmware rootkits).

But if you keep your data, it can house malware, that would mess up the new Win installation. Also, it may contain corrupt files that also can mess up the system.

All-in-all, it would be better to keep your personal data on 2nd physical drive, so that when you wipe (format) the OS drive, you won't loose your personal data. (Do disconnect all other drives before making clean Win install, since Win likes to put boot manager on 2nd drive, other than OS drive). Downside of clean Win installation is, that you need to install all your drivers and programs again. But that's part of the starting fresh and clean.

 

[madstylesnz]

It's true.

By making clean Win install (OS drive format), you'll start off with a clean slate, free of all software issues and malware too (except firmware rootkits).

But if you keep your data, it can house malware, that would mess up the new Win installation. Also, it may contain corrupt files that also can mess up the system.

All-in-all, it would be better to keep your personal data on 2nd physical drive, so that when you wipe (format) the OS drive, you won't loose your personal data. (Do disconnect all other drives before making clean Win install, since Win likes to put boot manager on 2nd drive, other than OS drive). Downside of clean Win installation is, that you need to install all your drivers and programs again. But that's part of the starting fresh and clean.

Ok thx, it's a bit of a hassle though to do it again as I've just gone through the whole install process. Would have been nice if Windows had asked me what I wanted to do.

 

[John Nemesh]

Yes, it's always best to start with a clean (preferably repartitioned!) drive! Take the opportunity to at least experiment with a Linux dual boot while you are at it.

 

[madstylesnz]

Yes, it's always best to start with a clean (preferably repartitioned!) drive! Take the opportunity to at least experiment with a Linux dual boot while you are at it.

Yeah I’m gonna have to do it, I’m getting the same problems I had before with Win 10. Easier to clear it all out anyway as my C drive is very full and I’ve backed up all I need.

Clean is good.

 

[John Nemesh]

Soon it will all be clean...

 

[USAFRet]

And ideally, you install the OS with only ONE drive physically connected.

How To - Windows 11 clean install tutorial

Windows 11 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows 11, version 23H2 or newer but can be equally applied to earlier versions which may have some basic differences in the screens you see but will largely remain similar in...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[madstylesnz]

And ideally, you install the OS with only ONE drive physically connected.

How To - Windows 11 clean install tutorial

Windows 11 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows 11, version 23H2 or newer but can be equally applied to earlier versions which may have some basic differences in the screens you see but will largely remain similar in...

forums.tomshardware.com

How come?

 

[Aeacus]

How come?

Because Win installation likes to put boot manager on 2nd physical drive. For redundancy purposes (e.g when main/OS drive should become corrupted). But this feature has mayor downside. Meaning that when you remove the 2nd drive from the system (or drive gets corrupted), where boot manager is located, your OS will not boot.
And only fix is new, clean Win installation that creates new boot manager. You can not construct new boot manager out of the blue, keeping old installation.

Hence why to keep only 1 drive connected when installing Win, so that boot manager ends up on the same drive as where OS is.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Because Win installation likes to put boot manager on 2nd physical drive.
For redundancy purposes (e.g when main/OS drive should become corrupted).

It's not for redundancy purposes.
Simply - if you already have bootloader on existing drive, it doesn't get created on the new drive.

And only fix is new, clean Win installation that creates new boot manager.
You can not construct new boot manager out of the blue, keeping old installation.

This also is not true.
You can create bootloader manually yourself.
Process is not very complicated -

create a separate partition for bootloader (primary/active/ntfs for MBR or efi system/fat32 for GPT) and​

install bootloader files onto it with bcdboot command.​

 

[madstylesnz]

Because Win installation likes to put boot manager on 2nd physical drive. For redundancy purposes (e.g when main/OS drive should become corrupted). But this feature has mayor downside. Meaning that when you remove the 2nd drive from the system (or drive gets corrupted), where boot manager is located, your OS will not boot.
And only fix is new, clean Win installation that creates new boot manager. You can not construct new boot manager out of the blue, keeping old installation.

Hence why to keep only 1 drive connected when installing Win, so that boot manager ends up on the same drive as where OS is.

So by one drive do you mean the main C drive? I boot off a USB though to install the windows installation file.

 

[USAFRet]

So by one drive do you mean the main C drive? I boot off a USB though to install the windows installation file.

Yes, that is correct.