[SOLVED] How do I delete windows 10?

[WizzScout]

Alright the title may sound weird but I want to delete windows 10 and install me a fresh new version.

I want to do this since I bought this computer off someone and they have a lot of their information on here like their microsoft account and stuff and I
can't access many things since I need their password, And I can't contact them so I would like to delete windows 10 and then have my own product key and download it again.

 

[PC Tailor]

No need to delete it per se:

https://forums.tomshardware.com/faq/how-to-do-a-clean-installation-of-windows-10.3170366/

Just follow the guide above and wipe over the drive during the installation stage.

 

[Deleted member 14196]

yeah, using the installer you can delete all partitions and let the installer format and install

 

[WizzScout]

No need to delete it per se:

https://forums.tomshardware.com/faq/how-to-do-a-clean-installation-of-windows-10.3170366/

Just follow the guide above and wipe over the drive during the installation stage.

Btw in the guide it says this "
Before you begin the installation, whether now or after you create your installation media, it is of utmost importance that you disconnect ALL system attached storage drives EXCEPT for the target drive. This is important because we've seen instances where the system has decided to install one or more of the created partitions including the boot, EFI or recovery partitions on secondary drives making it impossible to boot (Or recover) Windows if that secondary drive is removed. "

So I have two harddrives, one that has the os and one that is completely empty, so do I just need to remove the other harddrive?

 

[WizzScout]

No need to delete it per se:

https://forums.tomshardware.com/faq/how-to-do-a-clean-installation-of-windows-10.3170366/

Just follow the guide above and wipe over the drive during the installation stage.

ANNND if I do a clean install, would it remove the os that I have now and then download the new one?

 

[PC Tailor]

Btw in the guide it says this "
Before you begin the installation, whether now or after you create your installation media, it is of utmost importance that you disconnect ALL system attached storage drives EXCEPT for the target drive. This is important because we've seen instances where the system has decided to install one or more of the created partitions including the boot, EFI or recovery partitions on secondary drives making it impossible to boot (Or recover) Windows if that secondary drive is removed. "

So I have two harddrives, one that has the os and one that is completely empty, so do I just need to remove the other harddrive?

Yes, only install the one drive you want the OS on. And disconnect and remove all other drives.

ANNND if I do a clean install, would it remove the os that I have now and then download the new one?

If you install over the drive that currently has Windows on it, yes it will wipe that windows installation and install a new one over it.

 

[britechguy]

And depending on your tolerance for having to redo things, if that second drive is internal to a laptop that's not easy to remove, I would try without even removing it.

I've done clean reinstalls on machines with multiple drives in the past, and generally the OS will install on what is designated as "disk 0" in diskpart.

I do always remove any external storage like USB drives, SD cards, USB external HDDs, etc.

I will not tear down a laptop that came equipped with multiple drives unless absolutely necessary, and that means trying with both (I've never seen more than two in a laptop) still connected.

Also, doing a clean reinstall of Windows 10 does delete the existing installation as part of that process, as has been mentioned. You don't use a specific delete command, but if you repartition any drive you have wiped it of its existing content as far as the OS is concerned. But you have not literally wiped the data away, what happens is all blocks get marked as unused and available as part of the partitioning process. One could still use recovery tools in an attempt to reconstruct data. That's why drive wipers for free space exist, to scramble that old content such that it cannot be reconstructed into anything that existed before.