How to clean install Windows 10 without having to upgrade first

[JamieKavanagh]

For us early adopters, the inability to perform a clean install of Windows 10 was a real pain. When building a new machine, we had to install a copy of Windows 7 or 8 first, then perform the Windows 10 upgrade. Fortunately, once the rollout of Windows 10 gathered pace, a clean install option was provided. So if you’re building a new machine, here’s how to clean install Windows 10 without having to upgrade first.

One of the main selling points to system builders like me was the fact that Windows 10 could install in less than 30 minutes. Not much good if you have to spend an hour installing a previous version first and them upgrade!

You will need Windows 10 installation media to make this work. Use the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool from the Microsoft Get Windows 10 page if you don’t already have it. Make sure to download the correct version otherwise it won’t work.

Install Windows 10 without having to upgrade first
1. Burn the Windows 10 ISO image to DVD and mount or extract it onto the machine you want to install Windows onto.
2. Navigate to \Windows\x64\sources or \Windows\x32\sources on the DVD and drag gatherosstate.exe onto the desktop.
3. Right click gatherosstate.exe and run it as an administrator to create a GenuineTicket.xml file on the desktop. Make a copy of this file on a USB drive as you will need it to activate your install.
4. Run a clean install of Windows 10 from the media by rebooting and setting your machine up to boot from the installation media.
5. Make sure to select Skip when prompted for the product key.
6. Allow installation to complete fully.
7. Navigate to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\ClipSVC\GenuineTicket and copy your GenuineTicket.xml file into the folder.
8. Reboot your PC.

This is a fast, easy way to clean install Windows 10 without having to upgrade first. Things may change once Microsoft stops offering the free upgrade option, but for now it works like a charm!

Useful Windows 10 installation guides:
How to perform a Windows 10/Ubuntu dual boot
How to Clean Install Windows 10 Directly without having to Upgrade First
Fix Unmountable_boot_volume in Windows 10

View all of our Windows 10 Tutorials