Sometimes Windows can run into issues to the point that the entire operating system needs to be completely reset. This guide is going to give you step by step instructions on how to reload windows.
Reinstalling Windows using this method will remove ALL personal data from the main drive in your computer.
To do the windows reinstall through a USB, you will need the following items.
- Flash drive between 8-16 gigabytes in size
- A working pc that has windows loaded onto it. Chromebooks, macs, tablets, or phones do NOT work.
- For Windows 10, the computer used must have Windows 7 or newer.
- For Windows 11, the computer used must have Windows 10 or newer.
If at any point the instructions are unclear, we highly suggest you check out this video by HelpCloud, which goes over the entire process of reloading windows.
Loading the windows media onto the flash drive
Once you have the USB flash drive, you can plug it into any USB port on the machine. We recommend the USBs on the back of the motherboard, but this is to make sure it is compatible. We are going to want to download the Windows Media Creation tool, on the PC that we are using, this guide is going to be the same, regardless if you need to download Windows 10, or Windows 11.
Windows 10 Media Creation tool: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
Windows 11 Media Creation tool: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows11
Once the media creation tool has been downloaded, you are going to need to run the .EXE file. It will open up a window like this. Click "Accept".
It will then bring up a screen that says "getting a few things ready. This will take a minute or so to setup, and it will go to a screen that asks you what you are wanting to do, we are going to choose the option that says "Create Installation Media", then click "next".
It will then bring up a screen that asks you what kind of options you want loaded on it, keep everything on this screen as is, then click "next".
The next screen details what kind of media we are doing. a USB is for a standard USB setup, and an ISO file is for CDs or other kinds of media. We are going to keep USB selected, then press "next".
It will then ask you to select where you want to install the drive to, make sure that you know what the name of the drive you plugged in beforehand is, so that you can make sure you are loading it to the correct place, as this loading process will wipe out all the information on this flash drive. Once you have the correct flash drive located, please click "next".
It will then start the process of fully loading the Windows Image onto the flash drive for us to use. This can take anywhere from 5 minutes to over an hour, depending on the age and type of storage used on the computer. It will go through a small process of downloading the files, then verifying them. Once the window says "finish", you can go ahead and click the "finish" button, and the program will close.
Loading Windows onto a computer
Installing Windows on a computer can be a bit more complicated than loading it onto the flash drive. To start, make sure you have the flash drive plugged into any USB slot on the computer, then completely restart the machine. When the computer starts to turn back on, you will need to press the F8 and/or F11 buttons until the system displays a "boot menu" that shows all the drives in the system, which would include the USB drive. If loaded correctly, the USB will show up in two sections, one will be the name of the USB, and the other will be the same name with "partition 1" added on to the end. Ignore the second listing, and hit the "enter" key on the USB.
If you don't see the USB in this list, please turn the computer off, plug the USB Into a black USB 2.0 port that is on the back of the computer.
It will then start to load up a purple splash screen, with the windows icon, then it will start displaying more options. We can hit "next" on this first screen, as long as you don't need to change any of these personalization questions.
It will then bring up a screen that asks for a windows key. We save your Windows key in a section of memory on the motherboard, so we will need to press the "I don't have a product key" button. Once Windows has finished loading, it should automatically pick up the saved product key, but if it does not, please let us know by emailing us at support@clxgaming.com, or by giving us a call at (855)-490-2569, and we will be able to get that for you!
Next, is the menu where we will need to select which version of Windows we need to load. We will be choosing the version of Windows that came pre-installed on your system. If you are unsure of which version of windows you purchased, you can always look back at the order confirmation email you should have received, or you can also check the listing of the machine online. If you are unable to find that information, we can try and help.
Now, we are going to be getting to the difficult part of this installation process. This next step involves figuring out which drive in the system we want to load windows onto. To start, click on the "custom installation" button.
Next, we are going to see a list of every single partition for each drive installed in the computer. these are not going to be labeled, so it can be very hard to tell what drive is what. It will be sorted by Drives, then Partitions. We are almost always going to want to install Windows directly onto the SSD in the machine, which is normally going to be smaller than other drives in the system.
The best way to determine which drive has windows on it, is to double check your order confirmation for every drive, and make sure that the space for each drive, adds up to the total amount of space on the drives listed on the confirmation email. If you have a 1TB SSD, and a 2 TB HDD, we would want to load Windows onto the drive that is roughly 950 GB in the installation menu.
If you are unsure about which drive to load Windows onto, please give us a call at 855-490-2569, or send us an email at support@clxgaming.com, and we will be able to help you out!
PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL ABOUT SELECTING WHICH DRIVE TO DELETE, THIS WILL COMPLETELY WIPE OFF ALL DATA FROM THE DRIVE.
When you know which drive you are going to load windows onto, you will need to delete every partition associated with that drive number. There will normally be around 3 or 4 different partitions for each drive. To delete a partition, you will click on a partition, then click on the red "delete" button at the bottom of the menu. Once one partition on a drive is deleted, it will be replaced with a "Drive X Unallocated Space". This is normal, and once every partition has been deleted, the only listing for the drive, will be the "Drive X Unallocated Space". Once you see that the drive you want to load windows on, only has the Unallocated space portion, select that drive, then click the "next" button in the bottom right corner.
That's it! It will now start a 10-minute reloading process, which will have the computer restart a couple times. It will then boot back up to the initial Windows setup screen, which needs to be completed every time Windows gets setup for the first time.
If the computer restarts, and sends the system back to the initial purple splash screen for starting the Windows reload, you should have the customer turn off the computer, unplug the USB, and turn the computer back on. This should send the computer to the setup screen as intended.
If you run into any errors, or have any concerns, please contact us at (855)-490-2569, or by sending us an email at support@clxgaming.com
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