Windows 10 “refresh”

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I just bought a new Dell Inspirion 15 5591 with Win 10 Pro preinstalled.

My first order of business is to wipe it clean to remove all the stuff Dell put on (trial versions, games, anti-virus, etc.) it and just reinstall Win 10 Pro.  Then I will decide which apps and software to install.

I have read everything I could about Windows 10 “Reset” vs. “Refresh” over the past week.  However, I am still confused seeing contrary information regarding whether Reset or Refresh will or will not reinstall the bloatware Dell put on the machine.

The articles also mentioned that one or the other process would wipe drivers, but they never really spell out what exactly to do to make sure you can address that after the wipe?  [Why doesn’t MS offer an option during Reset or Refresh to wipe everything EXCEPT the drivers?]

All I have done so far is go to the Dell website, entered my laptop tag, and downloaded all 25 drivers that were listed as needed for my device and saved them onto a USB drive as preparation.

Is that going to be sufficient?

Otherwise I am at a standstill.

I don’t want to run the wrong option, and I also don’t want to run one of the options and end up with a non-functional laptop because I missed a step or didn’t prep enough.

If anyone can point me to a step by step walkthrough that is accurate, esp re: not reinstalling the Dell junk, I would be grateful.

Thanks in advance,
-Mark

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p.s.  As a follow-up or alternative, will any of the “debloating” scripts that are available do the same thing that I would like to do? e.g., will they remove the stuff Dell installed as well as the default Win 10 bloatware apps?  Perhaps this is a safer/easier approach??

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anonymous wrote:

p.s.  As a follow-up or alternative, will any of the “debloating” scripts that are available do the same thing that I would like to do? e.g., will they remove the stuff Dell installed as well as the default Win 10 bloatware apps?  Perhaps this is a safer/easier approach??

You can uninstall Dell’s software and other pre-installed software using an uninstaller like free portable GeekUninstaller.
You can uninstall Microsoft’s bloat apps using a free software like Windows 10 Apps Manager.
None will delete Dell’s restore partition..

The way to go is a Windows 10 clean install.

Take a full image backup to an external device using a free app like Macrium Reflect.
Create a rescue USB with the same app.
Download a Windows 10 ISO file of the version you want using an app from HiDoc.net to a USB.. device.
Install from ISO overriding you system.

Starting the install process disconnect from the Internet. Create a local account (not Microsoft account)

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>>>>Take a full image backup to an external device using a free app like Macrium Reflect. Create a rescue USB with the same app.

i am somewhat familiar with Macrium, so this part should be straightforward

>>>>Download a Windows 10 ISO file of the version you want using an app from HieDoc. net to a USB.. device. Install from ISO overriding you system.

can you direct me to an apprpriate step-by-step for this step? i’ve never actually done a system install from ISO.

am i going to need a license to install/activate after install? if so, is that stored somewhere on my new laptop that i need to locate and write down beforehand?

does the Macrium rescue USB and the ISO need to be on separate USB media

also, what is the curreny consensus on which Win 10 version is best or least buggy?

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ISOs are available from MS via the Media Creation Tool. See Woody’s CW article for detailed instructions.

Once you have the ISO you burn it to CD/USB and run setup.exe from it.

To recover the image it is best to boot from the Macrium rescue CD/ISO. Making the backup can be done after you install MR / other backup software. You can create a recovery USB and also backup to it – backups don’t delete existing data.

Windows 1903 seems to be the best option at present. The Media Creation Tool will probably want to download 1909 so you’ll need to use one of the other methods.

cheers, Paul

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anonymous wrote:

am i going to need a license to install/activate after install?

No. The license is “burned” into the motherboard and valid only for this PC.

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this was a Dell purchase.

the information Dell states here https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/04/sln313192/requirements-for-dell-windows-10-activation?lang=en would lead me to assume Dell installed their own OEM version of Win 10 Pro on my laptop and it can only be activated (or reactivated) by being online and associated with an MS account (which i assume is what happened when i started the laptop the first time).

so this leads me to believe i only have a key for their Dell OEM Win 10 Pro burned into the motherboard, or am i missing something?

if i go the ISO reinstall route as others suggested, am i going to need a new activation code/key?  can i trust the codes/keys available on ebay for $5-10?

i certainly feel ripped off by Dell not making it clear up front that I was getting their version of Win 10 Pro (if i am correct in understanding the above Dell website info), and them not providing a valid key so I could reinstall Win 10 Pro from an ISO directly from MS.

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I recommend using the fresh start option. Open the update section in settings go to security and click on device performance and health. You will see it at the bottom of the screen.

It will install a fresh copy of windows with no 3rd party software and it keeps all of your personal documents intact. I use it after every Feature update and it works great.

 

 

Barry
Windows 11 v23H2

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Is the Fresh Start option going to default to installing 1909, or will i have a choice to get 1903?

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anonymous wrote:

Is the Fresh Start option going to default to installing 1909, or will i have a choice to get 1903?

I dont see on any of your posts what version Windows your computer came installed with. you will not be able to chose. If you have 1903 it may well install 1909 however i wouldn’t worry about it 1909 is a very small update and there has been almost no problems with it.

 

Barry
Windows 11 v23H2

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system is Win 10 Pro 64bit 1903, OS build 18362.356

 

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anonymous wrote:

so this leads me to believe i only have a key for their Dell OEM Win 10 Pro burned into the motherboard, or am i missing something?

No matter who the PC manufacturer is, it is still a Microsoft Windows 10 license tied to the PC’s motherboard and has nothing to do with Microsoft (or Dell) accounts.

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Alex5723 wrote:

anonymous wrote:

so this leads me to believe i only have a key for their Dell OEM Win 10 Pro burned into the motherboard, or am i missing something?

No matter who the PC manufacturer is, it is still a Microsoft Windows 10 license tied to the PC’s motherboard and has nothing to do with Microsoft (or Dell) accounts.

As Alex states your key belongs to Microsoft not Dell. You can reinstall Windows as many times as you want any way you want and as soon as you are connect to the internet Microsoft will validate your new install.

 

Barry
Windows 11 v23H2

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so a quick update for anyone who is interested

>>>ran the Fresh Start option… it reinstalled Win 10 Pro 1903… BUT it also left the MS account active and failed to remove the trial versions and bloatware that Dell added…. including all the Dell “support” apps

>>>then i ran the Reset option … it reinstalled 1903, and seemed to get rid of some of the preinstalled Dell bloatware, leaving the Dell support apps … BUT Reset did wipe the MS account, so i was able to first generate a local account

i still feel that what Fresh Start and Reset do and do not do is really not well understood or explained anywhere… i am not sure if the reason that Dell stuff remained on my machine, given that Fresh Start was supposed to download and install a fresh copy of Win 10 after wiping everything.

to get rid of other stuff, i ran the Debloater from Sycnex available on Github … i ran it a few times … it did remove some of the remaining Dell addons, but still left the Dell support apps as well as the free trials, etc. …. it also failed to remove some of the scheduled tasks.

i ended up manually removing the trial versions and any remaining apps that looked useless.

so it took more effort than it should, but i think it was worth getting as clean a start as possible.

now if someone could just offer an exploit script to disable Windows Update, rather than living under MS rule of only allowing us to delay updating for a few weeks…

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