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I have a little laptop that originally came with Windows 7. I upgraded to Windows 10.

I now wish to delete everything off the machine so I can give it to a friend, how do I achieve this? I don't have any media.

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  • Do you have recovery partition?
    – BDRSuite
    Jun 9, 2016 at 10:38
  • @vembutech - how would one check such a thing?...and would the recovery partition not be a Windows 7 one?
    – Cheetah
    Jun 9, 2016 at 10:46

2 Answers 2

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Windows has a feature called Reset since Windows 8. This cleans out all personal data and applications.

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  • I would like to point out, the Reset feature, literally installs Windows 10 on the storage device. So doing a "clean install" from an installation disk or using the Reset feature and choosing nothing will result in exactly the same system state. The only difference comes in when you choose to keep your personal files, when you do, the files are moved and Windows is installed then your files and user profiles are restored
    – Ramhound
    Jun 9, 2016 at 16:57
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As Windows 10 is easily available, just download the installation media here, which has an option for "Creating Media for another PC". As you're kicking that off, grab your current license for Windows 10 (should something go wrong) to ensure you have a way to register your install.

To refresh the PC (once you have the installation media), follow the steps listed here for you.

To just re-setup the laptop (which will delete everything on the HDD) follow the steps for creating an install media (just a copy and paste from the above link):

  1. Run the media creation tool.
  2. Select Create installation media for another PC.
  3. Select the language, edition and architecture (64-bit or 32-bit) for Windows 10.
  4. Follow the steps to create the installation media, then select Finish when it’s done.
  5. When you’re ready to perform a clean installation, turn on your PC, insert the DVD or USB flash drive you created, then shut down your PC.
  6. Restart your PC, then press any key to boot from the DVD or USB flash drive.

    If you restart your PC and your current version of Windows starts, you might have to open a boot menu or change the boot order in your PC’s BIOS or UEFI settings so that your PC boots from the media. To open a boot menu or change the boot order, you’ll typically need to press a combination of keys (such as F2, F12, Delete or Esc) immediately after you turn on your PC. For instructions on changing the boot order for your PC, check the documentation that came with your PC or go to the manufacturer’s website.

    If changing the boot menu or order doesn’t work, try again by signing in to Windows, shutting down, then starting your PC.

  7. On the Install Windows page, enter your language and other preferences, then select Next.

  8. Select Install Windows.

  9. On the Enter the product key to activate Windows page, enter your product key. The product key should be in a purchase confirmation email if you bought Windows

  10. It looks like this: PRODUCT KEY: XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX.

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  • Once a machine has WIndows 10 installed on it, you don't need to enter a product key, activation will be handled automaticaly by the digital entitlement system. So you have steps that are not required, since the machine in question, already had Windows 10 installed.
    – Ramhound
    Jun 9, 2016 at 14:31

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