If you have not yet installed Windows 10 on your PC, now is the time you do it and enjoy amazing new features that the new Windows 10 update has got for the users. Windows 10 has been around for long now but some people don’t feel comfortable to try out new things so they stick with the outdated versions.
Microsoft provides plenty of options to download and install Windows on your PC. You can either upgrade your Windows if you have reserved your copy or can install it from the USB if you go for retail purchasing. However, if you purchased a product key online, or if you lost your original installation media down the line and want to perform a clean install, you may want to create your DVD drive or USB stick as a reliable source which is also known as bootable disc or boot drive.
What you will need to install Windows 10
If you want to use USB as a backup install drive, you would need a USB that has 4GB or more space. Keep in mind that anything that’s currently present in the USB drive would be wiped off in the process. You can also use a DVD to create a backup install disk if your computer has an optical burn drive if not, you would need a third-party app to get the job done for you. We’d recommend Rufus for USB, or ImgBurn if you’re using a DVD.
Finally, you’ll need your Windows 10 product key at the ready as well. You should be able to locate it in your confirmation email if you purchased online, in your Windows 10 box if you purchased at retail, or somewhere on your machine if you bought a PC with Windows 10 out of the box.
Install Windows with a Bootable USB or DVD
We are going to give you a step by step guide on how to install Windows 10 using a bootable USB or DVD. If you have an ISO image you can create Bootable USB by using Rufus
- Go to Microsoft Download Windows 10 page and click on “Download Tool Now”, and run the downloaded file. Select “Create installation media for another PC”. Or you can grab the ISO image from any other website.
- Be sure to select the language, edition, and architecture you want to install of Windows 10. You can check what type of CPU your PC as if you don’t know off the top of your head.
If you’re installing Windows 10 on the current PC, just keep the “Use the recommended options for this PC” box checked and the tool will automatically download the correct version for your current PC. - In case you have created the bootable USB drive using Rufus, you need not to follow the above steps and directly restart the PC to boot from the USB drive.
- Now insert the disk/drive that you want to use to install Windows 10, boot from the installation medium. On the Windows Setup screen, select your language, time and currency format, and keyboard layout. Click “Next” to continue.
- When you reach the installer screen, select “Install Now” and follow the instructions to install Windows 10 on your PC.
- When you see the Activate Windows screen, you’ll need to either enter a key or skip it. You may not see this screen if Windows 10 automatically detects a key associated with your PC’s hardware. If you’ve never installed an activated Windows 10 on this computer before, enter your Windows 10 key here. If you don’t have one, but you have a valid Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 key, enter it here instead or click “I don’t have a product key”. Windows will automatically activate with a “digital license” associated with your PC’s hardware on Microsoft’s servers once it’s installed.
- When you reach the “Which type of installation do you want?” screen, click “Custom” to perform a clean installation and remove everything on your PC. (If you’ve changed your mind and want to upgrade your existing installation, you can click “Upgrade”
- On the next screen, select the hard drive you want to install Windows on and erase it. If you have multiple partitions on that drive, you may want to erase those as well.
Warning: When you delete a partition, you’re also deleting all the files on that partition. Be sure you have backups of any important files before doing this.
When you’re done erasing partitions, you should have a big block of “Unallocated Space”. Select that, click “New”, and once it’s formatted your drive, click Next.
Windows 10 will install itself and may restart a few times during this process. When it’s done, you’ll see the normal setup interface you see when setting up Windows 10 on any new PC, where you can add user accounts and adjust various settings.
A few more screens will show up to get things ready for you.
Related: Microsoft will no longer support Windows 10 old versions