Windown install

Important: Back up your files before you install or reinstall Windows on your PC. Learn how for Windows 10 and Windows 11 or for Windows 7 and Windows 8.

A PC with a reliable internet connection. The download time will vary, depending on your internet connection. A product key. Your character product key not required for digital licenses. For help finding it, go to Find your Windows product key. After you've created the installation media, you can reset or reinstall Windows. To learn more, go to Recovery options in Windows. Windows 10 Windows 8.

Need more help? Join the discussion. Warning Back up anything you want to keep before you begin. Launch the tool. Review and Accept the License Terms. Declining the License Terms will exit the tool. Choose what you want to keep. If you want to keep your personal files, choose the Keep personal files only option. Warning: Regardless of your selection at this step, this tool will perform a clean installation of Windows. All apps that came with or were manually installed on your PC will be removed, including paid apps.

Apps that come standard with Windows 10 Mail and Edge for example will be preserved. Additionally, some of your customized settings including your manufacturer's default customization Power and Sleep settings for example will be changed to Windows default settings, which may impact your hardware performance. More information The tool installs Windows using the capabilities and requirements of the media creation tool.

After the clean install, Windows Defender will help keep your PC secure. Learn more. Modify the registry at your own risk.

Upgrade by launching Setup on the media while running Windows You will have the option to: a. Perform a Full Upgrade , which keeps personal files including drivers , apps, and Windows Settings. This is the default experience and is the one that Installation Assistant uses.

Keep Data Only will keep personal files including drivers only, not apps and not Windows Settings. Clean Install will install Windows 11 and keep nothing from the Windows 10 installation.

Boot from media to launch Setup. This path is a clean install and will not retain previous files or settings. Important: You should verify that your device meets minimum system requirements before you choose to boot from media, because it will allow you to install Windows 11 if you have at least TPM 1. Installing Windows 11 on devices that don't meet minimum system requirements. Windows 11 More Warning: Microsoft recommends against installing Windows 11 on a device that does not meet the Windows 11 minimum system requirements.

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