Windows 10 Recovery disk reinstall

Question

Windows 10 Recovery disk reinstall

Anonymous

Hi

My dad's laptop, his pride and joy, was originally built with Windows 8.1 - he took advantage of the free upgrade to Windows 10 and I created a recovery disk for him for Windows 10. Sadly my day passed about a month ago, and my mum has given my son, the laptop. I wanted to make sure that it was clear of any business stuff that my dad might have had on it (as he used it for the family business too) and so I tried to do a fresh install from the Windows 10 recovery disk. It goes the whole way through the recovery process and then says that it was unable to complete the process - as configuration data is missing or corrupt. I've tried to carry out a fix and that doesn't seem to work. None of the options worked - not the restore from last restore point, or previous build or anything! The last thing I tried was the BOOTFX statements at the command prompt, and that did do something as now, when I look at the options for restore from restore point or last build I'm seeing an option - but it's the Windows 8.1 build. I'm trying the recovery disk one more time - since I may have fixed some of the underlying issues - but I'm wondering if that doesn't work, and I'm forced to restore to 8.1 is there any way to upgrade to Windows 10 again - without having to pay $$?

Thanks in advance,

A

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

Answer accepted by question author

4 additional answers

Answer 1

Hi Abbie, if all your efforts to revive that system fail, you can reinstall Windows 10 at any time and it will not cost you anything !

Since you previously had Windows 10 installed and activated on that PC during the installation process skip the steps which ask for a product key and select the option 'I am Reinstalling Windows 10 on this PC', and activation will not be an issue, your PC will have a digital entitlement stored on the Microsoft Activation Servers

IMPORTANT

Make sure you install the same Edition of Windows 10 (Home, Pro . . . etc.) you previously had installed to avoid Activation issues

Click this link:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-downlo...

to download the Media Creation Tool (Click on Download Tool Now), with that you can download the latest Windows 10 ISO (Select Create Installation Media for Another PC), you can create a bootable USB flash drive (min 8GB) using that tool

Then, Boot your PC from the Installation Media you just created (change Boot Order in your BIOS) to begin installing Windows 10

If you have problems booting from a boot disc, you may have UEFI BIOS:

Insert the Bootable Installation Media, then go into your BIOS and make the following changes:

Disable Secure Boot
Enable Legacy Boot
If Available enable CSM
If Required enable USB Boot
Move the device with the bootable disc to the top of the boot order
Save BIOS changes, restart your System and it should boot from the Installation Media

Answer 2

Go to a working computer, download, create a bootable copy, then perform a clean install.

	Step 1: How to download official Windows 10 ISO files 

	[http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wiki...](http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wiki/windows_10-windows_install/how-to-download-official-windows-10-iso-files/35cde7ec-5b6f-481c-a02d-dadf465df326)



	Step 2: How to: Perform a clean install of Windows 10

	[http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/wiki...](http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/wiki/insider_wintp-insider_install/how-to-do-a-clean-install-of-windows-10/aef0ae63-2117-41ee-a8ea-4a3181625b08)

Review the following guide for instructions and details about configuring your BIOS or UEFI boot settings for DVD, CD, USB or SD Card.

BIOS/UEFI Setup Guide: Boot from a CD, DVD, USB Drive or SD Card

https://www.groovypost.com/howto/bios-uefi-setu...

Once your computer is set to boot from the DVD, you should see this option. If you are installing from a retail Windows 10 USB thumb drive, you will be asked to select either 32 or 64 bit Windows 10. Learn more here https://www.groovypost.com/howto/choose-windows...

The Windows logo will appear on screen, this might be here for a while, as long as you see the animating dots, everything should be ok.

Select your Language, Time and Keyboard method then click Next.

Click Install now

Windows 10 setup will prompt you for a product key during installation a couple times. If you originally upgraded from Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1 click the option 'I don't have a key' and 'Do this later' . If you have a Windows 10 product key, you can proceed to enter it.

Setup will also prompt you to select the edition you have a license for - Home or Pro. Please make sure you choose the right edition. If you choose the wrong edition, your only option will be to perform a clean install again.

The copy of Windows 10 you download and upgrade from will correspond with the edition of Windows you have installed, if it does not, this is why you might be experiencing problems activating:

Windows 7 Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Windows 8.0 Core, Windows 8.1 Core should install Windows 10 Home 



Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows 8.0 Pro, Windows 8.1 Pro should install Windows 10 Pro

Wait while setup prepares to copy files

Accept the license terms then click Next

Click Custom: Install Windows only (advanced)

NOTE: Sometimes Windows 10 setup can become confused if it see's a thumb drive. You might get a driver missing error or something to that effect. If you do, restart setup, but this time, when you arrive at the following screen, disconnect your thumb drive then go through Custom options. When setup is ready copy files, it will prompt you to reconnect the installation source (your USB).

Select the drive then click New

NOTE: If you have multiple partitions listed, select each one (starting at the bottom), then click delete until there is only a single (one) unallocated drive displayed in the window.

Select the unallocated drive listed, click New, click Apply then OK

This will split the drive into multiple partitions, select the Primary partition then click Next.

NOTE: The System Reserved partition is where recovery files are kept for diagnostics and repairing damaged Windows 10 files; or even reinstall Windows 10.

Wait while Windows installs

When this phase of setup is complete, Windows will automatically restart then reboot into setup again.

Windows is detecting and installing your hardware. After this is complete, Windows will restart one last time.

Out of Box Experience

The Out of Box Experience page is where you get to configure detailed settings in Windows, which includes creating a user account, configure privacy, sync PC settings and install modern applications.

Answer 3

Hi AbbieM23, I am Rob, a volunteer and a 10 time and dual award MVP specializing in Windows troubleshooting and Bluescreen analysis. Please remember as volunteers we are not responsible for the development of Windows or the computer hardware and drivers.

Just make an Install Disk or USB drive and perform a Clean Install of Windows 10. It should activate with the Digital Entitlement. If not contact Support.

How to Prepare Bootable Install Media for Windows 10 - DVD, USB or SD Card

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/for...

Start fresh with a clean installation of Windows 10

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-downlo...

Clean Install Windows 10

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wiki...

If needed

Microsoft Activation Support

https://partner.support.services.microsoft.com/...

Please let us know the results and if you need further assistance.

Answer 4

Anonymous

Thank you!

0 comments

Answer 5

Anonymous

Thank you! The installation media worked perfectly!

0 comments

Share via

Windows 10 Recovery disk reinstall

4 additional answers