Installing Windows on an empty drive

Question

Earlier today I tried to boot up an old PC which hasn't been switched on for 3 years or more and it won't boot up (I just keep seeing a message saying there's no boot device available). It was due for the scrap heap anyway so it 's not a problem but it got me wondering...

How would one go about installing Windows onto a brand new drive these days (i.e. an empty drive)? Obviously it's empty so you can't get onto the internet to download anything. In the good old days it was possible to buy Windows on a CD ROM or whatever but I never seem to see them any more?

Are they still available? Or maybe it's available from a USB stick or something? It just got me wondering.

Answer 1

1

You can install Windows 10 or 11 anytime you need to on an empty drive by using the Media Creation Tool to create a bootable Windows USB on an empty 8GB USB flash drive, then boot your PC from that.

Windows 10:

https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/windows10

Windows 11:

https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/windows11

2

Activation after reinstalling Windows depends on what type of Office licence you have.

If Windows was pre-installed on the PC, then there is an OEM licence stored on the motherboard, and Windows would activate automatically after you reinstall Windows.

Otherwise, if you purchased a full retail Windows licence from a 3rd party retailer, you would need to use the troubleshoot method on the Windows activation window in the settings app to try to reactivate Windows.

Answer 2

Okay, that's good to know.

Answer 3

Windows is now typically installed onto an empty (new) drive using either a USB flash drive or a DVD that contains Windows installation media.

There are two main approaches:

1. Create a bootable Windows installation USB on another PC
   • On a working Windows PC, download the Windows 10 or Windows 11 installation media using the official tools:
     • Download Windows 11
     • Download Windows 10
   • Use the tool to create a bootable USB drive.
   • Then, on the target PC with the empty drive:
     1. Insert the USB flash drive.
     2. Power on the PC and open the boot menu (often Esc, F10, F11, or F12 depending on the manufacturer).
     3. Choose the USB drive as the boot device.
     4. Windows Setup will start; follow the prompts to install Windows onto the empty drive.
   If creating the USB manually from an ISO or DVD instead of using the automated tool:
   1. On the technician PC, insert a USB drive (at least 5 GB) and back up any data on it.
   2. Open Disk Management, format the USB as FAT32, and mark the partition as Active.
   3. Copy all files from the Windows ISO or DVD to the USB drive.
   4. Boot the target PC from this USB and run Windows Setup.
2. Install from a Windows DVD
   • If a Windows product DVD is available, insert it into the PC’s DVD drive.
   • Power on the PC and open the boot menu.
   • Select the DVD drive as the boot device.
   • Windows Setup will start from the DVD and can install Windows onto the empty drive.
3. Alternative: Recovery drive or installation media for reinstall/repair
   • On a working Windows PC, a recovery drive can be created to reinstall Windows:
     1. Search for Recovery Drive or run recoverydrive.exe.
     2. Select Back up system files to the recovery drive.
     3. Choose a USB drive and create the recovery media.
   • Boot the target PC from this recovery USB and choose Recover from a drive to reinstall Windows.

In all cases, the PC does not need internet access during the initial install itself if the USB or DVD already contains the full installation files. Internet is only needed on some systems later for updates and drivers.

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References:

• Install Windows from a Flash Drive
• Boot from a DVD
• Recovery Drive
• Reinstall Windows with the installation media
• Boot to UEFI Mode or legacy BIOS mode