Have a dell computer with a 500gb HD. The hard drive has win 10 installed which is the free up grade from Microsoft. The hard drive is making strange sounds. I feel the drive is going bad. I have purchased a new drive and want to put the free Microsoft win 10 on the new drive. Do I need a back up of the current drive? I really want a clean install? Any advice or help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks Lowell12.
Hello Lowell, and welcome to windowssh blog.
You can download a Windows 10 ISO directly from Microsoft to use to create a Windows 10 installation USB, then clean install Windows 10.
Windows 10 ISO Download
USB Flash Drive - Create to Install Windows 10
Clean Install Windows 10 Directly without having to Upgrade First
OR
Windows 10 - Clean Install
Hello Brick,
Thank you for welcoming me to Windows 10 forum. I tried your first suggestion Windows 10 ISO download with my old hard drive still in my desktop. I assume I was to keep the old hard in my unit to get the download? I finally put the new hard drive in my unit and used the dvd disk I made from the download and win 10 started to install. Everything went well until it was time to put the product key number in?? I had no idea what the product key number was? So I thought, I would install my legal copy of Win 8.1 pro on the new hard drive activate and then I could get the free Win 10 Pro. Installed 8.1 pro and my product key would not work. I could not activate my 8.1 Pro on line or by phone?? Called Microsoft and they told me that my 8.1 product key is blocked? I got no further information from Microsoft other then take my legal copy of win 8.1 pro back to the store (Walmart where I brought it two years ago) and get another copy?? I don't understand this blocked situation?
I hope I explained this situation well enough for you to understand..Thank you
A key can be blocked for several reasons, but usually because it's been abused. If it had been posted in a public forum, that would get it blocked real quick.
I'm not sure what else you'll be able to do other than purchase a new copy.
If you still can, there is SW that enables you to clone your disc. I did this when changing to a Samsung SSD to speed up my computer and Samsung supplied the cloning SW. No key entry was required. I hope this helps.
Hello Brick,
Thank you for welcoming me to Windows 10 forum. I tried your first suggestion Windows 10 ISO download with my old hard drive still in my desktop. I assume I was to keep the old hard in my unit to get the download? I finally put the new hard drive in my unit and used the dvd disk I made from the download and win 10 started to install. Everything went well until it was time to put the product key number in?? I had no idea what the product key number was? So I thought, I would install my legal copy of Win 8.1 pro on the new hard drive activate and then I could get the free Win 10 Pro. Installed 8.1 pro and my product key would not work. I could not activate my 8.1 Pro on line or by phone?? Called Microsoft and they told me that my 8.1 product key is blocked? I got no further information from Microsoft other then take my legal copy of win 8.1 pro back to the store (Walmart where I brought it two years ago) and get another copy?? I don't understand this blocked situation?
I hope I explained this situation well enough for you to understand..Thank you
You had already upgraded andinstalled windows 10 previously. You do not need to enter any key on a reinstall. Just skip
Also, you should download latest version of iso anyway.
cereberus is correct. Windows 10 has been installed and activated on the computer once already as an upgrade, therefore the digital entitlement for Windows 10 is supposed to be stored on Microsoft activation servers. If you install the exact same version and edition of Windows 10 on that computer - click skip or do this later or I don't have a product key when asked for a product key. It is supposed to retrieve the digital entitlement from Microsoft activation servers and activate.
I use the words supposed to because early on after the July rollout Microsoft had some problems with their activation servers and some digital entitlements did not get stored correctly.
