Reinstall Windows

[DieterH]

Hi, big problem. I deleted my main account so I have no more admin permissions, bitlocker is activated. I have a bootable USB Stick, but this is not detected when restarting (boot options are correct). How can I reinstall Windows 10, deleting and reformatting the disk is ok, there are no important data to to loose

[Alex_S1 · Accepted solution]

Hi, I have some experience with reinstalling windows. I've done it a few times on my own system.

I suggest you follow these steps.

1. If you have other storage devices connected to your motherboard that do not have Windows 10 installed, disconnect them physically. 
2. Using a different computer with Windows 10 installed, connect a USB drive, preferably 16 GB, and one that you don't mind having data deleted from.
3. Using this different computer, search "Microsoft Windows 10 Installation Media" or use this link https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10
4. Navigate towards the page and download the media creation tool.
5. Once downloaded, run it and go through the steps, making sure you read every step correctly.
6. Choose the correct Windows 10 version you want to install, in this case Windows 10 (64-bit) and select the USB drive you connected earlier.
7. Once you have finished the whole setup, eject it safely and remove it from the PC
8. Make sure your Pro desk 400 is powered off, and connect the USB drive to a USB 2.0 Port on your motherboard. (Using USB 3.0 Ports sometimes are not detected by the BIOS)
9. Power on the system and repeatedly press the F10 button on your keyboard when booting, this will open up the BIOS.
10. To navigate towards the UEFI boot order on your BIOS, it should be under the "Advanced Tab" and change the order so that your USB Drive is top priority, and your other drive that you want to install windows to being 2nd priority.
11. Save and Exit the BIOS
12. Your PC should go through the windows' installation guide, once completed, turn off your PC, and remove the USB drive, then turn it back on.
13. You should boot into Windows to create a new account

That should be all the steps, if you are still having trouble, contact HP directly, via phone or through a Live Chat.

I hope these steps are sufficient to your issue.

If this helped you, accept this as a "Solution"

[WAWood]

@DieterH 

While you can certainly use MS media to install Windows, the downside is that it will only install generic drivers that MS provides, not the proprietary drivers that HP provides.  To get those, you need to create and use HP recovery media.

The ways to do an external factory reset are the following:
- Factory reset using external HP image you make
- Factory reset using external HP image you buy

Each of these is discussed in some detail below ...

---------- Factory reset using external HP image you make ----------
HP provides a Cloud Recovery tool that you can use, together with a 32GB USB stick, to create your on HP reset media.

Here is the link: https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c06162205

This works the same as the factory reset described above.

---------- Factory reset using external HP image you buy ----------
For those PCs not supported by the Cloud Recovery, in some cases, HP offers Recover Media for sale. This can not be downloaded; instead, it must be ordered from HP.

HP Recovery Media is a set of DVDs and a CD, or USB stick, that will erase the hard drive (removing all data, settings, and applications, reinstall the original OS, drivers, and some HP Utilities.

In some cases, you may be able to order a USB stick instead of disks.

You can look online for Recovery Media starting with the linked paged: http://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers

Once there, input your Product name or number. On your Software and Drivers Download page, select your Operating System and and Version. Click &quot;Update&quot;.<br><br>If HP Recovery Media is available for your machine, down near the bottom of the page, you will see an entry for Order Recovery Media-CD/DVD/USB. Click the &quot;+&quot; symbol to expand that entry and click on Order Media for details.

Or, if you prefer, you can do the same by contacting HP Customer Support.

HP contact info: https://support.hp.com/us-en/contact-hp?openCLC=true

If HP no longer carries the media you need, another site you should check for HP Recovery Media is: http://www.computersurgeons.com/

These work the same as the factory reset described above.

[Alex_S1]

While certainly using HP recovery media is a better choice, I am against the use as it introduces bloatware.
Regarding the proprietary drivers, I am pretty sure the HP Support Assistant App is more than capable of installing these additional drivers.

[Prométhée]

Hello
that is indeed discussed!
After that it is a question of user preference, and of these skills
Recovery Hp, practically nothing to do, but indeed, there is a risk of finding software that you may not want / need, you have to clean up, then!
An installation from the microsoft media, there it is clean, but maybe too much ...
If the user does not know anything about it may have difficulty finding what to install.
Hp support assist can actually be useful in this case, but the latest version is unfortunately not the best

[DieterH]

thanks for help, I made a mistake in boot priority, but now it works.

[DieterH]

thanks for all your help, I restored my system with Alex solution.

[DieterH]

thanks, indeed there is still a big bug in Windows system as known since years. I added a normal user account and deleted the other without any warning, thus I lost my admin permission. Bitlocker on and the system refused executing any program. The only solution is to delete and resetup the partition. Fortunately I started some days ago with a new Computer, so I didn't loose many data. Have a nice time!