Hp spectre x360 Clean Install Windows 10

[sasqwatch]

Hi,

 is OK to do a clean install ?

As in using Windows 10 Refresh tool:

Settings -> Update and Security ->  Recovery -> More recovery options  (click on Learn How to Start Fresh With a Clean Installation of Windows)

which then opens the Windows Defender Security Center to fetch an image of the latest windows. 

This has the advantage of removing the pre-installed apps that comes with the PC (netflix, mcafee, ms office 365 trial, etc.) . Which is what makes it a clean install as in the title of the question. 

Thanks,

Sasqwatch 

[WAWood · Accepted solution]

@sasqwatch

Hello;

Allow me to welcome you to the HP forums!

Doing a clean-install presents at least one problem, and possibly two.

The first problem is that it installs only the drivers provided by Microsoft -- and those provide limited functionality.  What you really need is the HP Win10 drivers.  So, if you are going to this, then first save off the existing drivers to external media so you can reuse them.  Here is a tutorial on how to do that: https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/68426-backup-restore-device-drivers-windows-10-a.html

The second might not be a problem, but MS announced the Free Win10 Upgrade would no longer be honored starting with 2018.  So, if you install a non-OEM version of Win10 on your PC, there is no guarantee at this point that it will get activated, as it did routinely in the past.

[Korendir]

I've reinstalled windows 10 after the free update multiple times, as long as you activated it before the cutoff it's still valid. Alternatively if you've moved hardware you can do a telephone install by running a cmd in admin mode and typing:

slui 4

I bought legit keys from ebay for 8.1pro so I had to clean install that first then use a downloaded version of windows 10 to update. It'll still pull needed files from MS Update before the install but it cuts down on your bandwidth usage if you're metered.

Also why would you have to save the drivers from the device? - the most update ones are freely available on HP's website under the support section. Just install them after windows is done installing. The only issues I've ever come up against with older hardware are sata drivers but I'm about to reinstll W10Pro on my new Spectre and if this is still a problem I'll be disappointed, M.2 or not; this is an ANCIENT issue and should have been resolved.

If you want a flawless install it's advisable to wipe a drive first but I'm not sure that's needed on a solid state drive. The only thing you'll lose is the recovery partition but if you really want that just manually partition about 20Gigs at the start and use macrium reflect, it's free and even gives you a boot option for recovery which has always worked flawlessly for me.

I use universal USB Installer for my usb drives when creating install media too, obviously as there's no DVD Drive but they work way better anyway. The only issue you might face is selecting the boot media at startup, this is usually F12 but if you experience issues you can change this in the system BIOS.

[Huffer]

Its F9 on an HP for boot order, but the above discussion from @Korendir is essentially correct. If Windows 10 was ever installed and activated on the machine you pretty much forever can reinstall Windows 10 even after hardware changes other than the motherboard and it will just activate itself like magic. 

Saving off the C:\swsetup folder from the old installation is a good idea particularly if you have a slow download connection  and as you will be sure to have at least a working network driver so you can complete the task. It will also include some HP system type apps which are nice to have in most cases (just baggage in others)

You can also just install HP Support Assistant and it will scour the HP servers for drivers and some HP apps you need to round out the clean install. 

[Noddaklu]

I have a question regarding the question from sasqwatch and response from Provost in posts titled 'Hp spectre x360 Clean Install Windows 10"

Specifically, the final paragraph of Provosts's response : "You could also just install HP Support Assistant and it will scour the HP servers for drivers and some HP apps you need to round out the clean install." Implied to me that the HP System Support Assistant was an alternative to the step in the previous paragraph, which suggested saving off the C:\swsetup folder from the previous installation. 

I have just purchased an HP Refurbished Spectre x360 with 8th Gen Quad core Intel i7, 16 GB 512GB SSD and plan to do a Clean Install via the Restore feature.  Before I screw things up, I want to be sure I'm on the right path.

Thanks for any added help/insight you can provide.

[Huffer]

The C:\swsetup will contain original drivers and apps including HP Support Assistant. HP Support Assistant will go out to the servers and get the latest versions. The C:\swsetup is good to have just in case Windows does not install a network driver as it will at least give you an ethernet driver or wireless driver that will work well enough to get you to the internet. 

[Noddaklu]

Huffer,

Thank you  for getting back to me so quickly. I appreciate your quick and through response.

Noddaklu

         

          By the way if I've gotten your your name wrong again, I owe you two apologies.