Should I Free Upgrade to Windows 10 then reset to factory or factory reset Windows 8.1 then Free Upg

[Satorindley]

Ok yeah. That's what I meant before so I think I'm set to upgrade! I probably should have started to put my stuff on USB sticks earlier. I'll start now. Thanks! Have a happy Windows release!

 

[mjyumping]

Tomorrow is the day!

 

[Satorindley]

Only 9 more hours! Although I'm going to install it on the weekend... if I can resist.

 

[Mac211]

I'll be doing a factory reset after upgrading to Windows 10 so I get a clear and cleaan install from OOTB.

 

[illidanx]

I don't know why MS requires users to fully update W8.1 before they can update to W10 while you can actually update an un-updated copy of W8.1 to W10 using ISO file. What I did is:
1. clean install W8.1 and activate. Don't need to update anything.
2. put in the W10 Build 10240 that I created from the .esd file that windows insider received.
3. run setup.exe from DVD and upgrade to W10, verify that W10 is still activated.
4. boot from the DVD and clean install W10, wiping everything and skipping all CD key prompts.
5. Verify that the new W10 installation is still activated.

 

[Lundon44]

I was considering the "Refresh" option over the "Reset" option once my Win10 is installed. Would this not be as good? I have so many games installed so I couldn't bare the idea of spending half a day reinstalling apps, rebuilding media libraries, installing 20+ games, applying all their updates, moving over game save data etc.

I personally have no issues with my current state of my PC. Everything works as it should. The only tiny thing that bothers me is it doesn't boot quite as quickly as I feel it used to or would with a clean install considering I'm on an SSD. That's my only complaint.

However, it seems everyone here is all about the "Reset".

 

[Dadstar0410]

I don't see the need to create a system image for my use-case. I save all my files directly to OneDrive (nothing super important that needs to be saved locally) and I only have Steam games and Office 365 installed as programs. Plus, I'm on W10TP as the only OS. Is it still recommended?

If so, how do I change the boot order of UEFI for my SP3? I could never figure that out, and like Mary Beth, I know very little about the software and IT-esque stuff behind Windows.

 

[SgtSnake]

I was considering the "Refresh" option over the "Reset" option once my Win10 is installed. Would this not be as good? I have so many games installed so I couldn't bare the idea of spending half a day reinstalling apps, rebuilding media libraries, installing 20+ games, applying all their updates, moving over game save data etc.

I personally have no issues with my current state of my PC. Everything works as it should. The only tiny thing that bothers me is it doesn't boot quite as quickly as I feel it used to or would with a clean install considering I'm on an SSD. That's my only complaint.

However, it seems everyone here is all about the "Reset".

The "refresh" option is the best bet. A lot of the posts here apoear to be confusing the refresh inside Windows 10 with the "factory reset". The refresh option gives you a copy of Win10 with all your drivers and programs that you installed, and the "factory reset" bring your computer back to how it was when it came out of the box, which would get rid of Win10 IN FAVOR OF THE OS ORIGINALLY ON THE MACHINE. Be sure to pick refresh option, or you will be reinstalling Win10 all over again after updating Win 7 or 8 and installing your programs again, which is what you are trying to avoid.

Hope this clears it up some.

Remember that the "factory reset" puts the computer back to how it was when you first got it from the store, abd would replace the Win 10 with whatever version of windows was on it then. You would have to install any programs updates or drivers you added since then, and reinstall Win10 all over again.

 

[SgtSnake]

Since it's now September, i hope you didn't factory reset AFTER installing Win10, and had to reinstall after the machine went back to the earlier version of windows.