Solved Help on a clean install project...

fonzie

New Member
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15
Hi all,

I am interested to do a clean install of Windows 8.1 on my desktop. However, I am not too sure about the exact steps when it comes to HDD format/delete processes. I have checked I have 3 partitions labelled as volume 0, 1 and 2. Then there was a system reserve volume of about 350 MB. In hindsight I should have taken a photo of the screen then and post it here! Anyway, I have a workable USB iso file...

I have a few questions :-
1. Which partition do I delete first - volume 0, 1 or 2 - or delete the system reserve volume first.
2. What happens after that? Do I do a format or what?
3. When can I safely take out the usb stick from the desktop?
4. Would a computer restart in the midst of doing the clean install, and with the usb stick still in the computer, has any adverse effect to the installation process?

I hope you would be able to comprehend my post....cheers!

fonzie
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Ideacentre
If you are installing 8.1 from usb or dvd, you can remove all the partitions and leave just the unallocated drive space and then allow the windows setup to create the needed partitions.. just follow the prompts, nothing special to do..

but then you have to install all your system drivers - you really need to get these from your system's mfg's website first and save them to a disk or usb..

there is a tutorials section in the forum - with some good how to's
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
One More Thing: DID YOU BACKUP YOUR DATA (other then OS)?

Good luck.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Apple Mac Pro 5.1 (2012)
    CPU
    DODECA @ 2.66 GHz
    Motherboard
    MP 5.1
    Memory
    24 GB @ 1333 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX-670-4GB-FTW-PC & ATI XT 2600 HD Mac
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 EVO's 500GB @ Apricorn Velocity DUO x2 PCIe
    Case
    The most beautiful IMHO
    Keyboard
    Wired
    Mouse
    Mighty Mouse
    Antivirus
    ESET Internet Security Pro
Ok...I got a screenshot of my harddisk listed below. I have a C and D drives - D drive is my data drive which I like to keep. I would like to clean install Windows 8 or 8.1 on C drive. Guide me on this....

On diskmanagement tool you get the image below. When doing Windows installation I get a different image - that's my concern...(sorry I don't have a screenshot of it). That's why I said...guide me on this...;)!

How do I go about highlighting to delete which partition first and so on.....is there a fixed sequence? Some screenshots would be nice...thank you.

Cheers!

partition.jpg
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Ideacentre
The last, OEM Partition is most probably backup partition for OS from Lenovo. Did you get or make backup disk to restore to factory condition ? Or, are you going to install windows anew from a disk or USB ?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen7 2700x
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime x470 Pro
    Memory
    16GB Kingston 3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus strix 570 OC 4gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 960 evo 250GB
    Silicon Power V70 240GB SSD
    WD 1 TB Blue
    WD 2 TB Blue
    Bunch of backup HDDs.
    PSU
    Sharkoon, Silent Storm 660W
    Case
    Raidmax
    Cooling
    CCM Nepton 140xl
    Internet Speed
    40/2 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    WD
No I didn't make system backups. I already have my personal files in my cloud account. I was trying to get rid of Lenovo's bloatware! My desktop was originally a Windows 7 Home Premium edition. Subsequently Windows 8 and later 8.1 was launched, I upgraded it.

I suspected the initial Win 7 Lenovo drivers and bloatware were incompatible with my Windows 8.1 64-bit edition. I experienced vertical blue lines on my monitor. That's when I did a reset with a usb ISO installation media - something akin to a factory reset in Android. It went well. I don't experienced any vertical blue lines anymore.

I was just curious to do another (clean) install with no residual Lenovo stuff on my desktop - including the backup partition - since Windows 8.1 has all the necessary drivers, as attested by the removed apps list Windows generated after the reinstallation. All Lenovo stuff were not reinstalled...

Thank you KYHI, Maverick and CountMike for your inputs...
Cheers!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Ideacentre
In that case you don't nee OEM partition. You can either make it as a new one or extend D: partition with that space. During installation you can choose to install Windows as new installation on C: partition and let windows format it. Nothing should happen to Other partitions during that time. I like giving drives and partitions unique names as their letters can change depending on installation or other OS used so with their unique names I always know which one is which without confusion. I would also look up for 8.1 drivers at Lenovo, they might be better and newer than MS supplied drivers.
This: Free Partition Magic alternative and Partition Manager Freeware for Windows XP/Vista/7/8. is my preferred program for work with partitions but for work with OEM partition you may have to reinstall windows first as it my be locked by Lenovo software.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen7 2700x
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime x470 Pro
    Memory
    16GB Kingston 3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus strix 570 OC 4gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 960 evo 250GB
    Silicon Power V70 240GB SSD
    WD 1 TB Blue
    WD 2 TB Blue
    Bunch of backup HDDs.
    PSU
    Sharkoon, Silent Storm 660W
    Case
    Raidmax
    Cooling
    CCM Nepton 140xl
    Internet Speed
    40/2 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    WD
here is the problem with your system - windows 8 uses another 350MB partition that windows 7 does not.. It is the recovery tools partition.. When you upgraded to windows 8 - guess where windows 8 put that partitions? On that OEM partition that's where..
because it has a volume id = 27

With a fresh install of windows 8 the 100MB partition will need to become a 350MB partition so windows can use it instead of the last oem partition...

You are going to need to do a complete "D" partition backup to save your information.. If you to keep the data..

since you are running 8 now - I want you to create an "Image" folder on your "C" drive and then run this command from the command prompt (admin) - Right click start - select command prompt (admin) copy and paste this command

Dism /Capture-Image /CaptureDir:D:\ /ImageFile:C:\Image\Data.wim /Name:"Drive D" /CheckIntegrity

depending on how big that image is you will need to copy that image folder to a removable drive.. that command will create a windows image of your D drive..

If you want to keep the "D" partition and not the data on it, you do not need to run that command, I just need to know..

I will stop here for now.. Let me know the image size after you create it..
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
I have no other partitions on my Win8.1 BOOT disk.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen7 2700x
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime x470 Pro
    Memory
    16GB Kingston 3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus strix 570 OC 4gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 960 evo 250GB
    Silicon Power V70 240GB SSD
    WD 1 TB Blue
    WD 2 TB Blue
    Bunch of backup HDDs.
    PSU
    Sharkoon, Silent Storm 660W
    Case
    Raidmax
    Cooling
    CCM Nepton 140xl
    Internet Speed
    40/2 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    WD
mike, what size are you partitions? A 350MB and a windows partition?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
mike, what size are you partitions? A 350MB and a windows partition?
Just one partition (111.78 GB) spanning whole SSD Kingston V300, 120GB, nothing else on it.
part1.jpg
Partition G: holds Win 10tp for dual boot. Other partitions are all for data.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen7 2700x
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime x470 Pro
    Memory
    16GB Kingston 3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus strix 570 OC 4gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 960 evo 250GB
    Silicon Power V70 240GB SSD
    WD 1 TB Blue
    WD 2 TB Blue
    Bunch of backup HDDs.
    PSU
    Sharkoon, Silent Storm 660W
    Case
    Raidmax
    Cooling
    CCM Nepton 140xl
    Internet Speed
    40/2 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    WD
type reagent /info at cmd prompt

lets see where windows put it.. or did you install by image
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
Win 8.1 from Reflect image cleaned up and 10TP straight on prepared disk.

Are you sure this "reagent /info" is spelled right ?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen7 2700x
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime x470 Pro
    Memory
    16GB Kingston 3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus strix 570 OC 4gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 960 evo 250GB
    Silicon Power V70 240GB SSD
    WD 1 TB Blue
    WD 2 TB Blue
    Bunch of backup HDDs.
    PSU
    Sharkoon, Silent Storm 660W
    Case
    Raidmax
    Cooling
    CCM Nepton 140xl
    Internet Speed
    40/2 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    WD
reagentc /info

I forgot the c

you don't have it because you installed from an image, most likely or it's on another disk

View attachment 54918
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
reagentc /info

I forgot the c

you don't have it because you installed from an image, most likely or it's on another disk

There you go.

Windows RE status: Enabled
Windows RE location: \\?\GLOBALROOT\device\harddisk2\partition1\Recovery\WindowsRE
Boot Configuration Data (BCD) identifier: 481fae43-d60e-11e3-b4b8-9e947a45a107
Recovery image location:
Recovery image index: 0
Custom image location:
Custom image index: 0
I told you, it's cleaned up full disk image but 10TP was installed straight. Fonzie doesn't have that either just standard Win7 100MB.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen7 2700x
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime x470 Pro
    Memory
    16GB Kingston 3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus strix 570 OC 4gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 960 evo 250GB
    Silicon Power V70 240GB SSD
    WD 1 TB Blue
    WD 2 TB Blue
    Bunch of backup HDDs.
    PSU
    Sharkoon, Silent Storm 660W
    Case
    Raidmax
    Cooling
    CCM Nepton 140xl
    Internet Speed
    40/2 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    WD
it is on your system root..

View attachment 54919

This is the default mbr-bios partition from an installation from the setup disk
That 350MB has winre and boot files

I would assume your windows boot files are on the windows 10 system partition, since you dual boot.
I would also assume that your winre in a recovery folder either on the root or in windows on drive C

He can keep his current partition structure, but with out deleting the oem recovery partition, the windows 8 installation will install winre there by default..

I think it would easier for him to run a diskpart script that will recreate the D partition and install windows. then restore the DATA Image to D
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
I'll see where it is in 10 TP when I switch to it later.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen7 2700x
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime x470 Pro
    Memory
    16GB Kingston 3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus strix 570 OC 4gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 960 evo 250GB
    Silicon Power V70 240GB SSD
    WD 1 TB Blue
    WD 2 TB Blue
    Bunch of backup HDDs.
    PSU
    Sharkoon, Silent Storm 660W
    Case
    Raidmax
    Cooling
    CCM Nepton 140xl
    Internet Speed
    40/2 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    WD
Hi KYHI,

No I don't need to backup the D drive. I am happy with my reset initiative so far - touchwood!:geek:

I suppose, if at all I need to do a real clean install, I can just delete the C drive components and let Windows 8 installed on this C drive? I fancy not to have the Lenovo stuff on my PC...if possible...just good old MS Windows 8.1 :D

Cheers!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Ideacentre
Hi KYHI,

No I don't need to backup the D drive. I am happy with my reset initiative so far - touchwood!:geek:

I suppose, if at all I need to do a real clean install, I can just delete the C drive components and let Windows 8 installed on this C drive? I fancy not to have the Lenovo stuff on my PC...if possible...just good old MS Windows 8.1 :D

Cheers!
To do that you would have to put disk in another computer or boot from another device because you can't do it from windows itself. You can start installation from optical disk or USB and will have options to get rid of all partitions and make new ones from installation itself. The fact that you don't need to save anything makes it much easier to decide.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen7 2700x
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime x470 Pro
    Memory
    16GB Kingston 3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus strix 570 OC 4gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 960 evo 250GB
    Silicon Power V70 240GB SSD
    WD 1 TB Blue
    WD 2 TB Blue
    Bunch of backup HDDs.
    PSU
    Sharkoon, Silent Storm 660W
    Case
    Raidmax
    Cooling
    CCM Nepton 140xl
    Internet Speed
    40/2 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    WD
ok, just boot the pc from windows setup, when you get to the partition menu, remove all the partitions..

Setup will now create it's own partitions.. (three partitions if booted via BIOS and four partitions if booted via UEFI)

By default windows will install to partition 3 on a bios booted PC
and partition 4 on a UEFI booted PC
(basically the last partition windows setup creates)

If you want to recreate the data "D" partition (which I favor) after setup creates the needed partitions, remove the last one and split it's size in half, thus creating two partitions outta that one..

Then select the first partition "YOU" created as the install windows to partition.. Leaving the last partition "YOU" created for your data "D" drive

The reason I favor the "C" and "D" partitions is because if windows goes poop - My personal Data is still there on "D" and if the drive goes poop then you have cloud backup storage..

But I don't like the cloud, because I don't know where it is or who has access via the cloud to my personal stuff..
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
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