My PC crashed and I need to reinstall Windows 10 using a USB drive but I’ve never done this before. What steps do I need to follow from start to finish? I want to make sure I don’t miss anything important.
Oh man, I remember the first time I had to do this—felt like defusing a bomb with butterfingers. It’s actually not that dramatic. Here we go:
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Get a USB drive: Needs to be at least 8GB. Make sure nothing important’s on it because it’s getting wiped.
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Download Microsoft’s Media Creation Tool: Go to Microsoft’s official site, grab the Media Creation Tool (Google it if you can’t find). Install it on a working PC.
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Create the bootable USB: Run the Media Creation Tool, pick “Create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file) for another PC.” Choose language, edition (Windows 10), and architecture (stick with whatever your PC was running). When it asks where to put this, select your USB.
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Plug the USB into your crashed PC: Smash that power button, and immediately start mashing whatever key brings up the boot menu (F12, F2, DEL, ESC — depends on your motherboard, and never makes sense, so just go nuts).
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Boot from the USB: In the boot menu, pick your USB drive. If you don’t see it, might have to change BIOS settings—look for “Boot Order.”
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Start the install: Windows logo comes up, eventually you’ll see language/time/keyboard options. Click “Install Now.” If it complains about activation or whatever, skip it—you can sort it out later if your PC already had a legit license.
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Partitions: When it asks “Where do you want to install Windows?”, if you wanna nuke the whole thing (assuming you got your files somewhere else already), delete all partitions and let Windows recreate them. If you want to save a partition, just pick the right one.
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Let it install: Go find a snack. This takes a bit.
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Set up Windows: After a couple reboots, follow the on-screen setup (pick region, network, sign in, de-select all the “send data to Microsoft” nonsense unless you’re into that).
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Install Drivers: Windows 10 is pretty good about this now, but hit up your PC manufacturer’s site for any missing drivers (especially network and video).
If your PC doesn’t see the USB at all: Try another port, double-check the USB is actually bootable, and make sure Secure Boot is off and CSM/Legacy Boot is on in BIOS (if it’s ancient hardware).
Don’t pull the USB drive too soon—it’ll tell you when it’s finished with it. Cue up another crash when people yank it out mid-install.
You’ll forget how to do this two years from now, but that’s life.
One thing @mikeappsreviewer didn’t touch on much—and it will bite you if you miss it—is backing up whatever you can before nuke-and-paving your system. Even on a ‘crashed’ PC, if you can plug the drive into another machine or use a recovery tool/Ubuntu live USB, try to copy out your files first. Windows’ “delete all partitions” step basically erases everything, and trust me, data retrieval gets astronomically harder after that.
Another bit: when you’re in the BIOS/UEFI, be careful toggling Secure Boot and Legacy/CSM mode. Modern systems play much better with Secure Boot ON, and toggling it off for install can sometimes create weird boot issues later. Honestly, if your USB is made with the official Media Creation Tool, Secure Boot should stay ON.
I actually disagree with blanket recommendation to download every driver from your OEM post-install. Start with just Windows Update—Win10 does an honestly stunning job finding drivers, apart from maybe super-niche hardware. Only go to the manufacturer if something specific isn’t working.
Lastly, don’t sweat the activation right away. Windows 10 will usually self-activate if your hardware had 10 before (digital entitlement), so skip entering a key until you’re done. Jumping through hoops mid-install is optional!
Definitely read install prompts carefully. It’s always those “Are you SURE?” moments people click through and end up asking how to recover garbled partitions. Overall, not rocket science—but skipping small steps can = facepalm later. Thanks to @mikeappsreviewer for the bomb squad approach, but a little prep and double-checking never hurts.
Let’s cut through the noise. You’ve already got two solid walk-throughs (props to both earlier posters for detailed steps), but here’s a missing piece: the VALUE of just slowing down and thinking before you click “Install.” Windows 10 installs are pretty forgiving these days, but self-inflicted wounds happen almost exclusively on auto-pilot.
Major tip: Before doing anything else, sit there and stare at your screen for a sec. What is actually broken? If your PC “crashed,” is it an OS issue, storage dying, or something weirder? If your drive is dying, a clean install won’t help; you might be patching a sinking boat. It never hurts to run a hardware diagnostic provided by most OEMs via their BIOS menus, before erasing stuff.
Unpopular opinion: Recovery partitions are not always useless. Sometimes tapping F8/F11 (varies) at boot lets you restore Windows or run repair tools. Worth a try, no data lost that way.
For the USB creation step: Rufus is a great alternative to Microsoft’s tool—sometimes faster, especially if you want more control over partition schemes (MBR vs. GPT for older vs. newer systems). Not everyone needs that, but if your first stick fails to boot, use Rufus.
On drivers: Honestly, I agree more with the “less is more” approach. In 2024, Windows 10 and 11 pick up 95% of drivers better than vendor downloads, and chasing after every last “chipset utility” can cause more headaches than it solves. Only go to the manufacturer if audio/video/Wi-Fi refuses to work post-install.
Partition warnings: If you have a secondary drive (say D: for files) and Windows is only on C:, pay full attention during the “where to install” step. Yes, deleting the wrong partition is an instant regret button—no recovery tools restore overwritten partitions for free.
Activation: Don’t stress, really. If your machine ran Windows 10 at any point, Microsoft remembers your hardware. If it says it’s not activated right away, give it a few hours online. If your hardware changed—majorly—then it might ask to re-activate, but most people breeze through.
Pros of using the official Media Creation Tool (“”): Easiest, safest, stays up to date, auto-formats the USB right for your PC (no fiddling). Cons: Sometimes a bit slow to download/build, gives you less fine tuning (no choice of “older” Win10 builds or partition types).
Competitor shout-out: Rufus, as said, is faster and gives options (make a “no TPM, no Secure Boot” stick for older hardware), but some folks find it confusing.
In summary: Whether following step lists from earlier experts or opting for a detour with Rufus, the core is simple—think twice, don’t delete blind, use the official Media Creation Tool if you want to keep it foolproof, and chill out about activation. If in doubt, ask for a second pair of eyes before you click “Next.”