What's your checklist for a clean install

idgat · Oct 8, 2025

antspants said:
My checklist is a mile long on a notepad file.

Nyah nyah, my checklist's longer than your checklist ....

(Hmmm, I must document it one of these days ....

)

Hazel123 · Oct 8, 2025

idgat said:
My checklist's longer than your checklist .... (Hmmm, I must document it one of these days .... )

I’ve probably missed something! It’s a ridiculous amount of settings to go through.

RazorKat83 · Oct 8, 2025

antspants said:
I have so much software that I need, image & video. It takes a while to set everything up so I don’t have to tweak stuff after an image is taken.
It works or I start over. Plus I have a home to maintain as I get way too many visitors and guests staying.

That's what I want to do is create a CLEAN image so I will have it to clean install the next time, then I won't have to take the time uninstalling bloatware, etc

Hazel123 · Oct 8, 2025

“Top of my checklist is to turn off these three items:”

I nearly missed those @Bree - added them to my list above when I realised. They are very well tucked away now.

idgat · Oct 8, 2025

I have to admit, I enjoy a clean install. Retired, too much time on my hands, never much urgency when it comes to a clean install. And I get an innate, perverse sense of satisfaction at being able to beat Microsoft at most of the unwanted and/or unnecessary things it tries to impose on users (OMG I just luv Revo .... and Geek Uninstaller too, when needed)

Scannerman · Oct 8, 2025

Hazel123 said:
And after all this turning off - does anyone know how to get rid of these new pop ups that ask if you want something to access your gps and wifi?

It is probably somewhere in the tutorials. For me, I noticed a lot of this nonsense disappeared when I eliminated One Drive.

Hazel123 · Oct 8, 2025

I don’t have one drive installed

Hazel123 · Oct 8, 2025

idgat said:
I have to admit, I enjoy a clean install. Retired, too much time on my hands, never much urgency with t comes to a clean install. And I get an innate, perverse sense of satisfaction at being able to beat Microsoft at most of the unwanted and/or unnecessary things it tries to impose on users (OMG I just luv Revo .... and Geek Uninstaller too, when needed)

I USED to like a clean install - but these days it is so tedious doing all the settings. I did a lot of Windows 10 clean installs (especially when there was the free upgrade from Windows 7). I do miss the “never” toggles on Windows 10 - or whatever they were called - much quicker.

XxXxX · Oct 8, 2025

i prefer clean installs. when they released 25H2 ISO i did a backup of data and then a clean install
i have 2 A4 pages of set up, alterations, services and programs to adjust.

the first thing i do do is remove nearly every MS app with revo-uninstaller
apart from Windows tools the only app i keep is the calculator everything else goes.

install my apps/programs from backup and then go through every setting in settings
most are set to disable, 'Brinks' reg files and tutorials come in very handy here.

then services, at the moment i have 83 services disabled.
the install and setup takes about 4 hours
then about 2 days to get all programs installed and set up
thankfully bookmarks can now be saved and synced.

then carry on to the next major update.
its not everyone's way but its my way
best of luck Steve ..

Hazel123 · Oct 9, 2025

Mine was all ready to do a final system image with all programs installed and then Powerdirector failed to activate - said I'd used the code too many times even though it's a lifetime licence. They probably think I have it installed on something else still. So now I have to wait for support to get back to me before I can finish installing it and then do the back up.

Ghot · Oct 9, 2025

Seriously, this is my Windows 10/11 setup...

XxXxX · Oct 9, 2025

mine ..

that's all folks
best of luck Steve ..

glasskuter · Oct 9, 2025

As a rule I don't clean install nor do I clone. I restore images. I did have to clean install for 24h2 because it refused to upgrade. It took me 2 days of work. Immediately after that clean install was done, my software installed, and my tweaking done, I made an image that's my master image. In the future if something happens, I'll first go back to my latest image, but if things ever go completely south, I'll restore that master image if all else fails, no matter what version of windows is current at the time.
I image my data drive separately so data is never a concern.

hdmi · Oct 9, 2025

Hazel123 said:
does anyone know how to get rid of these new pop ups that ask if you want something to access your gps and wifi?

"To hide these prompts when location has been turned off, turn off Notify when apps request location on the Location settings page."

What's new in Windows 11, version 24H2 for IT pros

Learn more about what's new in Windows 11 version 24H2, including servicing updates, Windows Subsystem for Linux, the latest CSPs, and more.

learn.microsoft.com

cereberus · Oct 9, 2025

pseymour said:
I clean installed 25H2 in six minutes. Apps in about 18 minutes via winget. Settings are in two scripts that run every day. Done.

It is not the reinstalling of the apps that takes time, it is the interminable changing of each apps settings back to your preferred status that takes the time. So you are being slightly disingenuous saying 18 minutes when the real time could be over 2 days, admittedly in dribs and drabs but still a PITA for sure.

Clean installs are ONLY needed if a user practices inadequate drive management or something glitches causing issues that can only be resolved by a clean install (as I said earlier, only happened once to me nearly 10 years ago).

The myth perpetutated that clean installs improve performance by tidying up the registry is so outdated! We all know registry cleaners are snake oil.

TairikuOkami · Oct 9, 2025

Hazel123 said:
This is mine - it takes about 45 minutes from a list - what's yours?

That is the reason I use scripts with notes, it is much faster, I would always forget something.
I also backup some settings.ini files and browser profiles, it takes care of flags and settings.

Code:

https://github.com/TairikuOokami/Windows

1. Microsoft Defender Disable.bat
2. Windows Setup 1.bat
3. Windows Setup 2.bat
4. Windows Tweaks.bat
5. Windows Cleanup.bat

Hazel123 · Oct 9, 2025

hdmi said:
"To hide these prompts when location has been turned off, turn off Notify when apps request location on the Location settings page."

What's new in Windows 11, version 24H2 for IT pros

Learn more about what's new in Windows 11 version 24H2, including servicing updates, Windows Subsystem for Linux, the latest CSPs, and more.

learn.microsoft.com

Thank you so much. So despite my list of checks, I missed this - I thought I had already said no to location during oobe. Should have checked. The pop ups and a little arrow in the task bar saying edge is using your location, are things that only started latterly, even before the clean install so maybe an update turned something on again!

DJNelson · Oct 9, 2025

cereberus said:
It is not the reinstalling of the apps that takes time, it is the interminable changing of each apps settings back to your preferred status that takes the time. So you are being slightly disingenuous saying 18 minutes when the real time could be over 2 days, admittedly in dribs and drabs but still a PITA for sure.

Clean installs are ONLY needed if a user practices inadequate drive management or something glitches causing issues that can only be resolved by a clean install (as I said earlier, only happened once to me nearly 10 years ago).

The myth perpetutated that clean installs improve performance by tidying up the registry is so outdated! We all know registry cleaners are snake oil.

Truth. The time spent restoring settings after a clean install is significantly reduced if you copy the user folder and programdata folder before wiping the system partition. Restoring settings is simply a matter of taking ownership of the copied files and dropping them into their respective places in the new install.

OAT · Oct 9, 2025

cereberus said:
We all know registry cleaners are snake oil.

If you need some:

Snake Oil, 10oz Bag - Sullivan Supply

Supplement for the aid in discomfort and to help support the recovery for all species of livestock.

www.sullivansupply.com

Scannerman · Oct 9, 2025

glasskuter said:
As a rule I don't clean install nor do I clone. I restore images. I did have to clean install for 24h2 because it refused to upgrade. It took me 2 days of work. Immediately after that clean install was done, my software installed, and my tweaking done, I made an image that's my master image. In the future if something happens, I'll first go back to my latest image, but if things ever go completely south, I'll restore that master image if all else fails, no matter what version of windows is current at the time.
I image my data drive separately so data is never a concern.

A clone is a complete image of all that is on your hard drive, OS included. In fact, it is an exact duplicate image. For this reason you cannot run it with your original OS connected as it will generate a conflict. I cannot think of an image that answers the description of a 'master image' more than an image that is an exact identical copy of the operating system I use with all of the functioning third party programs.

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