Check if it's advised to clear all HDD data before installing Windows 11.
Check if it's advised to clear all HDD data before installing Windows 11.
Hello, your question about whether to wipe the entire hard drive during a Windows upgrade is worth considering. Typically, when installing a new version, creating a bootable USB with the installer helps avoid issues. If you skip wiping and just keep your files, performance might not noticeably change. However, from my experience, especially with older systems, leaving old files can lead to lingering problems like frozen taskbars or slowdowns. It’s similar to starting fresh on a new PC. For your 6-year-old machine, it seems reasonable to clear the drive for a clean setup, as it can improve stability and speed. This advice is generally sound, though personal results may vary.
It's true.
By making clean Win install (OS drive format), you'll start off with a clean slate, free of all software issues and malware too (except firmware rootkits).
But if you keep your data, it can house malware, that would mess up the new Win installation. Also, it may contain corrupt files that also can mess up the system.
All-in-all, it would be better to keep your personal data on 2nd physical drive, so that when you wipe (format) the OS drive, you won't loose your personal data. (Do disconnect all other drives before making clean Win install, since Win likes to put boot manager on 2nd drive, other than OS drive). Downside of clean Win installation is, that you need to install all your drivers and programs again. But that's part of the starting fresh and clean.
I’ll have to tackle it too, since I’m facing the same issues I did with Windows 10. It’s simpler to resolve this now because my C drive is packed and I’ve got all the necessary backups. Clean is a good start.
And ideally, you set up the OS using just one connected drive. How To - Windows 11 clean install tutorial This guide aims to assist you through a clean installation of Windows 11 version 23H2 or later, and it can also be used for previous versions with minor visual differences but overall similar interfaces... forums.
Due to the way Win installs, it tends to place the boot manager on the second physical drive for backup reasons—such as protecting against main or OS drive failure. However, this approach has significant drawbacks. If you remove the second drive from the system or if it becomes corrupted, your operating system will fail to boot. The only solution is a fresh, clean installation of Windows that creates a new boot manager. You cannot simply rebuild the boot manager without affecting the existing setup. Therefore, it's best to install Windows on a single connected drive during installation, ensuring the boot manager remains on the same drive as the operating system.
It's not necessary to repeat anything.
If you already have a bootloader on the existing drive, it won't be created again on the new one.
This isn't accurate either.
You can build the bootloader yourself.
The procedure is quite straightforward—set up a dedicated partition for the bootloader (primary, active, or NTFS for MBR, or EFI system/fat32 for GPT) and install the files using the bcdboot command.