Once you've gathered your necessities, it's time to get started. It's available to anyone, no matter what brand drive you have, so if your drive manufacturer doesn't offer a migration tool, Macrium Reflect is your next best bet. Just download the installer for the free home version and run through the wizard to get it up and running on your PC. Western Digital and SanDisk users can use WD's version of Acronis True Image (Opens in a new window) to copy their data using these instructions (Opens in a new window).įor this guide, we'll be using Macrium Reflect (Opens in a new window)-it's a free drive-cloning tool that works with any brand of hard drive and SSD. For example, if you bought a Samsung SSD, we recommend downloading Samsung Data Migration (Opens in a new window) and following the instructions in the user guide. If your drive manufacturer offers a migration program, that might be your best bet. There are many different drive-cloning tools on the market, and unfortunately there's no free, one-size-fits-all option.

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Now, things are much easier, since you can activate Windows 10 with a Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 key.

Previously, Microsoft forced users to upgrade to Windows 10 before they could start fresh and do a clean install–which was annoyingly complicated and time-consuming. RELATED: Windows 10 is Out Today: Should You Upgrade? However, you can always install VLC to get DVD playback or use one of the more fully featured Windows Media Center alternatives. Or, you may need to perform a clean install on a computer without an existing Windows system after installing a new hard drive. Of course, you’ll miss out on the good pre-installed apps, like the free DVD player program that comes with many PCs. This is particularly useful if you’ve purchased a new Windows 10 PC and it includes manufacturer-installed bloatware you don’t want. Microsoft allows you to get an entirely fresh system by performing a clean install. The Windows 10 upgrade process drags old files, settings, and programs from your previous Windows system to your new one.

Clean install windows 10 on new ssd