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Refreshing Windows 10 Without a Reinstall or Reset


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Edited from the full Ask Leo! Live Event video, available below.

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16 comments on “Refreshing Windows 10 Without a Reinstall or Reset”

  1. I’ve done something similar. I’ve downloaded the latest version of Windows and installed it on a DVD and later a USB Flash drive. Then I did an install keeping my data, programs, and settings. I assume it’s the same thing. This method seems a lot faster.

    I like that you do a Q&A session while the program is downloading and installing.

    Reply
  2. Thanks so much for all the knowledge sharing. I plan to try the “Windows 10 upgrade” on a Windows 7 machine – Yes I’ll backup 1st!! After it completes, will I still have Windows 7 files cluttering up my hard drive?
    JB

    Reply
  3. I have been receiving frequent messages that my version of Windows10 Home version is no longer supported but last summer I bought an upgrade version of Windows 10 Pro and thought I had input the new licence in the correct place but MS doesn’t seem to see it and I haven’t been able to find a way to download the correct upgrade installation files and then the new licence, any idea what I am doing wrong and is it too late to rectify the problem please?

    Reply
    • Honestly this isn’t enough information for me to say — or, rather, the information isn’t specific enough for me to say. I’d need to see the EXACT wording of the error message you’re seeing. I’ll recommend you provide as much information as you can with a question to https://askleo.com/ask and we can pursue it from there.

      Reply
  4. I went here: in the hope that I could read the procedure to refresh Win 10. Sadly, there is no written procedure here, only a video. I could not keep up with the video: no written references, went too fast, no web site info on the screen, etc. So this was all basically a waste of time. The video did not tell me how to refresh my copy of Win 10 in a way that I could use or remember. I would really like to have this procedure in writing complete with complete URLs listed.

    Reply
  5. How can I re-install windows 10 when my computer can’t bot, telling me that the boot device not found, without erasing the content of the hard-disk?

    Reply
  6. When the tool was about to start I got the following error:

    “An unknown command-line option [/DynamicUpdate] was specified.”

    Any suggestion?

    Thanks

    Reply
  7. Hi, I just wondered if the WINDOWS 10 “Refresh” will re-install my admin privileges?
    I am not sure how I lost them but I appear to be nothing but a User and a “poor” user at that as the UAC only allows me to answer NO if I want to upgrade a program or install one etc …
    I have been through all the normal googled methods to restore an Admin feature including trying to find the “hidden” admin but nothing has worked and I am loathe to re-install Windows as I will lose all my Apps/

    Reply
    • And this trick fixed a strange problem I was having in my Windows 10: my search bar in the bottom did not work anymore. I have tried to fix it with about 4 other approaches that were offered up as solutions online, but none of those worked. This OS refresh fixed it and it was painless. So, thank you! (And yes, I too had to change my resolution, in my case from 1920 x 1080 back to the screen’s native 2560 x 1440.)

      Reply

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