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Trying to reinstall Windows 10

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montehampster
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Trying to reinstall Windows 10

#341946

Postby montehampster » September 22nd, 2020, 1:36 pm

I am a Linux Mint user but need to reinstall Windows 10 on my old laptop (Lenovo Ideapad 510) for my daughter's business.

I have downloaded an ISO from the Microsoft website and burned it to USB using the Linux Mint 20 system (i.e by right clicking on the image and choosing the SanDisc USB on my new laptop). All appeared well but I have hit a brick wall!

I have gone into the Lenovo and reset the BIOS to factory settings and checked that booting from USB is permitted but when I reboot into the Boot Manager the USB drive is not being shown as an option.

I have the original Windows 10 key so mistakenly thought reinstalling Windows should have been straightforward - I should have known better!

Any suggestions welcome!

ReformedCharacter
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Re: Trying to reinstall Windows 10

#341961

Postby ReformedCharacter » September 22nd, 2020, 2:32 pm

montehampster wrote:I am a Linux Mint user but need to reinstall Windows 10 on my old laptop (Lenovo Ideapad 510) for my daughter's business.

I have downloaded an ISO from the Microsoft website and burned it to USB using the Linux Mint 20 system (i.e by right clicking on the image and choosing the SanDisc USB on my new laptop). All appeared well but I have hit a brick wall!

I have gone into the Lenovo and reset the BIOS to factory settings and checked that booting from USB is permitted but when I reboot into the Boot Manager the USB drive is not being shown as an option.

I have the original Windows 10 key so mistakenly thought reinstalling Windows should have been straightforward - I should have known better!

Any suggestions welcome!

BIOS settings, usually there is an option to select the boot order priority, have you set your USB to be the first on the priority list?

RC

Breelander
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Re: Trying to reinstall Windows 10

#341966

Postby Breelander » September 22nd, 2020, 2:48 pm

montehampster wrote:I am a Linux Mint user but need to reinstall Windows 10 on my old laptop (Lenovo Ideapad 510) for my daughter's business.

I have downloaded an ISO from the Microsoft website and burned it to USB using the Linux Mint 20 system (i.e by right clicking on the image and choosing the SanDisc USB on my new laptop). All appeared well but I have hit a brick wall!

I have gone into the Lenovo and reset the BIOS to factory settings and checked that booting from USB is permitted but when I reboot into the Boot Manager the USB drive is not being shown as an option.


Check Lenovo's instructions for booting from a USB, just in case you have missed something.
https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/gb/en/prod ... s/ht500207

I have the original Windows 10 key so mistakenly thought reinstalling Windows should have been straightforward - I should have known better!


Once you can get it to boot from the USB then it should be straight forward. The Lenovo Ideapad 510 was supplied with an OEM pre-installed Windows 10 Home. Since Windows 8 all PCs supplied with Windows pre-installed will have their key embedded in the bios firmware. When you boot from W10 install media Setup will read this key from the firmware and use it to choose the edition to install, and to activate it.

Can you boot this Lenovo from any other known good bootable USB? A Linux Live USB perhaps? If so, then it seems the problem is with he USB you made. If you still have a working W10 on the Lenovo (or can borrow a friend's W10 PC) then use it to download the Media Creation Tool from Microsoft. Run the MCT and choose its option to 'Create installation media for another PC'. This can create a USB that should boot on any machine, UEFI or Legacy BIOS.

mc2fool
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Re: Trying to reinstall Windows 10

#341968

Postby mc2fool » September 22nd, 2020, 2:50 pm

ReformedCharacter wrote:
montehampster wrote:I am a Linux Mint user but need to reinstall Windows 10 on my old laptop (Lenovo Ideapad 510) for my daughter's business.

I have downloaded an ISO from the Microsoft website and burned it to USB using the Linux Mint 20 system (i.e by right clicking on the image and choosing the SanDisc USB on my new laptop). All appeared well but I have hit a brick wall!

I have gone into the Lenovo and reset the BIOS to factory settings and checked that booting from USB is permitted but when I reboot into the Boot Manager the USB drive is not being shown as an option.

I have the original Windows 10 key so mistakenly thought reinstalling Windows should have been straightforward - I should have known better!

Any suggestions welcome!

BIOS settings, usually there is an option to select the boot order priority, have you set your USB to be the first on the priority list?

Yes, but the BIOS boot menu will/should show all devices with bootable images on them anyway, irrespective of the order.

montehampster, are you sure your Mint system has created a bootable USB? You may need to use a tool such as one of these: https://alternativeto.net/software/rufus/?platform=linux

Urbandreamer
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Re: Trying to reinstall Windows 10

#342014

Postby Urbandreamer » September 22nd, 2020, 5:25 pm

As has been said, you will need to start with a bootable USB and simply copying stuff won't make one.

I recommend that you start by using Unetbootin to create a mint boot USB.and check that works.
If it does then you can try using it with the windows ISO, though I have no idea if that will work.

As it happens I am trying to set up a HP Z400 that didn't have a hard disk and wouldn't boot from either CD or USB even after bios changes.
I had used microsofts media creation tool to create both a USB and a CD, but I suspect that all it does is download the contents of your ISO and create a bootable USB or ISO with that contents. I can't provide a link as currently I'm running linux and the website directs me to the same ISO you found. :D

I plugged a SSD into a USB adaptor and did the following.

I created a small partition (6 Gb) on the hard disk. I used NTFS, but FAT32 would probably work. Then I copied the contents of the ISO to it by using 7zip to extract the contents from the ISO. Then I used windows "diskmgmt.msc" to make that partition active.

Then I installed the disk.

The machine booted into the windows installer and installed. The only downside at present is that on boot it offers to either boot the installer or windows. I'll change that soon using BCDedit.

I suspect that you could use parted to do the same things.

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Re: Trying to reinstall Windows 10

#342031

Postby Infrasonic » September 22nd, 2020, 6:49 pm

I'd second Breelanders post as the simplest option.

I've used it several times for W10 clean installs and in place repair/upgrades on multiple PC's, never any issues.

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Re: Trying to reinstall Windows 10

#342050

Postby montehampster » September 22nd, 2020, 9:43 pm

Thanks for your efforts guys but after spending much of the afternoon and evening I'm no further forward but have had it confirmed that Windows is still a bag of **** and for me at least Linux is the way forward.

Have had no problem booting into either Mint or Ubuntu just Windows refusing to play. It does appear that the ISO I downloaded has an issue (a file missing) but I've tried 3 times all from the official Microsoft site so will need to get a fiend to try the Media Creation Tool.

madhatter
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Re: Trying to reinstall Windows 10

#342061

Postby madhatter » September 22nd, 2020, 10:41 pm

I've tried 3 times all from the official Microsoft site so will need to get a fiend to try the Media Creation Tool.


While I am not a Microsoft user, I know someone who has used the Media Creation Tool on a number of occasions and am fairly sure that it was accomplished without a fiend being required.

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Re: Trying to reinstall Windows 10

#342097

Postby Urbandreamer » September 23rd, 2020, 6:30 am

madhatter wrote:
I've tried 3 times all from the official Microsoft site so will need to get a fiend to try the Media Creation Tool.


While I am not a Microsoft user, I know someone who has used the Media Creation Tool on a number of occasions and am fairly sure that it was accomplished without a fiend being required.


I fear that you would be wrong. If you don't have a windows machine then Bree's link will redirect and you won't be able to download the tool! EXACTLY as stated in mh's post.
To quote Microsoft
You’ve been routed to this page because the operating system you’re using won’t support the Windows 10 media creation tool and we want to make sure that you can download Windows 10. To use the media creation tool, visit the Microsoft Software Download Windows 10 page from a Windows 7, Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 device.

At that point then you would need your friend to download the tool and possibly to run it to create the USB. I can't say for sure that it will run under WINE (on Linux) and Microsoft seem to claim that it won't.

IF you have access to a windows machine or a friend with such, AND your hardware / firmware will boot from either a USB or CD, then Bree's method is the easiest way to achieve the intended result.

The method that I used to get my installation to work is not for most, and wouldn't be required on most computers. I believe that my problem was a very old bios, or hardware issues. I would only recommend that mh attempt it if they have no access to a windows machine at all AND have proven that the machine will not boot from any external media. Without the ability to boot from external media it would be risky on a machine with no physical access to the hard drive.

montehampster
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Re: Trying to reinstall Windows 10

#342183

Postby montehampster » September 23rd, 2020, 11:09 am

Pretty damn stupid when the only way I can install Windows is to have to use a machine already running Windows!

It's driven me to Wine and not the emulator!

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Re: Trying to reinstall Windows 10

#342193

Postby Infrasonic » September 23rd, 2020, 11:37 am

montehampster wrote:Pretty damn stupid when the only way I can install Windows is to have to use a machine already running Windows!

It's driven me to Wine and not the emulator!


Each to their own but I tend to run W10 natively with multiboot options for various Linux (either live or persistent) from alternative SATA or USB drives. Secure boot turned off.
I've done that across several machines for myself and others and most of the time there are no issues. Or if there are issues it's easier to fix with multiple drives, especially boot problems.

Another option is to run Virtual Machines.
W10 host, Linux guest.
It does depend on the hardware though, generally something with decent CPU specs and a good amount of RAM (8GB min ideally 16GB+). VM's have their own quirks as you are adding another layer of software so troubleshooting requires a different mindset methodology. I use them but don't rely on them for anything critical.
'Containers' (Docker et al) are the modern 'skinny' VM, but again it's easy to get into the weeds resolving setup issues...

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Re: Trying to reinstall Windows 10

#342216

Postby mc2fool » September 23rd, 2020, 12:30 pm

Urbandreamer wrote:
madhatter wrote:
I've tried 3 times all from the official Microsoft site so will need to get a fiend to try the Media Creation Tool.

While I am not a Microsoft user, I know someone who has used the Media Creation Tool on a number of occasions and am fairly sure that it was accomplished without a fiend being required.

I fear that you would be wrong. If you don't have a windows machine then ...

Methinks you missed the typo madhatter was commenting on. :D

Unless you think a fiend is needed of course........................... ;)

Urbandreamer
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Re: Trying to reinstall Windows 10

#342232

Postby Urbandreamer » September 23rd, 2020, 1:10 pm

mc2fool wrote:
Methinks you missed the typo madhatter was commenting on. :D

Unless you think a fiend is needed of course........................... ;)


Possibly the fiend mentioned is based in Richmond, USA. :twisted:

montehampster
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Re: Trying to reinstall Windows 10

#342246

Postby montehampster » September 23rd, 2020, 2:08 pm

Well 24 hrs later I think I may have found a solution! If anyone else is stupid enough to try this you need to download and install WoeUSB from GitHub.

USB has to be formatted to NTFS..

So far it has booted OK but I've had to delay a full install as I'm about to do the school run and assorted other tasks (and there's only so much excitement I can handle in one day!).

GeoffF100
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Re: Trying to reinstall Windows 10

#342372

Postby GeoffF100 » September 23rd, 2020, 9:35 pm

I saw and article on this topic a few days ago:

https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2017/06/cre ... usb-ubuntu

Here is another one:

https://itsfoss.com/bootable-windows-usb-linux/

I recommend both websites. WoeUSB seems to be the easiest method, but it sometimes gives issues, according to ITSFOSS.

montehampster
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Re: Trying to reinstall Windows 10

#342940

Postby montehampster » September 26th, 2020, 9:07 am

Sorry for the delay but pleased to report WoeUSB worked flawlessly!

My initial thoughts are W10 is still as frustrating as ever with the time it takes to install updates, reboots etc but my daughter does have a fully functioning W10 computer even if she does moan its now much slower!

Infrasonic
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Re: Trying to reinstall Windows 10

#342955

Postby Infrasonic » September 26th, 2020, 10:05 am

montehampster wrote:Sorry for the delay but pleased to report WoeUSB worked flawlessly!

My initial thoughts are W10 is still as frustrating as ever with the time it takes to install updates, reboots etc but my daughter does have a fully functioning W10 computer even if she does moan its now much slower!


If you search 'speed up W10' there's a slew of articles and tutorials giving advice out there on the internet.

The main one that I've found to work the best with older W10 machines is to go through the startup menu and 'disable' all the non essential apps. which cuts down on the CPU bunfight at boot.
Completely reversible, you won't break anything.

Two ways of doing it.
Task Manager/Startup
Search/Startup Apps.

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Re: Trying to reinstall Windows 10

#343039

Postby Breelander » September 26th, 2020, 3:43 pm

montehampster wrote:...my daughter does have a fully functioning W10 computer even if she does moan its now much slower!


Others have told you how to disable all but the most essential start up apps in Task Manager.

But there's more that can be running in the background and could usefully be disabled. This is what I do on all my machines:

The Microsoft Store: open it, click the ... menu, select Settings and turn off 'Update apps automatically'. This prevents background activity and unnecessary network traffic. You can always manually update an App should you need to, when you open the Store menu and select Downloads and updates it will show a list of available updates to choose from.

Go to Settings > Privacy > Background apps. Either turn off 'Let apps run in the background' or, as I do, leave it on but turn off every app you do not have a need for. I turn off everything except Windows Security and Weather.

Settings > Privacy > Diagnostics & feedback. Set Diagnostic date to the minimum basic level: Required diagnostic data. Set Feedback frequency to Never.


So far I've seen no downside to turning off all this background activity.


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