

SEE: How to revive your Windows 10 installation with System Image Recoveryįresh Start will begin an analysis of the software on your system that will be removed, displaying the screen shown in Figure E.


Figure D The process could take a bit more than 20 minutes. While the message says 20 minutes or longer, my system took almost an hour to complete. You'll also get a general idea of how long Fresh Start will take to complete the procedure. The procedureĪfter you work through the UAC, the Fresh Start opening screen will appear, as shown in Figure D.This screen provides a brief overview of what the Fresh Start procedure will do. Figure C You'll have to work through a UAC. Next, you'll see a User Account Control dialog like the one shown in Figure C. Figure B When you see the Fresh Start page, click Get started. Then, click Additional Info to open the Fresh Start page, shown in Figure B, and click Get started. To begin using the Fresh Start feature, launch Windows Defender Security Center and access the Device Performance & Health page. See: Microsoft is getting closer to completely modernizing Windows 10's native applications Getting started You can find step-by-step directions in How to revive your Windows 10 installation with System Image Recovery. The best thing you can do is create a System Image. While Fresh Start is designed to keep all your data intact throughout the operation, you may want the peace of mind of having your own backup. That may seem like a bit of a pain point-and it is- but all those applications you never used, such as third-party bloatware that came preinstalled on your system by the manufacturer that was just clogging up your system, will be gone. You will now have to reinstall any applications you regularly use. When your PC restarts, log in with your same username and password and you'll be able to find all your data just as you left it. Chances are, most of the applications installed on your system will be removed. The operation will then restore the data, settings, and the Windows Store apps that were installed with Windows 10 by Microsoft or the computer manufacturer. After that, it will remove most of the applications from your system and install a fresh copy of the most recent version of Windows 10-which the operation downloads from the Microsoft site, rather than pulling an old copy from a restore partition. More specifically, when you choose Fresh Start, it will find and back up all your data, settings, and native apps. The Fresh Start feature basically performs a clean install of Windows 10 while leaving your data intact.
