The ultimate Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 clean install guide

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The Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 comes with a recovery partition that includes everything you need to rebuild it should you need to. If that partition is unavailable due to hard drive change or failure, or you just want a clean installation of Windows, this guide is for you.

The ultimate Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 clean install guide will guide you through installing a clean version of Windows 10 and doing everything necessary to get your XPS up and running again. The process is actually quite easy once you understand the steps.

You will need to set aside an hour or so to see this through, plus however long it will take to download the installation media from Microsoft. That media is around 3.5GB in size, so factor that in if you need to.

You will need either a blank DVD and DVD burner or spare USB drive with at least 4GB free space for the installation media. Both work equally so there is no ‘best’ choice, just use what you have.

Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 clean install of Windows 10
To be able to perform a clean install, you will need Windows 10 installation media.

1. Download Windows 10 64-bit installation media here.
2. Burn the media to a DVD or create a USB boot drive as you see fit. The wizard guides you through the creation process.
3. Insert the installation media into the DVD drive or USB slot and boot the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1.
4. Press space to boot from the media when prompted.
5. Let the loader install into memory and select Install now when the screen appears.
6. Make your country and language selection and proceed with the installation wizard.
7. Select ‘Custom’ at installation type and then select Clean install.
8. Select the partition and let the installation complete.
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9. When prompted for the product key, select ‘I don’t have a product key’. As there was a previous installation on the device Windows will automatically activate once installed.
10. Now navigate to Settings, Update & security and run Windows Update.
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A clean installation of Windows 10 onto a Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 takes a while but the installation wizard takes care of most of the work for you. Once complete, you have a brand new, fully functioning Windows 10 install. Once you have performed all Windows updates, you can add your security software, update drivers and install all your applications. See? Told you it was easy!