


To create bootable installation media, you'll need a USB flash drive with at least 8GB capacity. If you can't find a recovery image, you'll have to download and install Windows 10 manually. See this article for instructions on how to find out whether this solution is available for your PC: "How to get a free Windows (or Linux) recovery image for your OEM PC."Īlso: Yes, you can still get a free Windows 10 upgrade. The ideal way to do a clean install is to download a Windows 10 recovery image made specifically for your PC model. (For recommendations of third-party software, including some excellent free options, see "Best backup software (2022).") In any case, you should make a complete backup of your system before going any further. If, on the other hand, the PC was originally designed to run Windows 10, your chances of successfully installing Windows 10 are much better. It's possible you'll encounter glitches and hardware incompatibilities when you install Windows 10, and those problems might be even more annoying than whatever issues you have with Windows 11. If this is a new PC that came with Windows 11 preinstalled, you might want to think twice about whether you really want to do this. Here are ZDNET's top picks for a variety of use cases.
