Other Reinstall Options

Get the lowdown on three further techniques: reinstall from a recovery partition, downgrade Windows and set up a dual-boot system

So far, we’ve covered both traditional reinstall techniques, but there are other reasons – and methods – for reinstalling Windows. First up is the recovery option. Most prebuilt PCs come with a built-in manufacturer’s recovery partition that enables you to restore Windows to its factory shipped condition. The main advantage of this method – aside from being cheaper and easier for the manufacturer, of course – is that your PC is restored to a guaranteed working state, with all the drivers it needs to function. The downsides are that a lot of extra unwanted software is usually installed alongside Windows, you need to exercise extreme caution not to lose everything on the drive and that if the recovery partition corrupts – typically due to hardware failure – you’re left with no means of reinstalling Windows.