(This process will erase everything on the flash drive, as such make sure to backup any files to another location as necessary before you continue.) Select the correct language, architecture, and edition as required.

Uncheck the Use the recommended options for this PC option.

Select the Create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file) for another PC option.

Click the Accept button to agree to the legal terms.

Double-click the MediaCreationTool.exe file to launch the experience.

Download the Media Creation Tool from the Microsoft support website clicking the Download tool now button.

If you don't have one, you can get a cheap 16GB USB drive on Amazon. To create a bootable drive with the installation files of Windows 10, you'll need to connect a USB flash drive with at least 8GB of free storage, and preferably, you want to go through the following steps using a different computer: The best way to safely set up your used or refurbished computer is to perform a clean installation using a USB bootable media to start from scratch with a safe copy of Windows 10.

How to configure the Out-of-box experience (OOBE) of Windows 10.

How to do a clean installation of Windows 10.

How to configure your PC to boot from a USB flash drive.

In this Windows 10 guide, we'll go through the steps to safely set up a used computer to keep your system and data secure from possible malicious software and hackers. Sometimes, even big companies can have problems - do you remember the Lenovo's Superfish adware controversy? Usually, getting a pre-owned PC from a well-known company, it's likely that they followed the proper procedures to reset it.

Used windows 10 laptop