Moving To Windows 11 Question

[Jiminimity]

So, in the recent months I got some parts that allowed me to use Windows 11, and have purchased a Windows 11 Pro OEM key (I plan on moving to a full key in the future, this was just all I could afford for now).

I have downloaded Windows 11 to a USB and know that I have to set the computer to launch from the USB using the BIOS.

However, I fear that I may have infected files that antivirus software isn't picking up, and would like to fully wipe all drives of everything without losing their partitions, as a completely new install.

Would I just install Windows 11 normally, or would i have to do something extra to wipe my drives? I mean EVERYTHING.

[Further Info Edit]

So, I left out my information like a dingus, I have three drives (2 TB M.2 that I want to place Windows on, an 8 TB HDD and 3 TB HDD). I have these drives because of amount of games and stuff I like to keep on hand, and haven't replaced anything with SSDs yet.

I have yet to install Windows 11, but here are the part conversions. These parts are going in altogether to reduce chances of damaging it when opening it multiple times.

I have already purchased the following parts, and wanted to change them due to suspected damage to my components and the fact that the parts are literally 7 years old.

PSU: Apevia Signature 950 ---> Corsair RMX850 - This is being transferred out because I know how unreliable Apevia can be, and don't want to risk anything.

MOBO: MSI Z270 SLI ---> x670 Aorus Elite AX - I had to change this part due to the change in CPU I wanted, which will be mentioned later.

RAM: ??? (Unknown DDR4 RAM) ---> 64 GB Corsair Vengeance DDR5 5600mhz - While I know 64 is probably overkill for gaming, I wanted to be safe rather than sorry.

CPU: i7-7700k ---> Ryzen 7 7800x3d - While I know the risks of this CPU, I also know it's an incredible boon over my i7, and I believe it's the i7 in the first place that might be causing a random slowdown issue. I'm pretty nervous about putting it in.

[Part Links]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09WN2H42Y/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&th=1

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTZB7F88?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BF7FT26Z?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

https://www.amazon.com/Corsair-RM850x-Fully-Modular-Supply/dp/B08R5JPTMZ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2553F709I03SD&keywords=rmx%2B859&qid=1694398298&sprefix=rmx%2B859%2Caps%2C117&sr=8-1&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.f5122f16-c3e8-4386-bf32-63e904010ad0&th=1

I previously believed the issue may be due to a virus because it seemed to happen whenever I launched Skyrim: Special Edition, however I launched it earlier today and the computer ran mostly if not completely fine, and I've noticed it seems to take slowdown time around the same time after my computer starts for the day. Just to be safe, I'm reinstalling windows and wanting to wipe everything clean.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย smallcat:

What parts are you changing ? If it s not the mobo you may keep your Windows and upgrade it .

Regardless it's always best to do a clean install then an in-place upgrade if going from Win10 to 11.

If he already has 11 installed and moving to new Motherboard as long as Motherboard isn't too old he shouldn't need to reinstall WinOS at all. Just wipe all the extra drivers and driver related softwares and shutdown, swap Motherboard. Boot and then configure BIOS and continue on

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Why mess with partitions? Unless maybe you have a 2 or 4 TB ssd and would rather configure it so OS (c drive) is only around 200GB or so. Otherwise just allow each drive to be a full sized partition.

If you do a clean OS install however then once you reach the OS installer off the USB soon as that loads up the first screen, press SHIFT+F10 to bring up CMD and use DiskPart to wipe drive and make a single partition as there really is no need to allow WinOS to do its usual thing of making 3 partitions which I always found rather dumb.

Best bet for other stuff is have another ssd for Games and then another drive for movies, shows, videos, pictures, Downloads, Documents. Try to use OS drive just for OS and installed items like Drivers and Apps

[Jiminimity]

So, I left out my information like a dingus, I have three drives (2 TB M.2 that I want to place Windows on, an 8 TB HDD and 3 TB HDD). I have these drives because of amount of games and stuff I like to keep on hand, and haven't replaced anything with SSDs yet.

I have yet to install Windows 11, but here are the part conversions. These parts are going in altogether to reduce chances of damaging it when opening it multiple times.

I have already purchased the following parts, and wanted to change them due to suspected damage to my components and the fact that the parts are literally 7 years old.

PSU: Apevia Signature 950 ---> Corsair RMX850 - This is being transferred out because I know how unreliable Apevia can be, and don't want to risk anything.

MOBO: MSI Z270 SLI ---> x670 Aorus Elite AX - I had to change this part due to the change in CPU I wanted, which will be mentioned later.

RAM: ??? (Unknown DDR4 RAM) ---> 64 GB Corsair Vengeance DDR5 5600mhz - While I know 64 is probably overkill for gaming, I wanted to be safe rather than sorry.

CPU: i7-7700k ---> Ryzen 7 7800x3d - While I know the risks of this CPU, I also know it's an incredible boon over my i7, and I believe it's the i7 in the first place that might be causing a random slowdown issue. I'm pretty nervous about putting it in.

I previously believed the issue may be due to a virus because it seemed to happen whenever I launched Skyrim: Special Edition, however I launched it earlier today and the computer ran mostly if not completely fine, and I've noticed it seems to take slowdown time around the same time after my computer starts for the day. Just to be safe, I'm reinstalling windows and wanting to wipe everything clean.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Again, backup anything you might need of C Drive; as there are items here people do not think to backup; such as all your saved games from Single Player games all get stored on C Drive. Use GameSaveManager to easily make a backup of them all and then restore to new PC or to new config after a fresh OS install.

Once done, shutdown and disconnect all secondary drives.

Then connect just M2 SSD + Win11 USB and boot up into the USB and go from there. During the OS install there is option to wipe all of the C Drive, do this.

It's really that simple. Once OS is installed, shutdown and connect your secondary drives. Some Motherboard might auto shift the drive boot order around so after doing so, go back into BIOS and double check it and ensure the M2 SSD is the only boot option / device.

Once in Win11, you can manually set the Drive Letters for your secondary drives if you want. No need to really wipe them, just do a full scan of all drives using Microsoft Defender and MalwareBytes Free Edition. Scan for Rootkits with MB.

Install all game clients to C Drive.
Once you load those up you can point back to the game on secondary drives so you don't need to redownload them all.

[Jiminimity]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย smallcat:

Dont worry if it s only Skyrim . It s an old game and i guess its not optimized - as loading game data in small steps instead of loading a large block . I have a few games with similar issue . They re old - 10 years or more . One of them is Gothic 3 . i tested it on 3 different GPUs , every one faster and faster , no difference , lol .

edit - i have Skyrim SE but uninstalled it long ago . Cannot test it now .

I should also mention that using the restart option on my computer fixes the problem for an unknown period of time until the next day, which was another reason i thought it might be a virus. The slowdown effects everything, and when my computer slows down and freezes it still takes in my inputs (it'll keep what I type down) and put it real fast after less than a second of freezing. Keeping the inputs and suddenly putting them in makes me believe that it's a CPU problem, so I'm just not sure what to believe anymore.

[plat]

Did you get verification from a malware scan or are you assuming at this point? I would not dilly-dally around when it comes to suspicious behavior. Some things like info stealers will rob you blind.

It might be hardware, it might be this or that. But I would start ruling things out now, even though you're saying you're going to reinstall Windows.

Try Kaspersky's Virus Removal Tool (KVRT) I'd link the page but it starts downloading as soon as you clink on the link. Also some like Malwarebytes free scanner and occasionally I run Rogue Killer but it nags to upgrade to its paid version. Just ignore or turn off, it's a good scanner..

https://www.adlice.com/roguekiller/

Just a suggestion. Unless it's too scary to contemplate what might be lurking on your drive. :

[Jiminimity]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย plat:

Did you get verification from a malware scan or are you assuming at this point? I would not dilly-dally around when it comes to suspicious behavior. Some things like info stealers will rob you blind.

It might be hardware, it might be this or that. But I would start ruling things out now, even though you're saying you're going to reinstall Windows.

Try Kaspersky's Virus Removal Tool (KVRT) I'd link the page but it starts downloading as soon as you clink on the link. Also some like Malwarebytes free scanner and occasionally I run Rogue Killer but it nags to upgrade to its paid version. Just ignore or turn off, it's a good scanner..

https://www.adlice.com/roguekiller/

Just a suggestion. Unless it's too scary to contemplate what might be lurking on your drive. ::tf2scream:

I'm extremely paranoid due to mental issues (not gonna go into, not what this post is about), so I'm always afraid of ♥♥♥♥ that might not be apparently affecting. I run BitDefender regularly, but I'm going to try to use some of the tools you talked about. I used to run Malwarebytes Premium and it never brought anything up, so I wonder if I'm truly more paranoid than I thought on the virus end.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

^ It's simply BS non-sense. If you have any infection at all it's because YOU did something stupid online, plain and simple.

The media makes out to be this BIG thing that it's not. Only complete newbs gets viruses anymore. Like putting blind trust in downloading from questionable websites and such.

[Jiminimity]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Bad 💀 Motha:

^ It's simply BS non-sense. If you have any infection at all it's because YOU did something stupid online, plain and simple.

The media makes out to be this BIG thing that it's not. Only complete newbs gets viruses anymore. Like putting blind trust in downloading from questionable websites and such.

Oh trust me, I know it'd be my fault, I'm just overly scared of this stuff. If you guys say there's no virus then it has to be hardware-side. I'm even checking with Kasperkey and nothing's coming up, so I'm 1000% convinced that there's nothing malicious here. However, I've already spent the money on the OEM key, and I've planned on moving to 11 when I could to keep the longevity of my computer going (as 10 is losing support in 2025). I think I'll still install Windows 11, but I'm going to carry through without wiping the files from the other two drives and just focus on wiping the C: drive.

Thank you everyone for dealing with me and lending so much support/help, I really appreciate this.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

MalwareBytes usually catches more then most of all of those major paid AV suites combined. Even without paying for Premium. Only issue with MalwareBytes Free Edition is lack of any real time protections.

Overall maybe you can use that Win11 key on another PC. If your current Motherboard has Win10 on it. Once you switch Motherboard simply use the old Win10 key in Win11 to get 11 activated for free.

[Jiminimity]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Bad 💀 Motha:

MalwareBytes usually catches more then most of all of those major paid AV suites combined. Even without paying for Premium. Only issue with MalwareBytes Free Edition is lack of any real time protections.

Overall maybe you can use that Win11 key on another PC. If your current Motherboard has Win10 on it. Once you switch Motherboard simply use the old Win10 key in Win11 to get 11 activated for free.

Unfortunately this computer was originally a pre-built so an OEM was used for 10 anyway. I know now however many years later that pre-builds are usually not the greatest, but I had purchased this computer 7 years ago. I'm going to buy a non OEM-key when I can afford it to avoid this kind of thing, but until then, hopefully the OEM will do.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

OEM Pre-Build and OEM System Builder Key are not the same thing.

Was it just a build done by PC Repair Shop? What we tend to refer to as "Mom & Pop Shops"
As opposed to a DELL / HP / LENOVO

If it the mom & pop shop who built it used OEM System Builder key; that's fine. You're changing Motherboard and OS; so you can simply activate Win11 for free, which was never activated on the old motherboard, using your old Win10 key. This is perfectly fine to do, and fully works legit.

Now if you were trying to change Motherboard and still use the same Win10 key, that be a different story.

[Jiminimity]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Bad 💀 Motha:

OEM Pre-Build and OEM System Builder Key are not the same thing.

Was it just a build done by PC Repair Shop? What we tend to refer to as "Mom & Pop Shops"
As opposed to a DELL / HP / LENOVO

If it the mom & pop shop who built it used OEM System Builder key; that's fine. You're changing Motherboard and OS; so you can simply activate Win11 for free, which was never activated on the old motherboard, using your old Win10 key. This is perfectly fine to do, and fully works legit.

Now if you were trying to change Motherboard and still use the same Win10 key, that be a different story.

Unfortunately no love was put into this machine like a 'mom and pop shop', I got this thing from IBuyPower a long time ago. A lot has been switched out over time (cases, coolers, and one motherboard). I've changed the motherboard even and was still able to use the same Windows 10 key, so I'm not quite sure what's up with it anymore.

Edit: Just double checked with 'slmgr /dli' in a powershell, I have an OEM_DM channel key currently under 'Windows Core' or something like that.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

iBuyPower is no different then a corner repair shop doing your build; they would have used OEM System Builder key; which you CAN re-use.

But again, you aren't going to be using that Win10 key now. It gets you a free Win11 of the same edition as an upgrade to that Win10 key. Whether you do that on the current Motherboard, or a new one doesn't matter. Just that it can only be done once. You'd be putting Win11 on the new system (Motherboard). You enter the old Win10 key in Win11 on the new motherboard in order to activate your Win11 for free.

So there is no reason to go and waste that Win11 Product Key you purchased. Save it for someone else or another machine perhaps.

[N3tRunn3r]

W11 Clean Install
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsinsider/cleaninstall

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย N3tRunn3r:

Reformat/reinstall a fresh and clean W10/W11:

1. Plugin your USB with Windows 10/11 install media
   
2. Open Windows Start menu
   
3. Restart your PC while holding the Shift key to boot into the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE). Once in the Windows Recovery Environment, choose to boot from the USB drive.

Once your drives are formatted in setup, continue..

@ Language Selection

1. cut LAN/WLAN
   
2. >> Shift + F10
   
3. >>

   oobe\bypassnro

4. auto-reboots
   
5. >>

   "I don't have internet"

6. Install "LOCAL ACCOUNT"
   >> Profit

Later you can even setup a PIN in Windows Options without being online/Microsoft account


W10/W11 Clean Install
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsinsider/cleaninstall