TECH TIP

Create a new Windows 10 installation drive. Here’s how:

1 – Make sure you have a USB Flash Drive with at least 8GB of free space on it.

2 – Visit this page on the Microsoft website and click the Download tool now button.

3 – Follow the instructions in this section of that same page:

“Using the tool to create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file) to install Windows 10 on a different PC”

Once you have created the Windows installation media (on the USB Flash Drive) you can follow the steps below to install Windows 10 from scratch on the Acer machine:

1 – Insert the USB Flash Drive you created using the steps above into an empty USB port on the Acer PC.

2 – Press the Power button and see if the machine boots from the installation USB drive. If it does, follow the directions as they appear to install Windows 10 from scratch.

If the machine boots up to the login screen and asks for a password just like it did before, you’ll need to go into the machine’s BIOS settings and set the machine to boot from the USB drive instead of the hard drive.

Follow these steps to make the change in the BIOS settings:

1 – Press and hold the PC’s Power button until it shuts down.

2 – Turn the machine back on and repeatedly press the Del key on the keyboard until the BIOS Settings Screen appears.

3 – Go into the “Boot” settings and enable booting from USB.

4 – Follow the instructions on the screen to designate USB as the primary boot device.

5 – Save the change you made to the BIOS settings.

6 – Boot the PC from the USB Flash Drive and initiate the Windows 10 installation procedure.

That’s all there is to it. After the Windows 10 installation is complete you can set up the machine to your liking, including the installation of your preferred programs, apps and printer driver.