Formatting a hard drive along with the install of a new OS is the best option. The vast majority of operating system installations provide a "format" option as part of the installation process.

Jake Peterson is Lifehacker’s Senior Technology Editor. He has a BFA in Film & TV from NYU, where he specialized in writing. Jake has been helping people with their technology professionally since ...

Windows 11 might be the latest version of Windows, but if you still use Windows 10 and need to "clean install" the operating system, or install or upgrade to it for the first time on an older PC, ...

We originally published this install guide for Windows 11 shortly after the OS was released in October 2021. To keep it current and as useful as possible, we updated it in October 2024 to cover ...