Create an install drive instead

A Windows 10 install drive is very much like a Windows 10 recovery drive. The major differences

are that the install drive defaults to reinstalling Windows, and doesn’t know the details of your particular Windows installation.

First, you’ll need to download the media creation tool.

Be patient; it’s a big file. Once you have it, plug in your flash drive, launch MediaCreationTool.exe, select Create installation media for another PC and follow the prompts.

When you boot from this drive, the Windows Setup wizard comes up. On the second page of the wizard, ignore the big “Install now” button and click Repair your computer in the lower-left corner. That brings you into an environment

nearly identical to the Recovery Tool.

But if you do a complete reinstall, there’s a possibility that it will require you to enter your Product ID number—the proof that you can legally run Windows 10 on this machine.

So take a precaution now: Download and run Nirsoft’s free and portable ProduKey. Save the displayed numbers in a safe place.