Steve, normally I'd do a clean system install. You may need to use a utility to find the actual product installation number but I know MS is making this harder to do so I can't say which utility to use. Once you get the base install and some updates downloaded, get all your necessary software loaded and then invest in a good drive cloning bay ($25-50) and make a copy of your OS on another drive that is the same size, same maker and same product line. Put it away in anti-static bag somewhere safe and only use it to restore your perfect OS if something goes sideways. I've done this for my primary boxes and my sons laptop and it has got us up and running in under 2 hrs after drive failure or having a windows update hose your system.
lopaka On Mon, Dec 25, 2017 at 2:39 PM, Steve Tomporowski <didym...@gmail.com> wrote: > Working further with my Win10 update problem, I put a bare drive on the > system and installed 1709 and it went perfectly (except for the constant > babbling of Cortana). So my original boot drive will have to be redone. > Which is the best way to do that? I could do a Win10 reset, that wipes the > apps and returns the registry to square one, or do I just wipe the drive > and reinstall? What's the easiest way to get your Win10 key back? The > system is actually down now as the power supply decided that it didn't want > to work anymore. Again the standby 5V is bad. Had too many of those. > > Thanks...Steve >