Windows 11 Home Reinstallation Guide

Step 1: Build the Windows 11 USB installer

Do this part on a different computer, one that already has internet access.

1. Go to Microsoft's official Windows 11 download page and grab the "Create Windows 11 Installation Media" tool.
2. Open the tool once it's downloaded, then accept the license terms.
3. When it asks what to use it for, choose "Create installation media for another PC."
4. Leave the language and edition set to recommended, unless you know you need something specific, then click Next.
5. Plug in your USB flash drive, select "USB flash drive" as the media type, then pick the drive from the list and click Next.
6. The tool will download Windows and build the installer on the USB drive. This can take a while depending on your internet speed, so grab a coffee.
7. Once it's done, safely eject the USB drive.

Step 2: Boot the target PC from the USB drive

1. Plug the USB drive into the PC you're reinstalling Windows on.
2. Restart the PC, and as soon as it powers back on, tap the boot menu key repeatedly. This is usually F12, F2, ESC, or DEL depending on the manufacturer. If you're not sure which one, ask any of our customer service agents.
3. From the boot menu, select the USB drive (it'll usually say the brand name of the flash drive).
4. Windows Setup should load up. If it doesn't, double check the USB was built correctly or try a different USB port.

Step 3: Install Windows

1. Choose your language and keyboard layout, then click Next.
2. Click "Install now."
3. Click "I don't have a product key." If needed, we will activate Windows once everything is done.
4. Select Windows 11 Home as the edition, then accept the license terms.
5. Choose "Custom: Install Windows only (advanced)."
6. Back up your files first, as deleting partitions will permanently wipe the drive. Select and delete each existing partition on the target drive until you are left with unallocated space.
7. Click Next and let the installer do its thing. The PC will restart a few times on its own; that's normal.

Step 4: Skip the account login on the setup screen

Once Windows finishes installing, it'll drop you into the out of box setup (OOBE), and pretty quickly it's going to ask you to connect to a network so it can sign you into a Microsoft account. Since there are no network drivers installed yet, the PC can't actually see any Wi-Fi or ethernet connection at this point. Here's how to get past it.

1. On the "Let's connect you to a network" screen, press Shift and F10 together to open a command prompt.
2. Type the following exactly, then press Enter:
   OOBE\BYPASSNRO
3. The PC will restart automatically. You'll land back on the network screen again; this is expected.
4. This time, look for "I don't have internet" near the bottom of the screen and click it.
5. On the next screen, click "Continue with limited setup."
6. Finish creating your local account (username and password), answer the privacy questions, and Windows will finish setting itself up.

Step 5: Install your network drivers

Once you're on the Windows desktop, the PC still won't have Wi-Fi or ethernet working since those drivers aren't loaded yet. This is where the driver package we emailed you comes in.

1. On another device that has internet access, open the email we sent you and download the attached network driver file.
2. Copy that file onto a USB flash drive. You can reuse the same one from earlier, just make sure it's not still set as the Windows installer, or use a second drive.
3. Plug that USB drive into the PC you just reinstalled Windows on.
4. Copy the driver file from the USB drive onto the desktop, then extract it. If it's a zip file, right click it and choose "Extract All."
5. Open the extracted folder and look for a setup file, usually named something like setup.exe or install.exe, and run it.
6. Follow the prompts to install the driver, then restart the PC when it's done.
7. Once it restarts, your Wi-Fi or ethernet should be working. Go ahead and connect to your network like normal.