Bloatware Banished: Windows 10 Eliminates the Need to Ever Reinstall Windows on New PCs

Windows 10’s New Recovery System

 This news was revealed in a Microsoft blog post titled “How Windows 10 achieves its compact footprint.” Windows 10 has a new recovery system that works in an entirely different way. Most people focused on the storage improvements and missed the implications for manufacturer-installed junkware.

While Windows 8 used a recovery image that manufacturers could customize, Windows 10 uses a more intelligent system that rebuilds Windows in-place without the need for a separate recovery image. The system is cleaned up and the latest files are kept — this means you also won’t have to install Windows Updates after refreshing or resetting your PC. Here’s how Microsoft explained it:

“We are also redesigning Windows’ Refresh and Reset functionalities to no longer use a separate recovery image (often preinstalled by manufacturers today) in order to bring Windows devices back to a pristine state.”

Manufacturers Can Still Add Pre-installed Software, But…

Rather than restoring Windows to a previous point in time using the refresh image, the refresh and reset functionalities will “bring Windows devices back to a pristine state” by restoring them to a known-good state with only built-in Windows software installed.

PC manufacturers will still be able to customize the computer’s state after the refresh or reset — for example, adding their own hardware drivers and any other software they want, including junkware like Superfish. For the average computer user doing a typical refresh or reset, the experience will likely be similar to today.

However, Windows will restore the system to a known-good state before installing the manufacturer-provided software and configuration changes. These changes will be stored separately in a different package. You’ll be able to delete this manufacturer-provided package of software and changes from a Windows 10 PC and then run a refresh or reset. This will restore your computer to a fresh state with only Microsoft’s own Windows software installed and no manufacturer-provided junkware installed.

This doesn’t actually solve the “crapware” problem for everyone. Less knowledgeable users will likely still end up with PCs filled with bloatware after performing a normal refresh or reset. But geeks will at least be able to get a fresh system much more quickly. And average users will be able to find these instructions, make a quick change, and refresh their PCs to get a fresh system — it’s easier than a full reinstall.

We don’t have all the final details — Windows 10 isn’t even finished yet! But the change to the way the refresh and reset image works is a big step in the right direction from Microsoft. If only Windows asked whether you wanted to install the manufacturer-provided software — and which bits of that software — when you refreshed or reset it.