This process is called a clean install, which is ironic as there's nothing particularly clean about it: Microsoft has enshittified Windows Setup.

PCs, for a long time, had a bloatware problem. The major PC manufacturers—Dell, Asus, Acer, and the like—had a bad habit of including "free trials" of software like Norton AntiVirus on new devices.

A fresh Windows installation takes time, and after all that effort, we want to use the device right away. While that’s fine at first, there are a few steps you shouldn’t delay for long—they help keep ...

For a certain kind of computer buyer, the first thing you always did with a new laptop or desktop from a company like Dell, HP, Acer, or Asus wasn’t to open the box and start using it. Instead, you ...

As part of its recent campaign to make Windows the platform of choice for "hybrid work," Microsoft is rolling out a new security feature. It's called Smart App Control and it's kind of like Windows ...

Windows 11's Insider Preview builds keep coming fast and furious. Just a couple of weeks ago, the next version of Windows made the shift from developer builds into beta, indicating that Microsoft ...

Justin Pot is a freelance journalist who helps people get more out of technology. Microsoft keeps adding more and more stuff to Windows and it often seems to get in the way more than it helps. A ...