WIll I have to re-buy all my steam games if I do a fresh Win10 install?

[Openupitsdave]

I have been having issues on my PC and doing a full "fresh" install of Windows 10 may be my only option. I know there are different methods of doing a reinstall of Win10 but I have tried those with no luck, so using the "RefreshWindowsTool.exe" is my final option. On the download page for the tool, it says:

"You may lose your digital licenses, digital content associated with applications, or other digital entitlements for applications as a result of using the tool, which may impact your ability to use apps you paid for or app-related content you paid for. For this reason, we don’t recommend using this tool on any PC where you wish to ensure all of your applications and application-related content (including Microsoft applications such as Office) remain properly installed and licensed."

Does this mean that I would have to pay for all my Steam games again, or will I get my license's back when I enter my Windows Key during setup?

When I did a reinstall of Windows using the "MediaCreationTool.exe" tool, I did not have to re-buy any games, only re-download them. Will I have to re-buy all my Steam and Blizzard games if I use the "RefreshWindowsTool.exe"?

 

[madmatt30]

No , steam games are tied to your steam user account & password.

Redownload steam, login & they will be in your library as purchased items.

 

[Openupitsdave]

OK cool..Would you recommend I use that tool, or do the "Start Fresh" option via Windows Defender Security Center> Device Performance & Health> Start Fresh??

Also, Will either of these options also clean my storage drive which is a separate HDD, or only the drive which Windows is install on?

 

[madmatt30]

They both do exactly the same thing.

 

[Openupitsdave]

This website says one is for Anniversary edition and will remove bloatware (via RefreshWindowTool.exe), and the other, via "Fresh Start" is for the Creator Update, which is recommended by Windows https://www.howtogeek.com/265054/how-to-easily-reinstall-windows-10-without-the-bloatware/

Which one is "fresher"? heh

 

[madmatt30]

Use fresh start - seeing as it's the one that is actually compliant with the windows version Youre running.

In all honesty I'd just download the iso from the ms page.
Extract to desktop & run setup.exe then select the clean install option.

If it fails for any reason you still have the Windows setup file to run it again.

 

[Openupitsdave]

If I download the iso, would I need to mount the image or anything, or could I just run setup.exe?

It would be nice to not have bloatware added.

 

[madmatt30]

Window 10 has it's own iso mounter.

Just right click the iso file & select 'open'

 

[Openupitsdave]

OK I just figured out how to download the ISO instead of ..In Chrome I had to do cntrl+shift+I> More Tools> Network Conditions> User Agent> unselect "Select Automatically"> choose mac browser..... then microsoft let me donwload it :]

Thanks!!

 

[Openupitsdave]

RefreshWindowsTool.exe did not work for me. My only options were to use "Fresh Start" or to use MedaCreationTool, or download the windows ISO.

 

[USAFRet]

RefreshWindowsTool.exe did not work for me. My only options were to use "Fresh Start" or to use MedaCreationTool, or download the windows ISO.

Then a clean install is it.
Copy all your personal docs and the SteamApps folder off to elsewhere. Or just download them again.
You do not have to buy them again.