

Microsoft's testing a new tool for Windows 10 that sweeps away third-party software



In our opinion, Windows 10 is undeniably the best version of Windows to come out of Redmond, and it's only going to get better with time. We know this because Microsoft's been testing some neat new features in its Windows Insider program, one of the latest of which is a tool designed to give your Windows installation a fresh start.Microsoft said it designed the tool in response to users asking for an easier way to perform a clean installation of Windows. What it does is install clean copy of the most recent version of Windows while removing apps that either came pre-installed on your PC or that you installed after taking possession of the system.In other words, say goodbye to bloatware. It's like having a nuke button for prebuilt PCs that ship with oodles of third-party software and trialware installed, as bulk OEMs have a habit of installing. One thing you have to be careful of is losing pre-installed utilities that might actually be useful. That's mostly a concern for business class systems that include custom software for professional users and IT admins. Also be advised that this tool gets rid of drivers that didn't originally ship with Windows."Using this tool will remove ALL applications that do not come standard with Windows, including other Microsoft applications such as Office. It will also remove most pre-installed applications such as OEM applications, support applications, and drivers. The tool does not give you the option to recover removed applications automatically and you will need to manually reinstall any applications you wish to keep," Microsoft says.If you're missing drivers after a clean installation has run, Microsoft advises going to Settings > Update & security > Windows Update, along with your PC maker's website.As of right now, the new tool is exclusive to Windows Insiders and will only work on Windows 10 builds 14342 or later. You'll need an Internet connection to download both the tool and a clean 3GB image of Windows 10, along with "sufficient data storage."You can find out more information and download the tool here . A link to the tool is also included in the latest Windows 10 Insider build (14367) in the Settings app.