If you decide you want to ditch Windows 10 S and roll back to your previous version of Windows 10, you can do so. You can test whether your peripherals work on Windows 10 S, whether Project Centennial desktop apps from the Windows Store work properly, or just see how you can live with Windows 10 S’s limitations.
You’ll only be able to install applications from the Store, and some hardware devices won’t work if they require drivers that aren’t available through Microsoft. All your desktop applications will be removed. You’ll be able to use Windows 10 S with all its limitations after the installation completes. When the download is complete, the tool will restart your PC and finish the process. It will download and install Windows 10 S on your PC for you. When you’re ready, visit Microsoft’s website and download the Windows 10 S installer. If you are installing Windows 10 S on an important PC, be sure to back up your files and create a system recovery drive ahead of time, just in case. We recommend not installing Windows 10 S on your primary PC. If you’re installing Windows 10 S on a PC, be aware that you won’t be able to run non-Store applications afterwards, some features may not work, and that some of your personal files will be deleted during the installation process. RELATED: What's the Best Way to Back Up My Computer? (And you don’t need a product key to install Windows 10, so anyone can do this to set up a quick and dirty virtual machine to test Windows 10 S.) Second, run the tool to convert your Windows 10 installation into a Windows 10 S one. First, install Windows 10 Professional in a virtual machine or on a PC. You could use this to install Windows 10 S in a roundabout way. Windows 10 S is actually based on Windows 10 Professional, according to Microsoft. This won’t work on Windows 10 Home, which makes some sense. You can run this on Windows 10 Professional, Education, or Enterprise to convert your existing Windows 10 installation to Windows 10 S. Microsoft has released a Windows 10 S installer implemented as an. Everyone Else: Convert a Windows 10 PC to Windows 10 S
zip file to the USB recovery drive you created. You’ll be asked to use the Create a recovery drive tool on an existing Windows PC and then copy the files from the recovery image. You’ll get a recovery image you can use to reinstall Windows 10 S on this device.įollow the instructions in Step 3 on the Surface recovery page.
Just sign in with the Microsoft account your Surface Laptop is registered to or enter its serial number. If you have a Surface Laptop that shipped with Windows 10 S and you want to reinstall its Windows 10 S operating system, you can download a recovery image for your Surface device from Microsoft’s Surface website. Surface Laptop Users: Reinstall Windows 10 S from a Recovery Image
Most people don’t have MSDN subscriptions, though, so hopefully Microsoft will make Windows 10 S ISO files more broadly available in the future. However, there is an alternative for Windows 10 users-see the last section of this article. The ISO files can be used to install Windows 10 S in a virtual machine or on actual PC hardware, just like you’d install any other version of Windows. If you have an MSDN subscription, you can download Windows 10 S from Microsoft. Microsoft has released ISO files of Windows 10 S, but only through MSDN (because Windows 10 S is meant for “education”, even though Microsoft is inexplicably shipping it on a flagship laptop). RELATED: What Is Windows 10 S, and How Is It Different? After you see a confirmation message on the page, you'll be able to install apps from outside of the Microsoft Store.MSDN Subscribers: Install Windows 10 S From an ISO
On your PC running Windows 10 in S mode, open Settings > Update & Security > Activation.If you make the switch, you won't be able to go back to Windows 10 in S mode. There's no charge to switch out of S mode. If you want to install an app that isn't available in the Microsoft Store, you'll need to switch out of S mode. Switching out of S mode is one-way. Windows 10 in S mode is designed for security and performance, exclusively running apps from the Microsoft Store.