How-to: Four ways to do an in-place "Repair Install" of Windows 10

[OldGrayGary]

For most of us techs who've been around for a while, we've run "repair re-installations" over the years for several earlier versions of Windows. It turns out that there are still methods to run such an "in-place repair re-installation" of Windows 10. Such re-installs keep personal data intact, and keep installed programs as well. [The Windows 10 built-in Recovery tool "Refresh" keeps personal files, but does not keep your installed programs].

I would expect that in-place re-installs might not work to fix troubles on all machines, but they might indeed save time on those for which this sort of repair is successful.

Of the four methods, one will likely disappear after July 29, 2016, since it makes use of the "Get Windows 10 app (GWX)" that offers the free upgrade to 10 for current Windows 7 / 8 / 8.1 users (as you might guess, the offer ends after July 29, 2016).

The other three methods involve using an .ISO image (easiest is usually to have a bootable Windows 10 DVD), a USB flash drive, or the Microsoft Media Creation Tool for Windows 10.

Best of all, I don't have to type out all these instructions here, because the nice folks over at WindowsTenForums already made a nice guide complete with screenshots. Here it is:
Repair Install Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade - Windows 10 Forums

 

[biorpg]

Windows 10 did actually have the same handy-dandy refresh tool in the earlier builds, but it was removed because Microsoft.
And also because Microsoft, a few builds after removing the refresh option, they began calling the 'reset' option 'refresh'; likely to obscure any existing or future references to the actual refresh operation. Because, you know... Microsoft.