Arm-based Windows 11 PCs now have an official ISO for clean installs

When power users get a new PC, sometimes they like to start fresh — so they pull the pro gamer move of re-installing Windows with a fresh ISO image direct from Microsoft that has no pack-in bloatware and no unnecessarily elaborate “driver management programs” from the manufacturer. That wasn’t an option for the more specialized build of Windows 11 on the new Snapdragon laptops… until now.

Thanks to the Arm64-based hardware, which is different from the usual x86 and x64 guts you’re used to in most laptops and desktops, the build of Windows 11 on these new laptops is unique. It took a few months, but Microsoft has finally published a disk image (or ISO file) for these devices. You can now download it directly from Microsoft’s website to set up a direct reinstallation or create a bootable flash drive for another device. It’s just like the existing installation media tool.

This is an exciting option for a very particular slice of the Windows userbase. Of course, that same slice is likely to be unimpressed by even a “clean” installation, as Microsoft’s pack-in software and integrated advertising has only gotten more and more intrusive over the last few years, to say nothing of the huge push for Copilot AI “features.” And assuming you want new updates for your fancy new laptop, it’s likely to get more bloated as time goes on.

Keep in mind that using this method for a fresh install might create a few hiccups. That Snapdragon X system-on-a-chip has a lot fewer hardware variables than older designs, but it’s so new that you might not get every piece you need from Windows Update. Be prepared for the possibility of needing either an Ethernet connection or using ye olde sneakernet to load up drivers manually from another machine, and maybe a bit of Googling to find every file you need for that.

It’s okay. If you clicked on this article, odds are pretty good that you know what you’re doing, or at least have the ability to find out. I believe in you.