(916) 627-1818 Get a Repair Quote
  • OS Reinstall
  • Elk Grove, CA

Windows & macOS Reinstall · Elk Grove

When the system itself is the fault. Put it back clean.

Sometimes the hardware is fine and the system on top of it is not: it will not boot, updates will not complete, or you no longer trust what is installed. We copy your data off first, put Windows or macOS back on clean, and set the machine up at our Elk Grove bench.

Call (916) 627-1818
  • Elk Grove, CA 8145 Elk Grove Blvd, Suite 12, Elk Grove, CA 95758
  • Mon-Fri 10-5, Sat 10-3 Shop hours
  • Work done in-house By our own technicians at our Elk Grove shop
  • (916) 627-1818 Call or request a callback
“After updating to Microsoft Windows 11, I lost the ability to sync with Quicken. The techs were able to resolve the issue and reinstall Windows 11. They kept me advised of the progress throughout the entire process.”
Google review

When It Is Worth Doing

Does one of these describe your machine?

A reinstall is the right answer when the operating system is the thing that failed, not when one application or one driver is misbehaving. The situations below are the ones that usually end in a clean install, and telling you when yours does not is part of the diagnostic.

Operating system reinstalls are part of our computer repair service in Elk Grove.

  1. It will not start

    Power is fine, the system is not: a loop back to the logo, a stop error on every boot, a recovery screen that fails its own repair. Damaged boot files are usually safer to rebuild than to patch around.

  2. Slow in a way that cleaning does not fix

    Installers, background services and half-removed software leave a system carrying weight it never sheds. If the drive and the memory test sound and it is still crawling, the system is what is slow.

  3. After an infection is cleared

    Removing malware and trusting the machine afterwards are two different things. Anything that reached the system with administrative rights could have left something behind, and a clean install starts the software over.

  4. An update that did not finish

    A feature update that stopped partway leaves a mismatched set of system files: some new, some old, nothing quite working. Rolling back sometimes helps. When it does not, a clean install of the current version is the way out.

  5. You are putting in a new drive

    Moving to an SSD is a good moment to start over rather than clone an old install onto new storage along with everything that was wrong with it.

  6. Changing what the machine runs

    Taking a Mac to a different version, moving a PC up to Windows 11, adding Linux beside what is already there, or resetting a machine that is being handed on.

  7. You bought it secondhand

    A used Mac or PC is worth taking back to a clean system before you sign into anything of your own. You do not know what the last owner installed.

  8. You are selling it or passing it on

    Erasing the volume and installing a fresh system means the machine leaves without your accounts, files or signed-in sessions. Where disk encryption was on, erasing also discards the key the old data was written with.

  9. You want your files to survive it

    Documents, photos, downloads, mail and browser profiles come off before the work and go back after it. Tell us at check-in what matters and that is what we work from.

  10. Behaviour that makes no sense

    Settings that reset themselves, applications that vanish from the menu, permissions that will not stick, services that fail at startup. When faults spread across unrelated parts of the system, the system is the common factor.

  11. A new Apple Silicon Mac

    Coming from an Intel Mac you can bring everything across with Migration Assistant, or start clean and install only what you still use. We set up whichever you pick.

  12. You are not sure who has had access

    A clean install replaces the system volume and the accounts on it, which removes software that was set to load at startup. Tell us the situation at check-in so the data side is handled properly.

Systems We Install

What can go on the machine.

Windows and macOS are the everyday work, including the awkward cases: hardware a generation or two behind, Apple Silicon, and machines that have to run both systems.

  • Windows 11

    Installed from current media, with drivers, firmware updates and activation handled before it leaves the bench.

  • Windows 10 and the move to 11

    Windows 10 systems can still be serviced. Windows 11 is recommended on supported systems for ongoing security and support. We check the hardware against the requirements first.

  • Current macOS

    Sonoma, Sequoia and macOS 26 Tahoe, on Intel or Apple Silicon, with the recovery volume set up properly.

  • Older macOS

    An Intel Mac that cannot take the current release still runs the highest version Apple supported for it, and we hold those installers.

  • Apple Silicon Macs

    M1 through M4. Migration Assistant from the old machine, or a clean install with only the applications you want back.

  • Boot Camp on Intel Macs

    Windows alongside macOS on the Intel Macs that still support it, using the drivers Apple supplies for that hardware.

  • Linux

    Ubuntu, Mint, Pop!_OS and similar, as the only system or beside the one already there.

  • ChromeOS recovery

    A Chromebook sitting at a recovery screen can usually be brought back with recovery media.

The Order Of Work

Nothing is erased before the copy exists.

The part people worry about is the data, so it is dealt with first. What follows is the ordinary work of putting a system back properly: drivers, updates, licences, and a test pass before you collect it.

  1. Say what matters

    Call, message or bring the machine in and tell us what it is doing and what has to survive it: documents, photos, mail, browser profiles, licence keys for the software you depend on.

  2. Copy the data off

    Your data goes onto separate storage before the drive is touched, and we open a sample of it to confirm the copy reads rather than assuming it does.

  3. Clean install, then drivers

    The system goes on from current installation media. Chipset, graphics, network and power drivers come from the manufacturer's own set rather than whatever the update service offers, then updates and activation are run out.

  4. Restore, then test

    Your files go back, the applications you rely on are reinstalled where you hold the licences, and the hardware gets a test pass across drive, memory, processor and cooling. The report goes home with the machine.

Doing It Properly

The steps that get skipped.

A reinstall is easy to do quickly and badly. The difference shows up later, in the driver nobody installed, the settings nobody saved, and the hardware fault a reinstall was never going to fix.

OS Reinstall: iGeek compared with the alternatives

Data copied off and checked first
Copied, then opened to confirm
Drivers matched to the actual hardware
From the manufacturer's own set
Licence and activation sorted out
Handled at the bench
Applications, profiles and settings put back
Restored and opened once
Hardware tested before handover
Drive, memory and processor tested, report included

In Their Own Words

How some of these jobs went.

Read our reviews on Google (opens in a new tab)

  • The tech's at iGeek did a great job of finding and repairing the issue I had with my computer. After updating to Microsoft Windows 11, I lost the ability to sync with Quicken. The techs were able to resolve the issue and reinstall Windows 11. They kept me advised of the progress throughout the entire process.

    Quicken sync customer ComputerOS reinstallMay 2026 Google review

  • My computer was hacked and I had so many viruses that it was inoperable. They did a terrific job removing the viruses and reloaded Windows 11 and the OS files. It is working great!

    Virus + reinstall ComputerVirus removal + Windows reinstallNov 2025 Google review

  • I have used Hammad a few times to repair laptops. My laptop OS had to be replaced and an SSD was installed. When I got it back, it was quicker at starting up and loading programs than when I first bought it.

    Storage + OS combo LaptopStorage + OS2024 Google review

  • I have used IGeek Repair for many years. He has been very professional and quickly explains what he is doing and why. He has transferred data from computers to my new ones several times. The process is usually very quick. I completely trust their expertise.

    Transfer + setup Computer repair + transfer2024 Google review

  • These guys are champs. My PC began to blackscreen crash and I was at my wits end; crash logs weren't helping. They found two issues I would not have found on my own, correcting both and unbricking my PC. Pricing was fair, service great, and peace of mind priceless.

    PC unbricked PC repairJan 2025 Google review

Cost

How a reinstall is priced.

Computer diagnostic: $49 for Macs and everyday Windows laptops and desktops, $99 for gaming PCs, gaming laptops, custom-built PCs, liquid damage, data recovery and board repair, credited toward the repair when you approve it. That pays for working out whether a reinstall is what the machine actually needs, because a failing drive, bad memory and a corrupted system can all look identical from the chair.

After that the price follows the work: how much data has to be moved and put back, how many applications need setting up again, and whether the drive is being replaced or repartitioned along the way. Every price we give online is an estimate. Final pricing depends on part quality, part availability, device condition and what the diagnostic finds.

If the machine needs a system licence it does not already hold, that is quoted as its own line before anything is bought. Every repair is quoted after inspection, before any work starts.

Frequently Asked

Asked at the counter, answered here.

Does a reinstall wipe my data?
Your data is copied off before the drive is touched, then put back once the new system is running: documents, photos, downloads, mail and browser profiles. The exception is a drive that has already failed badly enough that it cannot be read, and if that is what we find, you hear about it before we go any further.
Which of my programs will I have to install again?
All of them, because that is what a clean system means. We reinstall the ones you depend on as part of the job where you hold the licences, so bring your keys and the logins for anything tied to an account. Office, Adobe, accounting software and browsers are the usual list.
Do you still work on Windows 10 machines?
Windows 10 systems can still be serviced. Windows 11 is recommended on supported systems for ongoing security and support. We check your hardware against the requirements first, and if the machine cannot take Windows 11, or you run software that only works on the older version, we talk that through with you before anything is decided.
Will the computer feel quicker afterwards?
Usually, if what was slowing it down was the state of the system rather than the hardware. A clean install clears the startup items, background services and leftovers that accumulate. It does not make the processor faster, so if the machine was already at its ceiling, a drive or memory upgrade is the change that moves it.
Will I have to buy a copy of Windows or macOS?
Most machines already carry a licence the new install can use, and macOS is supplied by Apple for the Macs that support it. If you are moving up from an older version of Windows and a licence has to be bought, we tell you before that happens.
My Mac is old. Can it still have macOS put back on?
Yes. If it cannot run the current release it takes the highest version Apple ever supported on that model, and we hold installers for releases Apple no longer offers as a download.
The drive is failing. Can you install onto a replacement?
Yes, and on an older machine that is often the single change that makes the most difference. A new SSD goes in, the system is installed on it clean, and whatever can still be read from the old drive is copied across. There is more on our hardware upgrades page.
How do you check the machine is sound before I collect it?
Once the install is done we run PC-Doctor hardware diagnostics across the drive, memory, processor and the rest of the board, and print the report so you can see what was tested and what it reported.
Can you clear the computer before I hand it on?
Yes. The volume is erased and a clean system installed, so the machine reaches its next owner without your accounts, your documents or your signed-in sessions on it. Emptying the recycle bin does not do this, and neither does deleting a user profile.
How long will you have the machine?
Ask about turnaround when you check in; it depends on the repair and parts availability. A machine with a lot of data to move and a long list of applications is more work than a bare install, and we tell you what to expect once we have looked at it.

Next Step

Bring the computer in.

We are at 8145 Elk Grove Blvd, Suite 12, Elk Grove, CA 95758. Bring the power adapter, and tell us what has to survive the reinstall. Walk-ins welcome. Appointments welcome. Quote requests welcome.

Call (916) 627-1818

8145 Elk Grove Blvd, Suite 12, Elk Grove, CA 95758 | Mon-Fri 10-5, Sat 10-3

How we work

  1. Quoted before we start

    Every repair is quoted after inspection, before any work starts. Diagnostic fee quoted at check-in and applied to your repair if you proceed.

  2. Parts explained first

    We'll explain your part options before you decide.

  3. Local, in-house repairs

    Repairs are done at our Elk Grove shop by our own technicians. Ask about turnaround when you check in; it depends on the repair and parts availability.

  4. After the repair

    Ask about our repair warranty; terms are printed on your repair ticket.

Get a Repair Quote Call

Get a callback

Drop your name and number. A technician at our Elk Grove shop will reach out.