"in-place repair install"

I want to do an "in-place repair install" of my 25H2 26200.9445.

I replaced the hardware of this desktop, f.e. from an i7 4770 to an AMD 5.5550. I kept the old installation on the SSD, only updating drivers etc... but being lazy does not work properly, so now I would like to do an "in-place repair install". As I do not want to waste people's time here too much, I first checked with Claude. But as I have run into too many false infos from every AI, I want to check my understanding here, so, is this correct?

What you want is an in-place repair install, which reinstalls Windows fresh while keeping your apps, documents, pictures, and movies intact.
How it works:

1. Boot into your current, working Windows 25H2 installation (no USB boot needed for this method).
2. Download the same Windows 11 ISO you'd have used for the clean install, but instead of writing it to a USB, just mount it directly in Windows (double-click the ISO — it mounts as a virtual drive).
3. Run setup.exe from inside that mounted ISO, from within Windows.
4. In the setup wizard, choose "Keep personal files and apps" (as opposed to "Keep personal files only" or "Nothing").
5. Setup proceeds to replace all Windows system files, drivers, and settings with fresh ones — but your apps, docs, pictures, and movies stay exactly where they are.

What this fixes vs. doesn't:

• Fixes: corrupted/leftover system files, driver conflicts, registry rot tied to your old motherboard/CPU — all core OS components get replaced.
• Doesn't fully fix: some app-specific settings or leftover app-installed drivers might persist since apps aren't touched. If an app itself installed something tied to the old hardware, that could survive.

This is the standard "repair install" trick — same freshness as a clean install for the OS layer itself, zero data loss.


Which one of the Retails should I use: 26100, 26200, 26300 or 28000 ?

Thank you...

 

Thank You....

 

Short add-on: Activation will be transferred automatically?

 

Thank, yes I have heard that and I trust that information. My problem is the bit-locker encryption, that can only be disabled using Rufus, but with this in-place method a virtual machine is used, where that is not possible. Did you, and if yes, how did you get around it? I have been stuck with too many f**k-ups doing something like that, that I am now very risk allergic. I am sick and tired spending an extra two or more hours undoing what the software did...

 

It depends, on how many answers one gets to a relativel simple question, answers that all one thing in common, sharing lots of wisdom, but not answering the question that was asked... Can you direct me to one of those seven answers above that answers my question, if there is a way to stop bitlocker from enforcing itself on the intallation, in the way rufus it stopping bitlocker for non.in-place repair?