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We show you how to perform a clean install of Windows 10. It’s important to remember that although the new operating system is billed as “free”, this only applies if you update an existing version of Windows 7 or 8.1. If you want to run Windows 10 from XP or Vista without having to pay for it, you will need to install Windows 7 or 8.1 first, then upgrade by July 2016. After that, a Windows 10 licence will cost you £99.99 for the Home edition, or £189.99 for Pro. If you’re currently running Windows XP or Vista, you can reduce the overall cost of Windows 10 by first purchasing a cheap edition of Windows 7 or 8+ from Amazon or eBay, where they sell for as little as £30, and then upgrading from that. Make sure it’s genuine, however, and that you have Service Pack 1 or Update 1 installed, or Microsoft won’t let you perform the free upgrade to Windows 10. Also, your PC will need to meet the minimum system requirements for Windows 7, 8 and 10.

One of the most controversial extra costs for Windows 10 concerns the official Windows DVD Player app, which replaces the absent Windows Media Center. If you’re upgrading from Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional or Ultimate, or Windows 8.1 with Media Center, then Microsoft says you will get Windows DVD Player for free “for a limited time that will end at or before the [end of the] free Windows 10 upgrade offer” (bit.ly/Dvdapp). If you’re upgrading from any other version of Windows, the app will set you back £11.59 from the Store (bit.ly/dvdplyr). This is a lot for a very basic tool that can only play DVDs, not Blu-rays, and there are plenty of rival apps that can do a lot more, and are free to use. Our favourite is the brilliant VLC Media Player, which is available both as a program (www.videolan.org/vlc) and a Windows 10 app (bit.ly/vlcapp),

Microsoft Solitaire Collection, which you can find under ‘M’ in the Windows 10 All Apps list, or by clicking Start and typing Solitaire). Although the app is free, and offers lots of game variations, Microsoft wants you to upgrade to the Premium version, which costs £1.19 per month (or £7.69 outright). That might not sound like much, but all you get for your money are the ads removed (and they aren’t obtrusive anyway), more coins for completing Daily Challenges (which you don’t need) and a boost for every game of TriPeaks and Pyramid (which, again, you don’t need). If you play Solitaire for hours every day, it’s arguably worth the outlay, but you’d be better off playing a free online version such as Solitr (solitr.com).

There are free Office apps Word, Excel, PowerPoint and others available from the Windows 10 Store, which let you create and edit documents, and are simple to use but powerful enough for most users’ needs. However, Microsoft would rather have you shell out for an annual Office 365 subscription to unlock the app’s full range of features. To avoid the subscription, which starts at £59.99 per year for Office 365 Personal (which covers one PC only), you can buy Office Home & Student 2013 outright for a one-off £109.99 (bit.ly/office). Alternatively, you can forego paid-for office software altogether and use the recently updated LibreOffice 5 (www.libreoffice.org), which is entirely free.

Finally, to buy anything from the Windows Store, you need to first link a payment option such as a credit or debit card, or PayPal to your Microsoft account, making it all too easy to lose track of your spending. You could avoid this by removing your payment option after making a purchase, or better still invest in a Windows Store Gift Card (bit.ly/Giftcard). This lets you buy apps whenever you want, but limits the total amount you can spend. Gift Cards are available for amounts up to £50, and they never expire, so you can use them whenever you want. You can also share paid-for apps with family and friends so they don’t have to pay separately, or just split the cost between you.