How to Reset Windows 10 Laptop or Desktop for Recycling or Selling
0How to Reset Windows 10 Laptop or Desktop for Recycling or Selling.
Resetting Computer (similar process): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNRIoVGho7s
Windows 10 includes a “Reset your PC” option that quickly restores Windows to its factory default configuration. It’s faster and more convenient than reinstalling Windows from scratch or using your manufacturer’s recovery partition.
Windows 8 had separate “Refresh your PC” and “Reset your PC” options. Refresh kept all your files and personalization settings, but set your PC settings to the default and uninstalled your desktop apps. Reset removed everything, including your files–like doing a complete Windows resintall from scratch.
On Windows 10, things are a bit simpler. The only option is “Reset your PC”, but during the process, you’ll get to choose whether to keep your personal files or not.
How Resetting Your PC Works
When you use the “Reset this PC” feature in Windows, Windows resets itself to its factory default state. If you purchased a PC and it came with Windows 10 installed, your PC will be in the same state you received it in. All the manufacturer installed software and drivers that came with the PC will be reinstalled. If you installed Windows 10 yourself, it will be a fresh Windows 10 system without any additional software.
You can choose whether you want to keep your personal files or erase them. However, all your installed programs and settings will be erased. This ensures you have a fresh system. Any problems caused by third-party software, system file corruption, system settings changes, or malware should be fixed by resetting your PC.
If your computer came with Windows pre-installed, you may also see a third option, “Restore Factory Settings”. This will restore the original version that came with your PC–so if your computer came with Windows 8, and you upgraded to Windows 10, it will reset back to Windows 8.
This process is very similar to reinstalling Windows from scratch or using a manufacturer-supplied recovery partition, but is more convenient.
Reset This PC is a recovery feature available in Windows 10 that lets you reinstall Windows again from scratch with just a few taps or clicks, much like a factory reset or restore but no install disc or flash drive is needed.
You even have the option of keeping or removing your personal files in the process!
See Reset This PC: What It Is & How to Use It for more on this "solution of last resort" and when it's a good idea to use.
Windows 8 Users
In Windows 8, the Reset This PC tool exists as two distinct and similarly-named processes, Refresh Your PC and Reset Your PC.
Basically, Windows 8's Refresh Your PC is the same as the Keep my files choice in Reset This PC in Windows 10, and its Reset Your PC equates to the Remove everything choice.
We'll call out any important differences between the reset processes of Windows 10 and Windows 8 throughout this tutorial but, for the most part, they'll be the same.
Windows 10 is prone to all sorts of issues, from the sudden disappearance of files to problems with installing updates. If your computer isn't running the way it should, giving you strange errors or performing slowly, then it's probably time for a reset. Resetting your PC or restoring to an earlier state can clean out any pesky background programs and wipe your computer's hard drive of any unneeded files. The operating system provides a number of options that let you reset your Windows 10 computer to an earlier state. Here's how to reset your PC in Windows 10.
This tutorial will apply for computers, laptops, desktops,and tablets running the Windows 10 operating system (Home, Professional, Enterprise, Education) from all supported hardware manufactures, like Dell, HP, Acer, Asus, Toshiba,Lenovo, and Samsung).