How to return a laptop to factory settings - instructions for all models

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If a smartphone or tablet running Android starts to work incorrectly or is locked, the user can go to the Recovery menu and reset the gadget to factory settings, thus restoring its functionality. What about Windows laptops, is it possible to bring them back to life in a similar way? In principle, yes, but for this there must be a special partition on the laptop’s hard drive. What this section is and what advantages its presence on the computer provides will be discussed below, but for now let me say a few words about restoring factory settings on the laptop itself.

What does it mean to restore factory settings on a laptop?

Resetting a laptop to factory settings is a fully automatic reinstallation of Windows with all system applications and drivers provided by the manufacturer. During the reset process, the system logical partition is formatted, all user data and settings on it are deleted, followed by Windows deployment from a backup located on a special hidden Recovery or HDD Recovery partition.

Once the reset is complete, you will receive the laptop in the same condition it was in at the time of purchase. An exception is made only for drive D - the data on it is not deleted during the recovery process. You will also not need to re-enter your Windows activation key. It is important, however, to note that resetting a laptop to factory settings only affects the software part; this procedure does not solve hardware problems.

In what cases is reset not possible?

If you purchase a laptop without an operating system, you should not expect that there will be a recovery partition on its disk. It is not possible to restore factory settings on such a laptop; in such cases, other methods are used to reset the system to its original state.

It will be impossible to roll back to the original settings even if there was a recovery partition, but during the manual reinstallation of Windows, the wizard or the user himself deleted it, wanting to get more free space on the hard drive. The solution in this case may again be to reinstall or search for an image of the system partition for a given laptop model on torrents or the manufacturer’s official website.

When to resort to system recovery

The need to restore Windows 10 on a Lenovo laptop may arise in many cases. Most often, this is required when there are problems loading the OS, errors or malfunctions. Such actions must be taken when other cleaning methods do not produce results. You should first check the system for viruses, clean the registry, delete old files, etc. If this does not work, you can return the Lenovo laptop to its original state.

Sequence of restoring factory settings on laptops

The sequence of actions when resetting a laptop computer to its original settings may differ from model to model, but, as a rule, these differences are insignificant. As an example, we will show how to restore factory settings for Asus, Acer, HP, Samsung, Lenovo and Toshiba laptops.

For Asus

To load the built-in recovery mechanism on Asus laptops, the F9 key is provided, which you need to hold down when you turn on the laptop, but before that you need to make sure that you have disabled the fast boot function. You can deactivate it (if the PC does not boot) in the BIOS on the Boot tab (Boot Master option).

In the recovery environment, select Diagnostics – Restore to original state, agree to delete personal files and click “Next”.

Then click Only the disk on which the system is installed - Just delete my files - Return to original state.

After this, the recovery procedure will be launched, upon completion of which you will be asked to re-create your account and set up your computer.

For Acer

The factory reset procedure for Acer laptops is slightly different. If the system boots, you can reset the settings using the proprietary Acer Recovery Management , launched through the Start menu (all applications). In the utility window, you need to select the “Restore factory settings” option, after which the recovery environment will be loaded, in which you need to repeat all the steps described in the previous paragraph (for Asus laptops).

Alt + F10 to enter the recovery environment , after making sure that the D2D Recovery . If it is disabled, be sure to enable it, otherwise Alt + F10 will not work.

Otherwise, we proceed according to the first scenario: select on the Diagnostics screen - Restore to original state, and so on.

For HP

Like Acer, HP brand laptops come with a built-in proprietary utility HP Recovery Manager , which can be launched either through the Start menu or by pressing the F11 button when turning on the device. Resetting a laptop to factory settings with its help is not difficult. If the computer does not boot, press F11 when turning it on and select Diagnostics – Recovery Manager from the standard selection menu.

Next, in the utility window, click “Restore the system to its original state when shipped from the manufacturer.”

In the next window, enable the option “Recover without creating a backup copy of files” and click “Next” as many times as the wizard asks.

After a short preparation, the reset process itself will begin, after which all you have to do is set up your computer. If the operating system is still able to boot on its own, launch HP Recovery Manager through the interface, select “Windows Recovery Environment”. After the reboot, select Diagnostics – Recovery Manager and repeat the steps described above until setting up the account.

For Samsung

Samsung laptops also have their own system recovery utility. It's called Samsung Recovery Solution and is called up by pressing the F4 button when you turn on the computer. The recovery procedure in it is not too complicated, the only thing you need to do before starting it is to copy the files that are important to you to a removable hard drive or other portable media, since there is a high probability that during the process of returning factory settings, the partitions created by the user will be deleted with everything their contents.

So, press F4 when loading, accept the license agreement in the utility’s welcome window, refuse the offer to create a system backup, and click “Recovery” in the initial window.

At this point you will be prompted to set additional parameters. In principle, you can skip this step, but it will be better if you follow these rules:

1. You need to select the earliest restore point.
2. It is better to disable deleting data from additional partitions, although it is not certain that this will help.
3. Enable the “Save user data” option.

Having prepared in this way, click “Restore”, confirm the action and wait for the procedure to complete.

The procedure in the fifth version of Samsung Recovery Solution is slightly different. Here we also press F4, in the utility window select Recovery - Full recovery.

Select the earliest image, click “Next” and confirm your consent to start the procedure.

For Lenovo

Next on our list are Lenovo laptops. Let's see how to reset a laptop of this brand to factory settings. There is nothing complicated here either, since Lenovo uses its own proprietary utility OneKey Rescue System . Unlike previous models, the recovery environment is entered not using the standard top row keys, but using a special “Novo Button” button located next to the power button of the laptop.

With the laptop turned off, press this very button and use the arrow keys to select the System Recovery option.

In the utility window that opens, click Restore from original backup – Next – Start and confirm the action by clicking “Yes”.

The factory reset procedure will begin, and you will be notified of its completion by a corresponding message.

For Toshiba

In the case of Toshiba laptops, everything is very similar, but there are also some nuances here. Restoring to the original settings is done using proprietary Toshiba HDD Recovery or Toshiba Recovery Wizard (in older models). To go to the utility interface on new Toshiba models, you need to hold down the 0 key and then turn on the laptop. When the beep sounds, the 0 key must be released. Then everything is simple, you just need to follow the instructions of the wizard.

Older models use the traditional F8 key to load the recovery tool, which opens a menu of additional boot options. From this menu, you need to select Troubleshoot your computer – Toshiba Recovery Wizard. After reading the warnings, click sequentially Restore the software installed by default at the factory – Restore to the state at the time of purchase – Next.

After this, the procedure itself will begin, upon completion of which you will be asked to restart the computer and reconfigure the system.

How to reset using Setup/Repair disk

Another way to reset a Lenovo laptop to factory settings is to reset it using a special recovery disk. It is suitable if you have forgotten your device password and need to bypass the account authorization requirement.

To update your laptop and reset it to its original data, do the following:

1. Connect the special drive to your Lenovo laptop.
2. Enter the BIOS and set BOOT to boot from the installed disk or USB.
3. Select System Restore.
4. Click on troubleshooting.
5. Click on reset this computer.
6. Select one of the options - “Keep my files” or “Delete everything”.
7. Specify Windows and the drive you want to update.
8. Decide on the option you need.
9. Click reset and wait for the process to complete.

This is an easy way to format a Lenovo laptop to factory settings and reset it to its original level. It is convenient because you do not need to be tied to an account.

Instead of a total

The recommendations given in this article are of a general nature; the details of the process of reverting a laptop to factory settings for Windows 7/10 may differ. There may be differences in the interface of proprietary utilities of different versions; it is also possible that in some laptop model the recovery environment boot key will be different. For example, the “Novo Button” button in Lenovo may be located in a different location, and so on. All this is generally unimportant, the main thing is that there is an HDD Recovery partition on the hard drive and that the factory backup files are not damaged. Otherwise, to restore Windows functionality, you will need at least an installation disk with the operating system.

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How to roll back Windows 10 via BIOS

There are two options for rolling back the Windows 10 operating system - using additional media on which the image of the required Windows is installed, and without a boot disk or removable flash drive. In the first case, the OS is launched as follows:

After this, the process of rolling back the current OS version to the previous state will begin. If there is no additional flash drive and there is no way to create one, choose the following option:

After moving to a new block, select the desired point and confirm the start of the procedure.