How to return default settings on a laptop. Restoring your laptop to factory settings

1. How to factory reset a Samsung laptop? I’ve been using the laptop for two years now, the operating system is Windows 7, it works with errors and freezes, my friends advise me to reinstall the operating system, but I read your article “and I’m thinking of following your advice, rolling back the laptop to factory settings. I copied all the necessary data from the laptop to a flash drive and portable hard drive USB. What to do next?
2. Admin, explain what's wrong? I rolled back the Samsung laptop to factory settings, the system was restored and works like new, but all the partitions I created on the hard drive were deleted. How to get partitions back and how to avoid this next time. Boris.

How to factory reset a Samsung laptop

Hello, friends! Immediately, two of my work colleagues disappeared with their families to relax on the weekend, and I was forced to work, or more precisely, they asked me to restore two Samsung laptops to factory settings, one old laptop, the other relatively new. On an old Samsung laptop, the factory utility Samsung Recovery Solution 5 will restore factory settings. On a new laptop, the built-in Recovery utility will restore factory settings. I suggest we do this together, and I won’t get bored, and the information will be useful to you, join us!

• Note: Before performing a factory reset, you can copy all data from the C: drive and desktop using .

Procedure Restoring Samsung laptop to factory settings, is quite simple and you can handle it without resorting to any specialists, the only thing you need is to take care of your data, copy it, for example, to a portable USB hard drive. Copying your files to an additional partition of your hard drive will not help; in most cases, the state of your hard drive will be restored to the factory state, that is, at the time of purchase. What does it mean? If you created additional partitions after purchasing the laptop, they will all be deleted along with your data.

For example, you bought a laptop, turned it on and saw one partition on it (C:) with the operating system installed, naturally you wanted to have a second partition for data and you created it in Windows itself, which is very easy to do, then assigned it a letter (D :) or any other, put all the files you need there: music, movies, documents, photos and so on. We used the laptop for a year, experimented with it to our hearts’ content, installed everything we needed and didn’t need on it, then decided to return the laptop to factory settings. Many users think that after a rollback to factory settings, the additional partition they created (D:) or (E:) will remain intact and unharmed. But excuse me, when you bought the laptop, this section was not there! That’s why, after returning the laptop to factory settings, this partition will be deleted and you will again have one partition (C:) with your Windows 7 or Windows 8. But not everything is so tragic, in the case of a new Samsung laptop, some user data will be saved. Which? Read the article further.

So, after you have copied all your data to another storage medium, we restore the factory settings on the new Samsung laptop. We turn on the laptop and often press the F4 key in the initial boot phase. The initial program window opens.

We accept the license agreement.

The Recovery program, in addition to recovery, can create a backup copy of your hard drive on DVDs and on a portable hard drive. At first, the Recovery utility thinks that we want to create recovery disks or a factory image on a portable USB hard drive, but we didn’t plan to create anything, click OK.

The initial window of the Recovery program opens. We are not going to do a backup, so we select Restore.

Friends, if you have copied all the necessary data from your laptop, you can safely click the Restore button and the process of rolling back to factory settings will immediately begin. For others, I’ll show you what else you can configure here.

First, we select the earliest restore point, most users never make recovery images, so many will have only one restore point in this window.

Before clicking on the Restore button, we see more options that can be enabled during recovery, some of them are useful. Scroll down.

Section parameters. Setting up a partition deletes all data from all drives
I tried turning it on and off, but still, when restoring factory settings, additional partitions on my hard drive were deleted and only one drive remained (C:). Try experimenting, we’ll update the article.

Saving user data

Turn on the Save user data item.

Basic parameters - mark all the necessary folders, the contents of which must be saved when restoring factory settings. More detailed settings can be found in the advanced settings.

In general, a very detailed description of what the Recovery utility can do is in the Help; you can read everything in detail before restoring.

Click Recovery. Start recovery? All data on the C: drive will be deleted. Click Yes. After 40 minutes, our first laptop was restored to factory condition.

Samsung Recovery Solution 5

The second laptop has the Samsung Recovery Solution 5 factory reset utility installed. The recovery process itself will not differ much from the previous one. Also, when loading, press F4.

Select Recovery.

If you select in the second window that appears General recovery,

then only the main Windows system files will be restored; most of the errors, viruses and problems you will still have after such a recovery.

Therefore, we return to the previous window and select Full recovery.

Select the earliest recovery image and Next. Start recovery? Yes. That's all, now all that remains is to wait for the operation to restore the factory settings of the Samsung laptop to complete.

Articles on this topic.

Today we’ll look at how to reset Windows 10 to factory settings and roll back the system to the state of just the installed operating system. The topic requires detailed consideration due to the virtual absence of these functions in previous editions of Windows and the concept of storing an image to roll back the state of the operating system.

The beauty of the “ten” here is that to implement the procedure described above you do not need an installation disk, a bootable flash drive with software like True Image, or an image of a working system.

Attention, you should proceed to follow the instructions only as a last resort, when the only solution to the problem is to re-install Windows 10. When the instructions fail, simply install the operating system, making sure that no data is damaged in the process.

All emerging and possible problems accompanying the process of rolling back the “tens” are discussed in the last section. If you encounter one of them, move to the bottom of the page.

Before you learn how to reset Windows 10, you should know why you should reset it in the first place. Returning the operating system to its original state is necessary in cases where it is not functioning properly and a return to normal operation is not possible.

The function is also a complete replacement for reinstalling Windows 10, but with some advantage: saving personal files (documents, application settings).

Performing a reset from a running system

This method of resetting the “tens” is only possible when it starts. Everything is done quite simply.

1. Call up the new “Options” menu (this is most quickly done using the “Win ​​+ I” combination).

2. Click on the “Update and Security” element.

3. Go to the “Recovery” subsection.

4. In the first section of the window that appears, click on the “Start” button.

It happens that the operating system reports that it is unable to find the files required to perform an operation. In this case, go to the next section of the article.

5. Select the most suitable option from those proposed (the first is recommended, but it all depends on the situation).

Next comes the branching: if you chose the second method, you will be prompted to format the disk or simply clean it. Here too, everything depends on the situation. For example, when you are going to sell a computer, the option of completely wiping the disk is better, but the process can take a long time if the hard drive is large or there are many bad sectors on the surface of the magnetic plate.

6. In the last window, click “Reset” if you haven’t changed your mind.

The button will start the process of automatic installation of the operating system, during which the PC will restart 2-3 times. As a result, the computer will start with the new operating system.

When you select the option to save personal data, the Windows.old directory will appear on the system partition, where a copy of all files from the previous Windows 10 is stored (for example, the contents of the desktop, the “Downloads”, “My Documents” directories).

Clean installation of "tens" using the Refresh Windows Tool

One of the first Windows 10 August updates for 2016 introduced the Refresh Windows Tool, which allows you to roll back the operating system or reinstall it while saving user documents.

The utility copes with system rollback in situations where the first method did not work for some reason.

1. As before, go to the recovery options.

2. In the last section, click on the icon “Find out how to start over with...”.

3. After this, the Microsoft website will open in the browser, where at the bottom you need to click: “Download the tool now.”

4. After downloading, launch the application, agreeing to the terms of its use.

5. Select the option to save personal information or set the method for deleting it, which we reviewed in the previous section.

All other actions are carried out automatically.

The completion of the process may be delayed due to many factors (computer performance, no fragmentation of files on the system volume, damage to some sectors of the system disk, a significant amount of information has been selected).

After booting your computer with clean Windows 10, it is a good idea to perform the following procedure:

1. call the command interpreter Win+R;
2. enter “cleanmgr”;
3. execute the command;
4. Click on the “Clean up system files” icon.

As a result, you can free up to 23 GB or more of disk space.

Resetting the system when it won't start

In this section we will look at how to reset Windows 10 if it refuses to boot. This is where motherboard or laptop manufacturers' tools, or a bootable flash drive or system recovery disk, come in handy.

For devices whose users acquired licensed Windows 10 when purchasing a computer, there is a basic method for resetting it. This is the use of a certain key combination to roll back the device.

In most cases, when a system rollback is required, the computers were not purchased with a licensed “top ten”, so you will need a recovery disk/flash drive. You need to boot from it into recovery mode.

1. Having started in the recovery environment, click on the troubleshooting item.

4. In the operating system selection menu, select Windows 10.

5. If you are confident in your actions, click on the “Return the computer to its original state” icon.

6 Afterwards, we get acquainted with the list of actions that will be performed automatically.

This means deleting applications, resetting system settings to factory settings, and then installing Windows 10.

7. Click “Return to original state” if you are sure of the need to perform the operation.

This will start the system recovery process, which is accompanied by a reboot of the computer.

Tip: if you changed the BIOS settings (changed the priority of boot devices) to boot from bootable media, change their order back.

Possible problems with resetting Windows 10

It happens that when you try to roll back the “ten” to its original state and restart the computer, a window appears with the text “Problem when returning the computer to its original state. No changes were made." The error indicates problems with the resume files located in the WinSxS directory (they are damaged, missing, or have been modified by the author of the assembly). If, after an unsuccessful attempt, the “ten” starts up properly, be sure to check the system files for integrity and the hard drive for damaged sectors.

If all else fails, perform a clean installation of the operating system, remembering to take care of important information on the system disk.

The second common mistake is asking to insert a CD (flash drive) with operating system installation files. For these cases, the Refresh Windows Tool was developed, which was discussed in the second section of this article. Another solution may be to use a flash drive/disk with Windows 10 installation files of the same bit depth and edition as the operating system installed on the computer.

The second option for the action algorithm, if it was not possible to return the operating system to its previous state due to the lack of media with recovery files, is to register your own image with a snapshot of the system to restore it. But at the same time, the “ten” must work properly, because operations are carried out in its environment.

1. Download the Windows 10 disk image file.
2. We mount it through the virtual drive emulation tool and copy the “install.wim” file located in the “sources” directory to the “ResetRecoveryImage” folder created on any partition other than the system one.
3. Instead of a physical drive emulator, you can use any archiver.
4. We launch the command line with administrative privileges and enter a command like “reagentc /setosimage /path “D:\ResetRecoveryImage” /index 1”, where the path to the directory created in the third step is “D:\”.

These actions create and register a recovery image in the system.

After successful completion of the operations, we again launch the automatic reinstallation of Windows 10, having previously called it a backup copy. This will speed up the process of reverting to the current OS state if problems arise.

If you have any questions, other problems or new solutions, do not hesitate to write about it in the comments.

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.

When a factory reset may be necessary

Returning to factory settings will be relevant in the event of serious disruptions in the operation of the operating system, frequent critical failures caused by problems and errors in the software, Windows infection with viruses, and also its blocking. Reset can also be used as an alternative to manual reset for other reasons.

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.

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 , agree to delete personal files and click “Next”.

Then click Only the drive on which the system is installed – Just delete my files – Restore 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 utility 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).

If Windows does not boot, use a key combination to enter the recovery environment Alt+F10, having first made sure that the option is enabled in the BIOS on the Main tab 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 screen Diagnostics – Return 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 actions from the standard menu .

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 reboot, select Diagnostics – Recovery Manager and repeat the steps described above until setting up your account.

For Samsung

Samsung laptops also have their own system recovery utility. It is called Samsung Recovery Solution and is called by pressing the F4 button when turning 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.

Procedure in fifth version of Samsung Recovery Solution slightly different. Here we also press F4, in the utility window we select Recovery – Full recovery.

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 to reset 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 sequentially Restore from original backup – Next – Start and confirm the action by clicking the “Yes” button.

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 original settings is done using proprietary software 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. In this menu you need to select Troubleshooting your computer - Toshiba Recovery Wizard. After reading the warnings, click sequentially Restoring the factory default software – 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.

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.

Restoring a laptop to factory settings is a safe alternative to a regular Windows reinstall for inexperienced users. Rollback allows you to eliminate critical errors that interfere with the normal operation of the system. Unlike a regular reinstallation, after resetting your laptop to factory settings, you will not have to look for hardware drivers. The only thing you need to do is reinstall the programs that were removed during the rollback.

Recovery rules

The built-in program that allows you to restore the laptop to factory settings is located on a hidden partition of the hard drive. Therefore, if you or a technician called to your home reinstalled Windows, completely formatting the hard drive, then you will not be able to roll back the laptop to its original state.

If you, due to your ignorance, encounter such a problem, then there are few options for eliminating it:

• Buy a recovery disk image or download it on torrents (which can also be dangerous).
• Perform a clean installation of Windows by entering the activation key.

If you have not formatted the hard drive, then there will be no problems with resetting the settings. But if you decide to return the laptop to its original state, then you need to know the consequences of this operation:

1. All user data will be deleted.
2. The partition on which the system is installed will be formatted. Windows will be reinstalled; you will not need to enter an activation key.
3. System programs and drivers will be installed automatically upon first launch.

Typically, files stored on partition D remain untouched. But to prevent the loss of user data when trying to restore factory settings, you need to make a backup copy of it.

If the system is still starting up, then the easiest way to save information is to dump it on an external drive. If errors do not allow you to boot into the Windows environment, then you can make a backup copy using a Live CD: install the AOMEI PE Builder 1.4 FREE program on a flash drive, boot from it and transfer the data to removable media.

Important! When resetting, the laptop must be plugged in and fully charged. An emergency shutdown can lead to dire consequences, which will require a clean installation of Windows to resolve.

Acer

An Acer recovery program that allows you to reset your settings to the original settings can be run in Windows - it is called Acer Recovery Management. But if Windows no longer boots, then this is not a problem:

Once the reset is complete, click Finish and restart your computer. When you start it for the first time, you will have to configure the system again: accept the license terms, enter the computer name, create an account.

Sony

To get to the Sony Recovery Center, press the F10 key when turning on the laptop. In the menu that appears, select launch the appropriate tool.

The program provides two options:

First, you can try to return the system to its original state by restoring drive C. If such a reset does not solve the problem, then perform a full restore by deleting all partitions.

HP

To run the reset program, press the F11 key when turning on your HP laptop. Then go to the Diagnostics section and launch the Recovery Manager tool.

After resetting the settings, re-specify your system settings and create an account to start working with clean Windows.

When the laptop starts to slow down terribly due to a bunch of installed and incorrectly removed programs, system garbage, a lot of temporary files and other unpleasant things, the most logical solution is to roll back the system to its original state. In this article we will figure out how to return a laptop to factory settings, using the example of all major manufacturers.
Many users will argue that it is easier to reinstall Windows. But a system rollback has the same consequences as a reinstallation, but it is much faster and does not require a boot disk. In addition, users are freed from the need to search and install drivers - after returning to the original state, they only need to reinstall the programs necessary for operation.
Each laptop manufacturer equips its devices with proprietary recovery utilities. However, working with them follows the same scheme and requires compliance with a number of rules:

• During a system rollback, the adapter must be inserted into the laptop so that the power is not interrupted. Interrupting the rollback procedure risks causing more serious problems than just a lagging computer.
• It is better to first transfer all important data from the hard drive to removable media - after successful recovery, you will return it back.
• Some utilities can restore only the system partition (drive C:) or all partitions of the hard drive. It is recommended to perform a full recovery (this will delete all data from the hard drive, so move it to another location - see point 2).

How to return a laptop to factory settings?

So, if you want to get the system in the same condition as when you bought the laptop (without brakes, freezes, unnecessary programs and files), then choose a laptop from your manufacturer and follow the steps described.

Asus

Let's start with one of the most famous laptop manufacturers - Asus.

Returning an Asus laptop to factory settings:

You don’t need to press or enter anything else - the recovery utility will figure out how to return your ASUS laptop to factory settings.

By the way, pressing the F9 key when turning it on for the first time will not lead to anything, since by default the “Boot Booster” function is activated in ASUS laptops. It needs to be disabled in Bios. To do this, enter the BIOS, in the “Boot” item, set the parameter value to the “Disabled” position.

Acer

Let's continue our study of the topic with a story about how to return an Acer laptop to factory settings. You can perform this procedure from a running Windows (the utility is called "Acer Recovery Management") or through recovery tools.

Let's look at the second option:

On Windows 8.1, the recovery utility interface changes. Here you will have to select the item in the “Diagnostics” section "Return to original state". The rollback procedure is not much different, and all the steps are described in detail in Russian, so you will quickly figure out how to return an Acer laptop to factory settings.

Lenovo

To understand how to return a Lenovo laptop to factory settings, you first need to find a small “OneKey Rescue” button on the laptop case, which is responsible for launching the recovery utility.

Then follow these steps:

Wait until the rollback procedure is completed and be sure to restart your computer for the new configuration to take effect. The answer to the question of how to return a Lenovo laptop to factory settings has been received, but there are still other manufacturers, so let’s move on.

Samsung

It’s the turn of the South Korean manufacturer to answer the question of how to return a Samsung laptop to factory settings.

Resetting a Samsung laptop to factory settings:

You figured out how to return a Samsung laptop to factory settings, so you can forget about the need to reinstall the system.

HP

It's the turn of the next manufacturer: let's see how to return an HP laptop to factory settings.

Resetting your HP laptop to factory settings:

Now you know how to reset your HP laptop to factory settings. All that's left to do is wait until the factory reset procedure is completed, and start working with the laptop again.

MSI

Wondering how to reset an MSI laptop to factory settings?

Nothing complicated here either:

That's all you need to know about how to factory reset an MSI laptop.

Toshiba

Now let's figure out how to return a Toshiba laptop to factory settings. In the latest models, launching the recovery utility is quite simple.

Returning a Toshiba laptop to factory settings:

1. Turn off your laptop.
2. Press the number "0" and hold the key.
3. Without releasing the key, turn on the laptop.
4. When the computer starts beeping, release "0".

A program to restore settings to factory state will appear on the screen - you need to follow all the instructions of the recovery wizard.
But how to return a Toshiba laptop to factory settings if you have an old model? Here you will have to use the “Troubleshooting” section, which can be selected in the menu of additional boot options (F8 key when turning on the computer).

After a short wait you will see the system again in original factory condition.