First, back up your stuff!
Before you reset your system, you’ll want to back up important information that you don’t want to lose. This includes documents, photos, music, and movies, but there are other items to back up as well. Make sure that you know all of your saved passwords, export all of your browser bookmarks, and have installation files for all the software you’ll want to reinstall — or know where to get them.Also, make sure you back up app-specific data, like custom filters saved in a photo utility and save files from your favorite games. If you use Microsoft Outlook, you’ll want to export your email file as well so that you can back it up.
While you can backup these files manually, you may be better served by using backup software that automates the process, reducing the room for error and saving you time. You might be able to use the cloud for this, but there’s a great chance that the volume of data will exceed the capacity of a free Google Drive (15GB) or DropBox (2GB) account. If you’re willing to spend some money on a monthly basis, then you can go with a dedicated cloud backup solution like Carbonite.
Even cloud services can have issues, however, and so it’s not a bad idea to budget for an external hard drive if you don’t already have one. The best option is an external drive enclosure that holds two drives that can be mirrored, so that if one drive fails you have a backup. You can also use a non-OS internal drive in a desktop if enough space is available.
An even more advanced option is to purchase a network-attached storage (NAS) device that can be connected to your router and accessed by all of the machines on your network. A NAS device with mirrored drives lets you copy and back up all of your information scattered around in single, relatively reliable place that can even be easily removed in the case of emergency.
Whichever route you choose, configure your backup software to save to your chosen drive. Then, it’s important to make sure to disconnect your backup drive before you actually perform the Windows 8/8.1 reset. The following process shouldn’t delete data on a secondary drive, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. We’ve broken the guide down below based on your current operating system.
WINDOWS 8 / 8.1
Windows 8 has two built-in reset options that can be accessed by opening the Charms bar, hitting “Change PC Settings,” and then visiting the Update and Recovery tab.
The first option is a refresh. Unlike a full restore or reinstall, a refresh keeps your personalized settings, and also any apps downloaded from the Windows Store. Everything else gets deleted and/or restored to its default setting. While this is not a full reset to factory settings, it’s pretty close and may solve performance problems with less inconvenience.
Performing the refresh is simple. Just click the “Get Started” button under the “Refresh” heading in the “Update and Recovery” tab, and you’ll enter a wizard that guides you through the process, which is surprisingly quick. You do need an active Windows Recovery Partition for a refresh to work, but most systems come with one enabled from the factory. If you don’t have a recovery partition, you will need installation media (a disc or USB with a Windows installer on it).
Your second option is the reset, which is also under the Update and Recovery tab, and is listed under “Remove everything and reinstall Windows.” A reset gets rid of all your settings, files, and apps, restoring Windows 8 to its out-of-the-box defaults. Once again, you’ll either need a recovery partition, or installation media to complete the process.
If you don’t have a recovery partition or installation media, then your options are more limited. Microsoft is no longer providing the installation image for reinstalling Windows 8.
POST-RESET CHORES
You may think that you’re done after you perform your factory reset, and in a general sense that’s true. Your computer may work very well in its factory state. However, most systems are improved over time by new hardware drivers, which you may have had installed on your system. They’ll now be gone and, in some cases, certain hardware may not work at all until the appropriate driver is installed. If you’re using Windows 10, simply head to the Updates tab in the Settings and your system should grab most of what it needs from the Microsoft servers, including chipset, GPU, and peripheral drivers.
You can often download these drivers by visiting the system manufacturer’s support page, and searching for your specific system. This is where you’re most likely to find motherboard and adapter drivers, as well as drivers relating to specific system functions (controlling display brightness via keyboard shortcut on a laptop, for example).
If you have a discrete graphics card, you’ll also want to visit AMD or Nvidia’s website (depending on who made your GPU) and download new drivers. These usually aren’t posted on manufacturer support pages.
Finally, install the drivers for any peripherals you use with your system. These will not be installed since they didn’t ship from the factory with your PC.
Conclusion
This is everything you need to know about restoring Windows to its initial state. Hopefully, the process has improved performance and decluttered your drive, or prepared it for passing along to someone else. If you’re still having problems, it may be because of faulty hardware or, if your system is getting on in years, then you may want to upgrade or replace it entirely.
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