Resetting Windows 10
Tonight, I decided to “Reset Windows 10”
I have been using Windows 10 for a long time now… I am part of the Windows 10 Insiders Build, but only on my “test-everyday use” device… For my Win7 to Win10 upgrade, I had chosen to go through the”normal” update process for all of my production machines which updated to Win10 without any issues. So far it has been a great experience so far.. No compatibility issues or anything to speak about .. Kudos to the Microsoft Win10 Team !!
Tonight I decided to test the “Reset Windows 10” feature on my main device.
Before I did anything, I backed up my data, and wrote down all of the apps that I had (both manually and using a tool to discover my apps called Belarc Advisory
.
Now we are ready to proceed.. To do this: You have to go to:
- Open Start Menu, go to Settings.
- go to Update and Recovery.
- go to Recovery Tab.
You are given three choices you can choose from:
Refresh your PC without affecting your files
Remove Everthing and REINSTALL Windows
Advance Setup
I selected choice #1… The process tool 45 minutes and there was a progress % completed status that was displayed along the way..
(For more information about the process: please look at qoncious.com: How to Restore Windows 10 to Factory Settings )
After, what it seemed several reboots, and about 45 minutes in lapsed time, the system reboot.
It asked me for my credential , which I entered, and then went through the setup process… I had to clean some desktop shortcuts, but in the end, Win10 without any applications was installed on my desktop, which is what expected… There was one file on the desktop… It was named Removed Apps.html which listed all apps previously installed.
I reinstalled Dropbox, Office 365, and a few other essentials I have, and voila! I was up and running! with all of my data intact, and a clean version of the OS, just as expected… It worked very well… So no news is good news! Just one item to note:
It was surprising to me that it took 45 minutes to complete, with a couple of reboots. I was expecting it to take a lot less, since it did not have to install an OS.
