Restore W10 factory settings without using reset function/disk?

bairn7

I've been stupid and purchased a cheap laptop (albeit still £400!) - I wanted a 360 laptop and this was one of the cheapest (BMAX). The laptop itself is ok but the battery life is shocking - less than one hour when not on charge, even with no apps running.

So I want to return the laptop but I have paired my Microsoft account and put some personal documents on there. I planned to use the reset function in Windows 10 but it keeps failing. I've followed many suggestions to fix this, including a few command prompt suggestions, but nothing works. I'm reluctant to return the laptop without reseting the laptop, not least because I might not get a full refund.

Does anyone know of a way I can restore the laptop to factory settings without using the reset function or installation media (which I don't have)? It's currently looking like I'm just going to have to keep the laptop!

Thanks

Neil_Jones

You can make install media:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10

A USB stick will do the job.

bairn7

Thank you!

EveryWhere

Before you do so, check the current SKU; https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/22749-see-windows-10-edition-you-have-installed.html

If you also wish to retrieve the keys, just in case, you can do so by running ShowKeyPlus; https://github.com/Superfly-Inc/ShowKeyPlus/releases/download/ShowKeyPlus7060/ShowKeyPlus1.0.7060.zip

bairn7

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bairn7

Can someone please help me with the above? I've downloaded DBAN to a USB and Windows 10 to a separate USB. I have the DBAN USB connected to my laptop and I thought I had changed my BIOS settings to boot from the USB first but when I restart it just boots as normal.

What am I doing wrong?

EveryWhere

bairn7 wrote: »

Can someone please help me with the above? I've downloaded DBAN to a USB and Windows 10 to a separate USB. I have the DBAN USB connected to my laptop and I thought I had changed my BIOS settings to boot from the USB first but when I restart it just boots as normal.

What am I doing wrong?

Remove the DBAN USB Flash drive. Just run a 'Repair Install'of the same version of Windows 10 originally installed. So if it is 1809 Home Single Language, run a repair install with 1809 Single language media.

bairn7

EveryWhere wrote: »

Remove the DBAN USB Flash drive. Just run a 'Repair Install'of the same version of Windows 10 originally installed. So if it is 1809 Home Single Language, run a repair install with 1809 Single language media.

I'm sorry, I don't know what that means! Do you mean just do a new install with the windows USB rather than run DBAN? Will that delete my data so that I can safely return the laptop?

EveryWhere

bairn7 wrote: »

I'm sorry, I don't know what that means! Do you mean just do a new install with the windows USB rather than run DBAN? Will that delete my data so that I can safely return the laptop?

What data did you put on there that you think will be of value to anyone else? Forget about DBAN.

I already guided you to check the SKU. You want to laptop to be as it was, not with a newer version of Windows 10 than supplied.

So once again, identify exactly what is installed and the run a repair install of exactly the same version.

You can just run the Setup.exe file within the installation media, as opposed to booting from it. Then choose to keep nothing.

But first identify exactly what edition/version is installed.

PRAISETHESUN

If you want to make sure that your data is fully deleted, run DBAN first, and then re-install Windows 10. The Windows 10 install will format your drive if you do a full install so DBAN is probably a little overkill, but personally I think it's better to be safe than sorry! See here for tips for DBAN: https://dban.org/help-center/

You need to change the boot order in your BIOS as you've shown. Make sure to "Save and Exit" to make sure the changes go through. Completely turning off the PC and restarting with only the DBAN bootable USB inserted should then bring up the interface you need to wipe your drives. Once you've done this you'll then need to boot from your Windows 10 USB to start the re-installation process.

bairn7

Thanks. I'm just going through a fresh install of Windows 10 now. I had transferred over my 'my documents' folder from my old laptop which contained password reminders for various online banking accounts etc. But I had already moved these to the recycle bin and run CCleaner so hopefully that will have been sufficient anyway.

I'll change all my passwords just to be safe.

Thanks all for the advice.