How to Reset Computer Defaults

As computers have become modern media centers capable of playing games, movies, pictures, music, and thousands of different applications, they tend to be come cluttered with files, resulting in a sluggish performance. Cleaning out your computer and restoring it to the factory default can sometimes be the only real option for speeding it up and making it run efficiently. Luckily, resetting it is not a terribly difficult task.

Step 1

Move all of your vital files and documents to an external hard drive. These usually plug into the computer through a USB port, allowing you to simply cut and paste your files onto the drive.

Step 2

Place the Recovery CD into the computer's disc drive.

Step 3

Turn off the computer.

Step 4

Turn the computer back on and quickly press the "F8" key when the prompt to boot from the CD.

Step 5

Select the option to partition your computer's hard drive and follow the onscreen steps. The computer will then wipe all data from its hard drive and reinstall your operating system. You will need to re-enter all of your personal data, including accounts and software.

References

• Microsoft Support

About the Author

Brenton Shields began writing professionally in 2009. His work includes film reviews that appear for the online magazine Los Angeles Chronicle. He received a Bachelor of Science in social science and history from Radford University.

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