How can i completely restore my computer

This removes everything and reinstalls Windows. Warning: All of your personal files will be deleted and your settings will be reset. All apps that you installed will be removed. Only apps that came with your PC will be reinstalled.

Under Remove everything and reinstall Windows , tap or click Get started. Note: You'll be asked to choose whether you want to erase data quickly or thoroughly.

If you choose to erase data quickly, some data might be recoverable using special software. If you choose to erase data thoroughly, this will take longer but it makes recovering data less likely. If you think an app or driver that you recently installed caused problems with your PC, you can restore Windows back to an earlier point in time, called a restore point. Windows automatically creates a restore point when you install desktop apps and new Windows updates, if the last restore point is older than 7 days.

You can also create a restore point manually at any time. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search. If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and then click Search. Enter Control Panel in the search box, and tap or click Control Panel.

However, not all options are equal. Refreshing your computer keeps your files — though not any installed programs that didn't come with your computer — and reinstalls the Windows operating system. In comparison, factory resetting your computer reinstalls the operating system but does not preserve any files or installed programs.

The only option that does not result in the total loss of either your files or installed programs is system restore. This restores your operating system — files and programs included — to a previous state, called a restore point.

Restore points are either automatically created by the operating system or manually created by you. You should try restoring your computer to an earlier point when a recent change, such as an application install or driver update , resulted in unexpected behavior or reduced performance.

Click View by and select either Small icons or Large icons. Select either the Recommended restore or Choose a different restore point and press Next. You can create a restore point from the Control Panel or by searching "Create a restore point" in the search bar.

Click Finish. The computer will then restart and Windows will restore to that previous point. If a hacker uses data forensics tools , they can find bits and pieces of those deleted files in the hard drive storage, making it possible to recover pretty much everything.

There's much online debate about the best ways to completely destroy the data inside, but most solutions come down to water, hydrochloric acid, magnets, or a blunt object you can smash them with easily. These methods might sound hardcore, but three of them still aren't completely reliable. Microwaves often don't get hot enough to properly wipe the platters. Acid doesn't seep deeply enough inside the discs to ensure complete destruction.

Hackers have recovered laptops thrown into bodies of water and dug data out of the hard drive afterward. Magnets aren't always strong enough. But smashing the platters is a different story. Just make sure you wear safety glasses, because the platters often break into tiny shards when smashed. Remember: the key to destroying the platter properly is ensuring it can't spin.

If it can't do that, the platter's contents can't be read. If you do want to reuse the hard drive, a factory reset should be your course of action. As stated above, first be sure you don't have any comprising information on the hard drive, because it could take a long time for new data to overwrite all of the old data on the drive.

While there's a pretty decent chance the old computer you want to nix has a hard drive disc as it's an older, slower form of data storage , newer computers are fast adopting a new standard called a solid state drive , or SSD. These contain the microchips you may picture inside of your phone against a green circuit board. A solid state drive is essentially a larger and more sophisticated version of a flash drive. Information is stored on microchips and contains no moving platters. This kind of drive also doesn't have magnetic coatings like a hard drive disc.

Rather, solid state drives have an embedded processor, its "brain," and interconnected memory chips that retain data. Here's how to reset your PC in Windows 10 using the settings menu. If you can't access Settings, scroll down to our instructions on formatting Windows 10 from the sign-in screen. Navigate to Settings. You can get there by clicking the gear icon on the Start menu. Windows presents you with three main options: Reset this PC ; Go back to an earlier version of Windows 10 ; and Advanced startup.

Reset this PC is the best option for starting fresh. Advanced startup lets you boot off a recovery USB drive or disc, while Go back to an earlier version of Windows is made for nostalgia-chasers who want to roll back their system to a previous version of the OS.