Terrific, Mike! Thank you. Anyone reading this, take your time. Go screen by screen with Mike so after “remove everything” screen, don’t miss the change on the “Additional Settings” screen where Mike recommends “choose settings” screen and follow Mike’s instructions. Go slow. Or you will go twice, like me and others, lol. Fabulous, Mike. You’re making the world better. 😊 Also, update: - with the reset now using newer Windows, it restarts but now shows the screen meant for a new user, saying: “Let’s start with region. Is this right?” And proceeds to ask you set-up questions like keyboard and password. It seems when the “Let’s start” screen comes up, it is the time to hard power down with the power button because there is no place on the screen to power down. “Control alt delete” also would not bring up task manager to power down. That is all :)
This is what I came here looking for ^^;; got a new laptop but it sadly isn't working out so just preparing it for return, but had no idea where to stop the process lol
Thank you for this. I was a little confused when it asked how I wanted to reinstall Windows but I just said "local install" and moved on. Thanks again.
Hi Mike, I have watched 5 videos on this topic and yours was the easiest to follow and the most technically accurate to complete this procedure. Thank you!
I needed this to change my Microsoft account due to my old one being hacked, I really didn’t have much important stuff on it so it won’t be the end of the world, he seemed to just take my microsoft account and throw all my old phone numbers and email off of it so, I don’t care, I will make use of this tutorial when I finish doing some things
Thank you my parents just bought a laptop yesterday and I could not download anything on the google playstore so I had to take everything out and I didn't know how until I saw your video 😢❤
i build my pc and used free version of windows , later purchased a key. If I do this reset will i still have windows 10 without watermark or will my license be gone and I will be left with activate window watermark
great info. FYI - i'm trying this right now and there seems to be a new option to download what i assume is the latest version of windows to install rather than reverting back to the original version on the laptop. hopefully this is going to work better than it would have ten months ago.
Nice video Mike. I don't think this method is hackproof. This would allow the recipient of the PC to access the deleted User Data if they ran a Disk Recovery scan like Drill Disk. Is there a more secure way to wipe the data that prevents recovery?
It isn’t. What we do is have drives mechanically destroyed or have the magnetic structure atomically altered. But then the drive is trashed beyond use. Tom’s hardware has an article ( www.tomshardware.com/how-to/secure-erase-ssd-or-hard-drive ) about utilities to securely wipe various drives clean. I may make a video on doing this securely and still retaining windows, but we use paid utilities (ie Acronis) to be able to do this that I’m sure the average person isn’t likely to buy and use before donating their PC.
Thanks for this video. It's very informative. My laptop is originally Windows 7 and I downloaded Windows 10 when Microsoft gave it for free? Can I get Windows 10 again after I reset my laptop (and it stayed at Windows 7)?
Yes. But choose the download option instead. Take some screenshots of the activation license, etc as well. Worst case is if for some reason you messed up, and got back to Windows 7 - Microsoft support will be able to help get you back to 10. (It will take talking to Microsoft though).
Hi, im having a problem resetting my pc, it just shows "problem resetting" and "no changes were made" can you please help me on this. How can i identify and fix the problem. Thankyou
Is there an alternative way other than Reset menu? For strange reasons Reset menu isn't working on my win10 laptop. When clicked it just shuts down the Settings menu and comes back to Desktop without even flashing any error.
Mine doesnt give the options to "clean data/drive". The screen asks me "How would yo like to reinstall Windows: Cloud download or Local reinstall". I have no idea which to select?!
Local is probably safest. I’m not sure why you’d does not show - but manufacturers can remove options on their systems so maybe that’s why. Cloud is going to give you a newer version usually. In the end both can do the job.
@@MikeMu Yeah, local is definitely the safest. Reset on cloud and it corrupted the windows files! Ended up having to download windows on a hard-drive then open it.
Hey, I have a question if i reset to sell my laptop will I lose the accounts i made on said laptop? I'm thinking about selling mine so I can get a better laptop. I don't want to lose my Valorant account. Awesome video btw!
Valorant is stored on their servers tied to your login. That’s safe. (As long as you remember your login and password). Game settings/preferences probably won’t be saved with your login though, so you may have to look up where that is saved and copy those out to offline storage or cloud storage to copy back. I hope that makes sense. Other accounts may vary depending on the game / application. Most online games are stored in the cloud the same way as valorant.
did they add this option in the most recent win10 versions ? i had a win10 laptop and I couldn't reset my windows without an original image. I think I found the installation USB I used but windows DIDnt accept it. So I had to reinstall windows from the same USB. I think that maybe windows 10 updated to the next version and I had old windows 10 on my USB. And that's why I couldn't do the reset. But anyway I didn't have this option to do the reset of my PC WITHOUT windows 10 original Image...
Computer has been reset. Now how do I go about having to not name the computer so the person I'm selling it to can name it instead? I'm talking about the "Name This PC" or "Name This Computer".
On newer ones with no sticker, no. The Product Key on preinstalled WIndows is embedded in the UEFI Firmware chip on the motherboard. Its the really old machines that the key is a sticker or printed somewhere in the user manual.
1. Wanted to ask that i didn't get that "Licence Key" part. And where can i find that key/card? 🤔Can you please explain it clearly?! 2. And also if i don't put that key number or whatever that is while the PC is restarting, will i face any problem? Or problems in future?!
Really old computers have it on the computer case. Newer ones you don’t worry about this, because it is linked to the motherboard. If it is a big name brand PC sold to consumers, you don’t need to put any activation code because it is tied to the PC already when sold and activated. If it’s one someone built themselves, you may just have to purchase a license and Microsoft gives you a grace period to do so. The PC will let you know on the screen. Please let me know what situation yours ends up being.
@@MikeMu Thank You Very Much For Replying! 🤍 BTW, I've successfully completed the reset process without having any issues of licence card or anything. It was super easy. But yeah keep sharing the right information with your subscribers, unlike other UA-camrs who only give incomplete information about everything. Keep It Up! 👍🏻😊
Great follow thru on the vid. But when i did everything, my computer is just stuck on the "just a moment..." loading screen and its been like that for a few rn. Is there a solution to this?
Quick question, but if I factory reset my pc as you've said, will my onedrive files be safe? (Its a school onedrive, i dont want to lose my college work) Meaning, could i log in on another pc and my files will still exist, they wont get deleted right? I've unsynced my account from my pc too
One drive is in the ‘cloud’. You can log into onedrive on any PC and sync your files back locally or access in the cloud. You won’t lose your files unless you didn’t sync them or deleted them from Onedrive.
This video is old but I’m selling my computer and building a new one, do I still need to do this if I take all of the hard dives from my old pc out? Or will it be completely bare bones no software if I take the hardives
This video still applies to PCs built now in 2024. If you remove all the drives, there is nothing to reset. But the computer is then no longer usable without drives. Newer computers use SSD drives now, in which case you still need to do this if you are leaving the SSDs with the computer.
Did you use the secure erase option like I did? If so, you're fine. (That take's hours. If you didn't the factory reset takes minutes, and the data can be easily recovered). If you are paranoid, destroy the drive. Sell the PC without it, or buy a new one and put it in.
I explained both. Personally I prefer cloud option if it’s a newer computer. License information usually won’t be a problem from a ‘name brand’ computer.
Is it possible to reset everything but the current windows program ? I upgraded to windows 10 for free. I'm giving the computer away, but trying to save someone some hassle. It came with windows 7. Old
Thanks bro. i have been try to fix a thing where when i try to play roblox, it will show a error saying SenApi.dll and i have been trying to fix it but it has not work so this is the only way i can fix it.
Yw. Yes this will fix all issues as long as you don’t mind reinstalling your apps. There is a way to fix without reinstalling, but I haven’t made that video yet. Most people need a fresh start anyway.
@@jonathanwyatt6572 I wouldn't worry much about CC info - it's the logins you may have done on any accounts you care about and any other activities. I don't think most gaming accounts are of concern unless you heavily invested in them, and they are online games. What are the chances someone would target you? Probably minimal for most people. Still, a simple redo would help either way.
After I click remove all files another blue box pops up asking how I would like to reinstall windows it has two boxes and the first says cloud download and under says local reistall.. what do I do if I'm trying to erase everything so I can sell my laptop?
I went through those choices in the video. If you are setting up for your family, I'd say do cloud re-install if you have space. If not, just do local. It will go back to original factory settings the computer came with.
just wondering (probably a stupid question) but my steam account and all my accounts will still exist right? so when i get a new pc i can just log in to my accounts
Right. Steam info is stored on steam servers. Offline game saves will not be saved though. Not sure about other accounts…. Or saved game progress or game preferences. Things like Diablo IV and WoW and Fallout76 will be there. Game saves from say Fallout 4 will not. Make sense? Copy those over.
Yes, you can do this by logging in and installing them after the cleanup. It is a bit more work though and I figured most people don't do this. There is also a way using Microsoft tools to integrate some of that stuff but its really used by system builders. Are you doing a one off or a lot of them?
Check the disk for errors. Choose the cloud download option. There's also a chance you are out of space and need to delete some files to make space first.
I got a question so if I reset my pc and remove all files etc and I end up buying another pc in the future and sign back into my Microsoft account so I get back all my info and files and apps?
No. You have the limitations of Onedrive (from Microsoft). So some files unless you paid extra for more storage and more backup of all your documents). And not the apps unless it’s Microsoft based, like Office for instance just requires a sign in.
As new as an old machine can run. Thing is... if your computer came with a bunch of crapware, that crapware is going to be restored as it was when it was new. Also, Windows updates will likely also slow down old machines - but you generally need them installed for security reasons. So... it won't be quite as fast as when you got the PC, but it will run better in almost all cases.
Does this wipe away all saved passwords/log in information/credit card info that i have saved on different applications such as google chrome/steam/microsoft edge etc?? like if the next person downloads google chrome or steam, its not gonna have my saved info on it?
What would be the process if my window license it’s one of those $10 license I know that this license gets attached to your motherboard Do I need to do a different process?
So I have norton on my computer and some weird things lately have happened on my computer. Ive gotten logged out on a bunch of websites at the same time but when I scan my pc with norton it says its fine. I clicked remove everything on my computer. So will that clean my whole computer fresh? Everything gone, window accounts gone?
If it’s really old probably a hardware failure somewhere. I get a lot of those when refurbishing old PCs. Sometimes it’s not worth fixing depending on how old the system is.
After wiping my computer, it says: "Reboot and Select proper Boot device or Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key." Is this normal? I just want to make sure that someone is going to be able to set it up for their self, and that they're not going to be able to use my Windows license. Would there be any issue?
Cleaning a Win 11 home computer for sale. Followed the reset instructions (full reset, remove all files, download Windows from cloud). All went well. However, when the now reset computer restarted, it started the new computer setup process including asking to sign into a Microsoft account. I could not see a way to bypass the sign in step short of force shutdown. Signed in to see what happened and my personal stuff started showing up. Am I missing something?
You made the mistake of signing in. Don't sign in. Now you have to do this over again. On most computers, you can just hold the power button in for a few seconds to have it do a shut down. Thanks for the comment though, now it makes sense what someone else said about their stuff showing up. Because you signed in, Microsoft will start syncing your items from your Microsoft account back to the PC. Do these steps again and just shut it down with the power button. Worst case is once that sign-in shows up, just wait a minute or so. Just pull the power.
@drejohnson4599 Yes. Unplug the internet / Ethernet when you startup. Then press shift F10. Type in oobe\bypassnro in the prompt. Press enter. Then proceed with limited setup. Connect to internet only after you finish the setup.
So if I’m selling my pc to someone and when I get my new pc I want to be able to sign in and have all of my files there so would I still remove all files before I sell the computer?
Great question! To be safe, I'm going to say that the answer is no for most people. The only way that your files will still be there is if you were using Microsoft OneDrive and have all your documents, files synced. But I don’t know many that pay for OneDrive to have *all* their files synced, but still if you did, Microsoft talks about it here: www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/transfer-your-data?r=1 You should copy out your files to transfer separately - most people will want things in their My Documents folder and also their Desktop. Maybe a separately downloads folder if you use one. Then their favorites from their browser, along with any passwords you may have saved. The password manager you use, but if you sync with the cloud those settings will be synced on the new PC after you sign in. Games! If you have local ‘saved’ games you will probably want all that out as well. What I use for clients is software from Acronis that does most of the heavy lifting, then I do the drivers and license activation. In the end, for the clients that want it, they get a new PC with all their old stuff on it and it operates just like it did before - except usually several times faster, smaller, and more energy efficient. (A lot of my older clients prefer this). After you have safely transferred your files to your new PC, then do the steps outlined in this video and remove all personal files - otherwise they stay on the PC and go to the new owners.
@@sefuel if it’s been a day, your PC may have other issues - probably hardware related. Or the restore files are corrupt. Choose the download from the cloud / online setting.
@sefuel in the video it is the clean install option. For really old computers you have to do it manually. Newer ones allow cloud. I will make another video on the clean installation method.
Sounds like it is corrupted or removed then. Do a check disk on it first. If repairs are made, you may be in luck. If not, may have to download and do from scratch. It’s not as bad as it sounds.
What if I simply replaced the ssd with a new one? Will the new buyer be able to recover my data or is it impossible? If he can not. do I just swap the ssd and start the pc
New SSD won’t have your data on it, so you are good there. As far as the last question, it depends. Older PCs have a way to create recovery disks. You need to do that first. Not covered in this video, but simple enough. Some even bother you about till you tell it not to. Newer PCs with Windows 11 may let you recover with built in recovery tools in the ROM. If that fails, you can download windows directly first to a USB flash drive. Do a fresh installation from it to the brand new SSD. Install the drivers needed to run. I might cover that in a new video next month.
After following this videos steps, my Bios settings have been spinning for at least 3 hours now. I have yet to see the windows %. What do I even do this point?
@@wrldrnwnd I tried to warn people that the process takes a while. Sometimes hours, but that's usually an older machine like mine was. The 'BIOS' is involved because of licensing. It'd probably have been faster if you installed from scratch, but I haven't made a video about that yet.
Terrific, Mike! Thank you. Anyone reading this, take your time. Go screen by screen with Mike so after “remove everything” screen, don’t miss the change on the “Additional Settings” screen where Mike recommends “choose settings” screen and follow Mike’s instructions. Go slow. Or you will go twice, like me and others, lol. Fabulous, Mike. You’re making the world better. 😊
Also, update:
- with the reset now using newer Windows, it restarts but now shows the screen meant for a new user, saying: “Let’s start with region. Is this right?” And proceeds to ask you set-up questions like keyboard and password. It seems when the “Let’s start” screen comes up, it is the time to hard power down with the power button because there is no place on the screen to power down. “Control alt delete” also would not bring up task manager to power down. That is all :)
I was gonna ask the exact same thing what to do now after reaching the start screen with all the questions
This is what I came here looking for ^^;; got a new laptop but it sadly isn't working out so just preparing it for return, but had no idea where to stop the process lol
Thank you for this. I was a little confused when it asked how I wanted to reinstall Windows but I just said "local install" and moved on. Thanks again.
Hi Mike, I have watched 5 videos on this topic and yours was the easiest to follow and the most technically accurate to complete this procedure. Thank you!
Yes, I would like to see a video on putting security and firewall on the computer that I am going to clean. Thank for this video, it helped me a lot:
Thank you. Just the video I need to clear the computer before selling it
Great video. I was giving my old pc to my girl and wanted that thing clean lol! Thanks!
Man this deserves wayy more views and likes best tut I have seen for this
Very informative and details. Thanks you!
Great stuff ! My powerful pc has slowed down to a crawl. Trying to open a picture gets a "working on it". Thanks !
thank you bro I’m selling the pc and you helped me out
Thank you .
I needed this to change my Microsoft account due to my old one being hacked, I really didn’t have much important stuff on it so it won’t be the end of the world, he seemed to just take my microsoft account and throw all my old phone numbers and email off of it so, I don’t care, I will make use of this tutorial when I finish doing some things
This was so helpful! Thank you so much. This is the perfect tutorial! 👍🏻
Thank you my parents just bought a laptop yesterday and I could not download anything on the google playstore so I had to take everything out and I didn't know how until I saw your video 😢❤
thanks, this was very helpful! :)
Thank you very much. Very clear, precise, and your instructions are easily understandable. Terrific job explaining this. Thanks again. You rock!!!
Great advice I did my Pc reset follow by your video thank you
Very helpful, plain English, easy to follow and it worked. Thank you.
You're welcome!
Thank you bro I left a like
Thanks so much mike❤
Very helpful, thank you.
i build my pc and used free version of windows , later purchased a key. If I do this reset will i still have windows 10 without watermark or will my license be gone and I will be left with activate window watermark
great info. FYI - i'm trying this right now and there seems to be a new option to download what i assume is the latest version of windows to install rather than reverting back to the original version on the laptop. hopefully this is going to work better than it would have ten months ago.
Personally I would also choose the download option if time was not a concern. And it isn’t an issue on newer computers. So yes, better choice.
I already started resetting it with the other one, do I have to do the process again?
My laptop is window 10 in built i think
Im going to sell...i followed steps to clean everything...after cleaning which window verison will be there ?
Thank you for explaining, really helpful.
You're very welcome!
Nice video Mike. I don't think this method is hackproof. This would allow the recipient of the PC to access the deleted User Data if they ran a Disk Recovery scan like Drill Disk. Is there a more secure way to wipe the data that prevents recovery?
It isn’t. What we do is have drives mechanically destroyed or have the magnetic structure atomically altered. But then the drive is trashed beyond use.
Tom’s hardware has an article ( www.tomshardware.com/how-to/secure-erase-ssd-or-hard-drive ) about utilities to securely wipe various drives clean. I may make a video on doing this securely and still retaining windows, but we use paid utilities (ie Acronis) to be able to do this that I’m sure the average person isn’t likely to buy and use before donating their PC.
Thanks for this video. It's very informative. My laptop is originally Windows 7 and I downloaded Windows 10 when Microsoft gave it for free? Can I get Windows 10 again after I reset my laptop (and it stayed at Windows 7)?
Yes. But choose the download option instead. Take some screenshots of the activation license, etc as well. Worst case is if for some reason you messed up, and got back to Windows 7 - Microsoft support will be able to help get you back to 10. (It will take talking to Microsoft though).
Thanks man trading my pc bitter sweet moment but I’ll get something better down the line
Hi, im having a problem resetting my pc, it just shows "problem resetting" and "no changes were made" can you please help me on this. How can i identify and fix the problem. Thankyou
Is there an alternative way other than Reset menu? For strange reasons Reset menu isn't working on my win10 laptop. When clicked it just shuts down the Settings menu and comes back to Desktop without even flashing any error.
Mine doesnt give the options to "clean data/drive". The screen asks me "How would yo like to reinstall Windows: Cloud download or Local reinstall". I have no idea which to select?!
Local is probably safest. I’m not sure why you’d does not show - but manufacturers can remove options on their systems so maybe that’s why. Cloud is going to give you a newer version usually. In the end both can do the job.
I have the same issue
@@MikeMu great, because that’s what I did.
@@MikeMu Yeah, local is definitely the safest. Reset on cloud and it corrupted the windows files! Ended up having to download windows on a hard-drive then open it.
Thank you for the information. Craig
It would have been nice to see the entire resetting process in real time. A 4 hour video? j/k
I'll do it!!! I have all the unedited footage. lol. I can put some sleep hypnosis audio to it while I'm at it.
So beautifully explained 👌to the point 😊
Thanks so much it was very helpful.
Hey, I have a question if i reset to sell my laptop will I lose the accounts i made on said laptop? I'm thinking about selling mine so I can get a better laptop. I don't want to lose my Valorant account. Awesome video btw!
Valorant is stored on their servers tied to your login. That’s safe. (As long as you remember your login and password). Game settings/preferences probably won’t be saved with your login though, so you may have to look up where that is saved and copy those out to offline storage or cloud storage to copy back. I hope that makes sense. Other accounts may vary depending on the game / application. Most online games are stored in the cloud the same way as valorant.
@@MikeMu so if i reset and clear files it i will still be able to login all my accounts if i know my passwords?
Does this option only scrub the primary drive or will it scrub secondary drives installed as well?
did they add this option in the most recent win10 versions ? i had a win10 laptop and I couldn't reset my windows without an original image. I think I found the installation USB I used but windows DIDnt accept it. So I had to reinstall windows from the same USB. I think that maybe windows 10 updated to the next version and I had old windows 10 on my USB. And that's why I couldn't do the reset. But anyway I didn't have this option to do the reset of my PC WITHOUT windows 10 original Image...
my hp laptop keeps moving from full screen on its own then no keys will work until i click the mouse. help fix it plz
Computer has been reset. Now how do I go about having to not name the computer so the person I'm selling it to can name it instead? I'm talking about the "Name This PC" or "Name This Computer".
i think he can edit the name when ever he wants in the advanced systemsettings
My computer wont give me the option, it will only format the drive. Forcing me to reinstall operating system.
Thanks for the help
Thank You reset my Dell Computer..will gave it to my nephew
Awesome!
Will i need my windows key if I do this
On newer ones with no sticker, no. The Product Key on preinstalled WIndows is embedded in the UEFI Firmware chip on the motherboard. Its the really old machines that the key is a sticker or printed somewhere in the user manual.
Do I need to reinstall drivers after reset? Like, the same drivers that I needed to get after building a new computer.
If you needed to install when you got the computer, you will need to as well after.
1. Wanted to ask that i didn't get that "Licence Key" part. And where can i find that key/card? 🤔Can you please explain it clearly?!
2. And also if i don't put that key number or whatever that is while the PC is restarting, will i face any problem? Or problems in future?!
Really old computers have it on the computer case. Newer ones you don’t worry about this, because it is linked to the motherboard. If it is a big name brand PC sold to consumers, you don’t need to put any activation code because it is tied to the PC already when sold and activated. If it’s one someone built themselves, you may just have to purchase a license and Microsoft gives you a grace period to do so. The PC will let you know on the screen.
Please let me know what situation yours ends up being.
@@MikeMu Thank You Very Much For Replying! 🤍
BTW, I've successfully completed the reset process without having any issues of licence card or anything. It was super easy. But yeah keep sharing the right information with your subscribers, unlike other UA-camrs who only give incomplete information about everything. Keep It Up! 👍🏻😊
So....this is good to run IF your handing your PC down or selling it to another?
Right
Also good if you just want a clean PC to start over or to repair unfixable issues.
@@MikeMu Thank you for the reply and the EXTREMELY helpful content! 💯👍🏻
Doesn't work: when I click "Remove everything", the display is "Could not find the recovery environment"
Your recovery environment got corrupted somehow. Did you or someone else install the OS yourselves? Or use any disk utility cleaner?
@@MikeMu hi Mike I am getting this error. Can you help?
I don’t believe anyone installed the os
Great follow thru on the vid. But when i did everything, my computer is just stuck on the "just a moment..." loading screen and its been like that for a few rn. Is there a solution to this?
How old is your computer?
@@MikeMu its fine now, i just turned it off and turned it back on and boom its fixed
Quick question, but if I factory reset my pc as you've said, will my onedrive files be safe? (Its a school onedrive, i dont want to lose my college work) Meaning, could i log in on another pc and my files will still exist, they wont get deleted right? I've unsynced my account from my pc too
One drive is in the ‘cloud’. You can log into onedrive on any PC and sync your files back locally or access in the cloud. You won’t lose your files unless you didn’t sync them or deleted them from Onedrive.
@MikeMu Aah I see, that's good, thank you so much!
This video is old but I’m selling my computer and building a new one, do I still need to do this if I take all of the hard dives from my old pc out? Or will it be completely bare bones no software if I take the hardives
This video still applies to PCs built now in 2024. If you remove all the drives, there is nothing to reset. But the computer is then no longer usable without drives. Newer computers use SSD drives now, in which case you still need to do this if you are leaving the SSDs with the computer.
Will this method wipe all drives clean?
No. Just the main windows drive with programs.
So i now should be able to sell it with no fear of my personal info?
Did you use the secure erase option like I did? If so, you're fine. (That take's hours. If you didn't the factory reset takes minutes, and the data can be easily recovered). If you are paranoid, destroy the drive. Sell the PC without it, or buy a new one and put it in.
Awesome!!!❤
Hello
The screen is showing "getting windows ready don't turn off your computer"
What to do now?
Wait. It takes a while.
it says "there was a problem resetting your pc" idk what happened. i dont know what to do
oh no ... did you get it figured out?
@@Thankful305 yeah.. i deleted all my application cause it said i have no storage left to reset...
Cloud download or local reinstall is a good option? As i don't have any license information. Please reply me
I explained both. Personally I prefer cloud option if it’s a newer computer. License information usually won’t be a problem from a ‘name brand’ computer.
@@MikeMuwhat happens if you didn’t choose cloud version and don’t have the passkey card it came with?
This is urgent
@@silascox6953 It proceeds exactly like in this video in most cases. Unless it's a DIY computer with a really old license or no license.
What about if I have another pc that’s logged in on the same windows accoint?
Won’t be affected.
Is it possible to reset everything but the current windows program ? I upgraded to windows 10 for free. I'm giving the computer away, but trying to save someone some hassle. It came with windows 7. Old
Yes. You can do the online version of the reset. (I did the local version in the video, but talked about both types).
Thanks bro. i have been try to fix a thing where when i try to play roblox, it will show a error saying SenApi.dll and i have been trying to fix it but it has not work so this is the only way i can fix it.
Yw. Yes this will fix all issues as long as you don’t mind reinstalling your apps. There is a way to fix without reinstalling, but I haven’t made that video yet. Most people need a fresh start anyway.
Appreciate you thank u
Will this clear the storage whether it is an ssd or harddrive?
Yes. Primary drive only. If you have secondary drives they remain unaffected.
I did not see the "clean drive. Make it harder to recover files. Is this a problem? All I did was use my laptop for gaming
It’s just more risky is all. If you browse the web and need to log in anywhere, you should wipe it clean. Do it again and pay attention.
@@MikeMu even if I had taken my CC info off beforehand?
@@jonathanwyatt6572 I wouldn't worry much about CC info - it's the logins you may have done on any accounts you care about and any other activities. I don't think most gaming accounts are of concern unless you heavily invested in them, and they are online games. What are the chances someone would target you? Probably minimal for most people. Still, a simple redo would help either way.
Is there a place where I could find the Windows pass key in the computer?
Do you mean license key? Or are you talking about saved pass keys for authentication (logins etc).?
@@MikeMu license key.
After I click remove all files another blue box pops up asking how I would like to reinstall windows it has two boxes and the first says cloud download and under says local reistall.. what do I do if I'm trying to erase everything so I can sell my laptop?
I went through those choices in the video. If you are setting up for your family, I'd say do cloud re-install if you have space. If not, just do local. It will go back to original factory settings the computer came with.
just wondering (probably a stupid question) but my steam account and all my accounts will still exist right? so when i get a new pc i can just log in to my accounts
Right. Steam info is stored on steam servers. Offline game saves will not be saved though. Not sure about other accounts…. Or saved game progress or game preferences. Things like Diablo IV and WoW and Fallout76 will be there. Game saves from say Fallout 4 will not. Make sense? Copy those over.
Is there a way for me to set it up so someone buying the PC will already have it up to date and game drivers set up already for GPUs?
Yes, you can do this by logging in and installing them after the cleanup. It is a bit more work though and I figured most people don't do this. There is also a way using Microsoft tools to integrate some of that stuff but its really used by system builders. Are you doing a one off or a lot of them?
Am getting " Could not find the recovery environment" kindly help
It is either corrupted or was deleted. Try a disk check and repair first. If that doesn’t work, you may need to download windows and install.
Do you have to be online to “reset”?
No.
It keeps saying can't reset this pc, no changes have been made. What do I do?
Check the disk for errors. Choose the cloud download option. There's also a chance you are out of space and need to delete some files to make space first.
I got a question so if I reset my pc and remove all files etc and I end up buying another pc in the future and sign back into my Microsoft account so I get back all my info and files and apps?
No. You have the limitations of Onedrive (from Microsoft). So some files unless you paid extra for more storage and more backup of all your documents). And not the apps unless it’s Microsoft based, like Office for instance just requires a sign in.
Does anyone know how to fix my issue, it says there was a problem resetting your PC and no changes were made.
Try checking the disk for errors. Reboot. Try again. Report back.
So is this tutorial selling a PC with window still installed
You can do that with this. Most of the times when I run this it’s to donate an old computer a company no longer needs because they have been upgraded.
Does this make it run like new?
As new as an old machine can run. Thing is... if your computer came with a bunch of crapware, that crapware is going to be restored as it was when it was new. Also, Windows updates will likely also slow down old machines - but you generally need them installed for security reasons. So... it won't be quite as fast as when you got the PC, but it will run better in almost all cases.
Me and a friend are currently trying and we re a little scared of the black screen,
How long should the screen be black ?
It depends. As I stated in my video it was a long time for this older PC.
Sometimes it gets stuck (talking many hours later). Just reboot it / shut it down and it should continue in most cases.
Does this wipe away all saved passwords/log in information/credit card info that i have saved on different applications such as google chrome/steam/microsoft edge etc?? like if the next person downloads google chrome or steam, its not gonna have my saved info on it?
Yes. Do the secure erase method. Also, for your logins, consider adding a multifactor authentication method if supported as an extra precaution.
Hi Mike, I have to 2 partitions C (with the windows) and G (which is encrypted)
When I rest will it remove both or just the C?
@@foureverpaid Is G a separate drive (physical drive). Most likely the encrypted drive will remain and still be encrypted then.
If i have laptop and i reset it . Will it also uninstall my windows?
It wipes the drive and restores the original windows unless you choose the download windows option. Windows will but back on the machine.
@@MikeMu thankyou
Can this be done without wifi access ?
Yes
What would be the process if my window license it’s one of those $10 license
I know that this license gets attached to your motherboard
Do I need to do a different process?
You should be good. But do a full backup first just in case.
@@MikeMu thanks
So I have norton on my computer and some weird things lately have happened on my computer. Ive gotten logged out on a bunch of websites at the same time but when I scan my pc with norton it says its fine. I clicked remove everything on my computer. So will that clean my whole computer fresh? Everything gone, window accounts gone?
Yup.
@@MikeMu alright I did it should I be safe now?
@PolarEclipse14 if you followed everything, yes. Exceptions are if you have another drive in there (secondary or other).
Mine says "Nothing changed." "Pc cannot reset." How can I fix this?
No other reason why is given? You may have to download windows and do a straight from usb install then.
What if it’s stuck on the screen when you first turn on the pc
If it’s really old probably a hardware failure somewhere. I get a lot of those when refurbishing old PCs. Sometimes it’s not worth fixing depending on how old the system is.
Is there a way to wipe the computer clean and keep windows 10
That’s pretty much what this is about.
After wiping my computer, it says: "Reboot and Select proper Boot device or Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key." Is this normal? I just want to make sure that someone is going to be able to set it up for their self, and that they're not going to be able to use my Windows license. Would there be any issue?
It appears that you may have something else plugged in that is interfering with the boot sequence. A USB drive could do that.
Cleaning a Win 11 home computer for sale. Followed the reset instructions (full reset, remove all files, download Windows from cloud). All went well. However, when the now reset computer restarted, it started the new computer setup process including asking to sign into a Microsoft account. I could not see a way to bypass the sign in step short of force shutdown. Signed in to see what happened and my personal stuff started showing up. Am I missing something?
You made the mistake of signing in. Don't sign in. Now you have to do this over again. On most computers, you can just hold the power button in for a few seconds to have it do a shut down. Thanks for the comment though, now it makes sense what someone else said about their stuff showing up. Because you signed in, Microsoft will start syncing your items from your Microsoft account back to the PC. Do these steps again and just shut it down with the power button. Worst case is once that sign-in shows up, just wait a minute or so. Just pull the power.
@@MikeMu Thanks. Re-ran the reset and shut down as soon as setup started and it asked for language preference. Thanks for your help!
I have Win 11 Home I'm not selling but I want to start over without MS log in will this method work?
@drejohnson4599 yes.
@drejohnson4599 Yes. Unplug the internet / Ethernet when you startup. Then press shift F10. Type in oobe\bypassnro in the prompt. Press enter. Then proceed with limited setup. Connect to internet only after you finish the setup.
Thanks mate
Happy to help
I did this exactly and I'm trying to open my laptop but my password is still on it and when I type my password it tells me it doesn't work
It says "The user profile service service failed the sign-in.
User profile cannot be loaded
The restore got corrupted. Try again or you may have to download a new copy.
Will I have to reinstall the drivers or will they still be on there
Original drivers will be there. New ones won’t. Ie. updated ones, add on cards.
Mine switch on and off what can be a problem?
You might have a hardware issue.
Thank uu!❤
So if I’m selling my pc to someone and when I get my new pc I want to be able to sign in and have all of my files there so would I still remove all files before I sell the computer?
Great question! To be safe, I'm going to say that the answer is no for most people. The only way that your files will still be there is if you were using Microsoft OneDrive and have all your documents, files synced. But I don’t know many that pay for OneDrive to have *all* their files synced, but still if you did, Microsoft talks about it here: www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/transfer-your-data?r=1
You should copy out your files to transfer separately - most people will want things in their My Documents folder and also their Desktop. Maybe a separately downloads folder if you use one. Then their favorites from their browser, along with any passwords you may have saved. The password manager you use, but if you sync with the cloud those settings will be synced on the new PC after you sign in. Games! If you have local ‘saved’ games you will probably want all that out as well.
What I use for clients is software from Acronis that does most of the heavy lifting, then I do the drivers and license activation. In the end, for the clients that want it, they get a new PC with all their old stuff on it and it operates just like it did before - except usually several times faster, smaller, and more energy efficient. (A lot of my older clients prefer this).
After you have safely transferred your files to your new PC, then do the steps outlined in this video and remove all personal files - otherwise they stay on the PC and go to the new owners.
will this restore my local disk C gigabytes that I lost while doing "keep my files"?
Yes, if you choose to delete all files and start over (as opposed o keeping your files the first time.
Okay, but why is it taking me so long and my monitor screen is black all the time
@@sefuel if it’s been a day, your PC may have other issues - probably hardware related. Or the restore files are corrupt. Choose the download from the cloud / online setting.
@@MikeMu cloud reinstall?
@sefuel in the video it is the clean install option. For really old computers you have to do it manually. Newer ones allow cloud. I will make another video on the clean installation method.
My pc says it can’t find the recovery environment
Sounds like it is corrupted or removed then. Do a check disk on it first. If repairs are made, you may be in luck. If not, may have to download and do from scratch. It’s not as bad as it sounds.
Can I still sign in on a different pc?
Yes
What if I simply replaced the ssd with a new one? Will the new buyer be able to recover my data or is it impossible? If he can not. do I just swap the ssd and start the pc
New SSD won’t have your data on it, so you are good there. As far as the last question, it depends. Older PCs have a way to create recovery disks. You need to do that first. Not covered in this video, but simple enough. Some even bother you about till you tell it not to. Newer PCs with Windows 11 may let you recover with built in recovery tools in the ROM.
If that fails, you can download windows directly first to a USB flash drive. Do a fresh installation from it to the brand new SSD. Install the drivers needed to run. I might cover that in a new video next month.
Hello, Thank you. I have a pc with intel 11th gen cpu and Windows 11 system on it. @@MikeMu
Does this clean c drive as well
In drives effected option it shows d, e and not "c"
So ....
Any help is appreciated
Yes.
After following this videos steps, my Bios settings have been spinning for at least 3 hours now. I have yet to see the windows %. What do I even do this point?
How old is the computer?
@@MikeMu purchased it in 2020 I got it to work though, seems it’s a part of the process with the motherboard that was on it
@@wrldrnwnd I tried to warn people that the process takes a while. Sometimes hours, but that's usually an older machine like mine was. The 'BIOS' is involved because of licensing. It'd probably have been faster if you installed from scratch, but I haven't made a video about that yet.
What about drivers? Do i need to re install it?
No. That comes after/later with updates after the reset.
Thankyou!