You're welcome! I realized that I did not cover this topic in the original video so I made this one to provide people with answers. Have a great day! -- Jason
I was curious to find out the answer for myself too. At first I didn’t think I would be creating a real full-fledged video but it turned out to be interesting enough to post. Have a great day - Jason
Very good follow up video on your last one. The one thing that still makes me wary is when the option you pick to clear everything still says "but will make it harder to recover files". That doesn't sound like it says that it CAN'T be done. lol
Thanks for finding and watching BOTH videos, A true fan...! Here's yet *another* video where a show how good of a job the "Reset this PC" program does when it secure-erases the drive. See: th-cam.com/video/j5dO3iG1_S0/w-d-xo.html I used several data recovery utilities and they could NOT recover any data from the drive after it was secure erased. Advanced forensics labs do, however, have methods that go way above and beyond what us mere mortals can do. You might have heard of the term "DOD7 Secure Erase", which is a US Department of Defense standard for secure erasing a hard drive by overwriting it at least 7 times. The "Reset this PC" program does not go to that extreme, and it would take a LONG LONG time, but it does a good enough job to keep people who don't own a $1 million forensics data recovery lab from being able to recover any data. The hard drive only knows how to read data the is CURRENTLY on the drive. There is no technology in the drive to allow it to scan the surface for magnetic traces of previous versions of data that has been overwritten. The forensic labs pull the magnetic media out of the drive and use other equipment that IS capable of doing that -- But who has access to a forensic lab? Thanks for your comment and I appreciate your interest in my channel. I just set up a new TH-cam studio and will be making lots of new IT videos starting soon. Cheers -- Jason :)
Yes, that should be the case. I always perform a full backup of all of my drives/data before clicking anything that says "Delete" or "Erase" because there is always a potential surprises but only the Windows drive will get "cleaned" if "No, only Windows drive" is selected. -- Jason
You're welcome! Don't miss my full video on how to use the "Reset this PC" program here: th-cam.com/video/zW2v3M_xFVY/w-d-xo.html Have a great day! -- Jason :)
This option to reset "all drives" toggle is now missing on windows 11. im not sure if this was a change made by microsoft on the latest update or a problem on my end.
Hi! You can download a free program called "CCleaner" from CCleaner.com. It has a "Wipe Disk" option that lets you select a particular drive and overwrite it's data multiple times. I sometimes use it to clear out (secure erase) hard drive that I connect to my computer with a SATA to USB adapter cable. Hopefully that will help! -- Jason
I have only one SSD that is split into two partitions, are those two partitions considered two separate drives and does selecting "No, only Windows drive" still affect the whole SSD, or just the partition where Windows is installed?
Hi! From what I've read about it, if you select "No, only Windows drive", the "Reset this PC" program should only erase the partition Windows is installed on while leaving the other data partition intact. I recommend that you make a back copy of the important files on the secondary partition, just in case. Thanks -- Jason :)
Great, I'm glad you found the video helpful. I have a more thorough version available for viewing here: th-cam.com/video/zW2v3M_xFVY/w-d-xo.html Have a great day! -- Jason :)
Hi. So I’m going to sell my surface pro and the first time I didn’t know about the “fully clean the drive option”, so I only did the delete everything. So when I found out about that, I started the tablet again and signed in with my account as if I was a new owner and then I reseted it correctly including “cleaning the drive”. Is what I did correct, is it safe to sell now? (In summary I basically restarted my devices two times, one without cleaning the drive and one with).
Hi! Yes, as long as you used the "Clean data: Yes" option, the drive will have been secure-erased. Just make sure that you didn't enter your E-mail address (Microsoft Account) at the last part of the installation because that would allow Windows to download a fresh copy of your data from OneDrive and save it onto the freshly reset PC. Have a great day! -- Jason
Thanks so much This is exactly what I needed to know my current boot SSD in my gaming pc is dying and I want to replace it I wanted to format this drive and my 2 other m.2 drives to make sure my pc was completely clean and ready for my replacement boot SSD I liked and subscribed thanks alot
Thanks, I'm glad you found the information helpful! I also have videos on my channel that show how to perform a "Clean Install" of Windows 10/11 after removing all of the partitions from the drive(s). In your case you don't really need to secure erase (overwrite) the drives because security is not a concern. Simply removing the partitions and recreating new one(s) would give the computer a fresh start without burning through a bunch of the write cycles on your SSD drives. It's not much of a problem for most SSDs though. My 2TB Samsung 990 Pro NVMe SSD drive has an "Endurance" rating of 1,200TB which means that I can completely overwrite the drive 600 times before it will have used up it's write cycles. Good luck with it and have a great weekend! -- Jason :)
@@JasonBagnell Thanks for all info it really helps however I have a question Id really appreciate if you could help with basically I have a old Samsung rv511 laptop and it was running windows 7 however I recently updated it to windows 10 I had to use a cd emulator as the official way to install windows 10 did not work basically it has been running perfectly on windows 10 for the last week but yesterday for some reason I decided to convert the mbr to gpt through command prompt now when I boot my laptop it boots with a black screen then like a windows 7 loading bar then successfully boots to windows 10 so it works fine but I think I messed it up I'm wondering if I can get the windows boot screen working again or possibly revert it to mbr uefi is enabled in bios however I'm unable to double check it's still enabled as I'm unable to load into bios when I boot the laptop it just says resuming system also I somehow accidentally deleted the recovery mode partition I don't know what to do now there is only 1 important folder I have on the pc which I can backup if I do need to completely reinstall windows and im guessing the drive will need to be set back to MBR? Thanks
Hi! I just saw your message. Can you still reach the Windows desktop screen? If so, there are some options if you are still having the problem. Let me know and we can continue the conversation from there. This week I ran into an issue where I had to convert a drive from MBR to GPT. My customer had an 11 year old Dell PC that had custom software on it that cannot be reloaded without great expense. I bought him a new 13th Generation Intel i5-13400 PC and made an image of the old PC's drive using "Macrium Reflect". After I restored the image onto the new system's NVMe drive, the NVMe drive would not even appear in the UEFI as a boot device. It turns out that the new Dell PCs will absolutely NOT support booting from legacy drives that are configured as MBR. I ended up booting the new PC up to the latest "Hirens Boot CD PE" flash drive image, which contains the Intel Rapid Storage Technology (RST) disk controller drivers. I opened a command prompt window and issued the following two commands: mbr2gpt /validate /disk:0 /allowFullOS mbr2gpt /convert /disk:0 /allowFullOS When I went back into the UEFI/BIOS, the drive with the cloned image appeared and the system was able to boot properly to it and everything worked great. Very interesting -- The new Dell PCs will only allow the system to boot through UEFI to GPT enabled hard drives. I ran a Windows 11 in-place-upgrade to bring the PC from Windows 10 to Windows 11 and it went through without any problems. Here's and idea, make a bootable "Hirens Boot CD PE" flash drive and boot the laptop to it. You'll then have access to the file system on the laptop's hard drive and you can copy your critical files off of the computer. If you don't need anything else on the laptop's hard drive, perform a clean install of Windows 10 using the steps I show in my video here: th-cam.com/video/bP03Y-l9NOM/w-d-xo.html Write me back and let me know where you're at! Cheers -- Jason
Hello Jason, great video! I have a "newbie" problem of great proportion. I was going to install a 2tb SSD into my old computer which only has a 500gb SSD so I cloned drive C:, no issues. Then, I decided to just build a new computer instead and install 2 - 2tb SSD's. After I built the new system and installed the one SSD that was right out of the box, all was good, but here is the problem; the SSD I cloned I can't seem to wipe the Windows data so I was told to just reformat it. I did that and now my 2tb SSD only shows 500gb available. Please help me restore this 2tb SSD to out of the box condition. Thank you so much! Keep doing what you do.
At 2:35 you state "any drive" so follow-up question. Since the SSD I am trying to wipe is in an enclosure that I used to try and clone it. Will doing this process that you describe work to take this SSD to new condition maybe since it is not a flash drive but and actual SSD?
@jazzman9469 @Jeff1960G Hi Jazzman9469 (and Jeff) It sounds like when you cloned the 500GB SSD drive to the 2TB SSD drive, the cloning process did not "stretch" the partition to use the full amount available space on the 2TB SSD drive. If you're not worried about the data on that drive, you can follow the directions in my Windows 10/11 clean install videos, which show how to remove ALL partitions from the drive and then perform a perfectly clean/fresh Windows 10/11 installation. The full capacity of the drive will be available when it's all done. For Windows 10: th-cam.com/video/bP03Y-l9NOM/w-d-xo.html For Windows 11: th-cam.com/video/ZMKl9wBJYD0/w-d-xo.html Another option is to use a program like AOMEI Partition Assistant (or similar) to stretch the partitions that contains C: to utilize the full capacity of the drive. I hope this helps! -- Jason :)
Hi! The last part of the "Reset this PC" program reinstalls Windows, so when it's finished the computer will be running a "Clean" copy of the same version of Windows it was running before, i.e. 8/10/11. I have two other videos that show how to erase all of the partitions off of the hard drive and then it shows you how to install a fresh/clean copy of Windows 10/11 from scratch. Would that be what you're looking for? For Windows 10: th-cam.com/video/bP03Y-l9NOM/w-d-xo.html For Windows 11: th-cam.com/video/ZMKl9wBJYD0/w-d-xo.html Let me know if you have any additional questions. Thanks! -- Jason
Hi! If you selected "Local Reinstall" in one of the previous steps, the "Download Windows" slider will be set to No because you told it to use the files already on the system to perform the fresh install. That could be useful in an offline situation. Have a great day -- Jason
Hi! The Windows Product Key will remain active on the PC after the reset. All of the software will be removed, i.e. Adobe, Chrome, Microsoft Office, etc.
Hello Mr Jason i have a small question. I have already read up on the local and cloud installation option but I didn't fully understand it. Could you help me and explain what the respective options are (first of all, my internet connection is relatively fast)
Hi! As I understand it, your current copy of Windows already has everything it needs to perform a Windows Reset without requiring any additional files from the Internet. If you use the "Local" option, your system will be completely reset to the version of Windows you are currently running. If you use the "Cloud download" option, the Windows Reset procedure will connect to the Internet and downloaded the latest, most up-to-date version of your Windows operating system and it will then perform the erase/reinstall. So, if you use "Local", you'll end up with the same version your already have. If you use "Cloud", you should end up with the latest version that is available, which might be newer than the version you were originally running. There would also be less Windows Updates available for download (using the Cloud download option) once the process is complete, which is a good thing. I hope this helps!! Cheers -- Jason
@@JasonBagnell I thank you very much for your answer and also at this time. Would you recommend cloud download because I'm having problems making updates at the moment because the same update fails every time
Yes, in your case I recommend that you use the Cloud Download option. You will end up with a completely fresh Windows operating system and everything should be up-to-date when it's finished. There are usually a few minor updates that will still need to download and install but the Windows Update component of your new fresh installation should no longer be jammed up. The only pain is that you will need to reload all of your Apps and Programs again. I have recently come across a problem where Windows Update KB5034441 continuously fails to install. If the "Recovery Partition" on your computer is less than 800MB, the update will fail and there is no way to keep it from failing aside from using a Drive Partition program to expand the size of the Recovery Partition, which is way beyond what most normal users would want to do. There is a way to disable 1 or more particular Windows Updates, so if you ever need that information just let me know and I'll send it to you. Wishing you the best! -- Jason
@@JasonBagnell Yes, a similar update didn't work for me either and it kept failing, so I also wanted to reset my PC or I have now reset it. (Now this is a question that doesn't fit the topic, but perhaps do you know which browser is best suited for PC ) and if the error persists despite the reset with the update failing, I would write to you again
This was so helpful; thank you! I followed this, and it erased all my files, but there is a drive left, "Recovery Image (E:) drive." Is that something I should be worried about with respect to data being recovered in the future? and if so, how do I delete it? Thanks!
Hi! That is the recovery partition that was created by the PC manufacturer. It can be "hidden" by following the steps in the first 42 seconds of this video: th-cam.com/video/gdIA_quBYx0/w-d-xo.htmlsi=MIBY5BnURlmXniGV The video essentially shows you how to remove the drive letter from the partition, which will keep it from appearing in the Windows Explorer. I would leave the partition on the drive instead of deleting it, to keep anything bad from happening (just to be safe). Thanks! Jason
Hi Manuel -- I'm not sure if I know exactly what you're asking but I'll comment about a specific situation. Lets say that your computer has more than one hard drive installed and ALL of them contain personal data. You are about to sell (or throw away / recycle) the computer and want to make sure that your data on ALL drives has been securely erased. If you ran the Windows Reset the procedure the first time and did NOT set the "Delete files from all drives" to "Yes, all drives", some of your data will still be at risk. In that case you can run the *Windows Reset procedure again* and configure it exactly like I did in this video to have Windows erase ALL of the hard drives instead of only the drive that contains Windows. If that seems like a pain, you can also download a 3rd party utility like CCleaner and use the "Drive Wiper" option and configure it to completely erase all portions of the additional drives. I hope this helps! If not, a sledgehammer works too -- LOL !! Cheers -- Jason
Nice, I don't remember this option available in the past. It had always only cleaned the C: drive. I wonder which version of windows added this? I assume win10, but it has been updated several times.
It’s funny you wrote that! I made another video in response to a comment that shows how to get the procedure to erase ALL hard drives. Check it out! - VIDEO: th-cam.com/video/7ceHpGlhp9E/w-d-xo.html
@@JasonBagnellYeah, I already seen the link and watched it and responded. Thanks for taking the time to make the video and teach me a new option I didn't know about.
Hi! Unlike the Mac operating system, I don't know of a good way to automatically move your Windows environment from your old PC to your new PC. I haven't checked in a while to see if Microsoft has added a new program that fulfills that need. I usually transfer the contents of the user's original user profile (i.e. C:\Users\Username) from the old computer to the new one and then put the files in the proper location. You then need to install and configure all applications and printers that were on the old computer onto the new computer if you need them. If all of your files are in Microsoft OneDrive, you can just enter the same Microsoft Account on the new PC and the files from your OneDrive account will automatically synchronize to the new PC from the cloud. I have used a paid program called PC Mover Professional a few times and it did a good job of moving everything, including the programs that were installed on the old PC along with their serial numbers. I wouldn't say that it is very easy to get through the process with PC Mover but if you're patient, most people can usually get through the process. They have you connect a network cable between the two computer and it transfers the data at Gigabit speed. Other times I have made a backup using the free "Veeam Agent for Windows" backup program and then boot to the recovery image and perform a full restoration to the new PC. I've done that several times when someone's computer completely died and it worked great. I can't guarantee that you will have success doing that but it is likely to work if you're (for example) going from a HP PC with an Intel processor to a new HP PC with an Intel processor. I need to do some more research on it to see if any easier methods have become available. Maybe other people who are reading this comment have a suggestion? Thanks!! -- Jason
@@JasonBagnell I just reset my PC as instructed, but I got stuck on the login or sign-up screen for my Microsoft account. Windows won't let me bypass it and complete the reset process, so I had to resort to reinstalling from USB.
@dbest4755 Hi! I have another video that shows a few “tricks” that can bypass the Microsoft account requirement: th-cam.com/video/UdyP_bHSUlE/w-d-xo.html Hope it’s not too late for it to be helpful. Have a great day! - Jason
I’ve gone through this process twice and it doesn’t reset the computer back to to the original settings. It just goes through the process. I’ve tried to use the command prompt admin, but it won’t let me clean the hard drive.
Hi! It sounds like there might be some corruption in your PC's Windows installation that is prevents the program from running properly. Try running the CHKDSK, SFC and DISM commands I mention in this video to see if any corruption can be repaired: th-cam.com/video/EWvt5OtZ1e4/w-d-xo.html Let me know what happens. Thanks! -- Jason :)
I'm so confused. I was humming along great on your previous video then half way through you said to not be connected to internet so I tried to start over but the options are not the same when offline. Trying to follow this video I'm finding the same issue. I want to sell my computer and don't want any of my personal files or data accessible to the new owner. Should I be connected to internet when doing this?
Hi! Here's a quick answer. If the you're at the end of the process and it is asking you to setup the new copy of Windows (i.e. When you need to enter your country, keyboard format, etc), you can try leaving the PC disconnected from the Internet which might cause a "Continue without Internet" or "Continue with limited setup" option to appear. If so, click on it. It that doesn't work, you might be able to use the No@Thankyou.com trick to bypass entering your Microsoft Account information during the Windows Setup process. If that doesn't work, there is one more thing you can try. Take a look at this video, especially the part about entering the BYPASSNRO command: th-cam.com/video/UdyP_bHSUlE/w-d-xo.html Hopefully that will help! Thanks -- Jason
As long as you used the "Remove everything" and "Clean data: Yes" options, you data will have been securely erased from the PC's hard drive. Just make sure that you don't enter your E-mail address towards the end of the Reset process because you don't want any of your information flowing back onto the PC. Some people just shut down the computer when it reaches the point it asks you to select the Country / Keyboard and they turn it over to the new owner so that person can complete the installation using their own information. Cheers -- Jason
@@JasonBagnell ok thank you for your quick reply :) I will try that. But just want to confirm. Should I be connected to the internet during this process?
Recent Windows Updates sometime change the way things work, so if you did not have any luck without being connected to the Internet, first try running the BYPASSNRO command mentioned in my other video before connecting the PC to the Internet. Running the command usually makes the "I don't have Internet" link to appear, and you can then continue forward and setup the computer with a generic user account, like "User" and you will not need to enter an E-Mail address/Microsoft Account. If that doesn't work, connect the PC to the Internet and then try the No@Thankyou.com trick. Hopefully it will error out after you enter a random password and it finally reach the Windows Desktop screen without requiring a valid E-Mail account. If that doesn't work, you can just power off the PC at the point where it asks for you to enter your Email/Microsoft account and turn it over to the new user. The part where it deletes your data and secure erases the hard drive completes before it asks you to enter your E-mail address. I hope this helps! -- Jason
Hi! I am not certain what will happen in a dual-boot environment so be careful. If it is important that you need to keep the Ubuntu environment, you probably should not risk running the "Reset this PC" program. You could try running it with the "Keep my Files" option and do NOT use "Clean data: Yes" option. That way hopefully it would only make changes within the Windows-related folders on the primary hard drive, i.e. C:\Windows, C:\Program Files, C:\Program Files (x86), C:\ProgramData, and C:\Users. Be careful though -- I'm *not recommending* that you run the program because it might also reset the bootloader files that would harm your PC's dual-boot configuration. Make a backup of any important files first, just to be safe. Thanks -- Jason
Hey, will this get rid of viruses for infected file? I downloaded some kind of malware and did mrt scan and i found out i had 2 infected files now i cant update windows and my pc is running slower than useual.
Hi! If you suspect a virus is running on your computer, a lot of people download and run the free/personal version of MalwareBytes Antimalware from: www.malwarebytes.com/mwb-download/thankyou Once the program is fully installed, click the SCAN button and let it run. You will eventually be presented with a list of any suspicious files it found. Allow the program to remove everything it found (Review the list to make sure that no programs you want to keep are on the list). Restart the computer after it is finished. The virus infected files will most likely no longer be on the PC at that point and you won't have to do anything major to get it running well again. The "Reset this PC" program will also be able to remove the virus and it gives your PC a fresh start. It will, however, remove ALL of the programs that were previously installed and it can (if selected) delete all of your data off of the machine. If you're looking for a quick fix, try running a MalwareBytes AntiMalware scan first to see if it fixes the problems. Otherwise, you'll have A LOT of reloading to do. Good luck with everything! Let me know how it turns out. - Jason :)
If you end up running the "Reset this PC", watch my other video where I show you, step-by-step, how to get through the process. Here's a link: th-cam.com/video/zW2v3M_xFVY/w-d-xo.html In your case, you would select the "Keep my files" option. -- Jason
@JasonBagnell i ran the reset last night went to download windows again and couldn't instal updates i was trying to before I even downloaded malware bytes it caught the infected files but could not properly dispose of them I'm not sure what to do I do not have the money to bring it to a technician.
@@solojoe-r6o Hi again! So, was the "Reset this PC" program able to run and did it finish properly? If not, something on the computer might be preventing it to run. If MalwareBytes was unable to delete the infected files, you could try running MalwareBytes in Windows "Safe Mode" and it might be able to remove the infected files. Here's another creator's video that shows how to boot the PC into Safe Mode: th-cam.com/video/-VcU2xan7Lk/w-d-xo.htmlsi=ZbpcCWSE2Z0mvM4Y&t=59 Choose the "Safe Mode with Networking" option for best results. Run Malwarebytes and hopefully it will be able to remove everything. Reboot the PC again and see if it is running better. Try running Malwarebytes from "normal" mode to make sure the infection is no longer detected. Another option would be to reinstall Windows from scratch. I made two videos that show how to do it: For Windows 10: th-cam.com/video/bP03Y-l9NOM/w-d-xo.html For Windows 11: th-cam.com/video/ZMKl9wBJYD0/w-d-xo.html You will need access to a PC that has Internet access (if yours doesn't currently) and you'll need a blank 8GB+ USB flash drive to create the Windows Installation Media. There is a part in the video that tells you to delete all of the "partitions" from the hard drive during the installation. DO NOT delete any of the partitions if you have data stored on the drive that you want to keep. Instead, you can select the largest partition to install the new copy of Windows and your old user profile data (Desktop, Documents, Videos, Pictures) will be moved into a "C:\Windows.Old" folder. Try running MalwareBytes in Safe Mode first to see if it solves the problem. -- Jason
Thanks bro, am about to get a new rig and was wondering if doing this was sufficient. SOme told me I needed to wipe this and that made me worried. Definitely got a like from me,.
Glad I could help! I made another video here I tried to recovery ANY files from a PC I loaded 400GB of my personal data onto. After running "Reset this PC" with the "Clean data: Yes" and "Remove everything" options, none of the data was recoverable using several data recovery programs. You can view it here: th-cam.com/video/j5dO3iG1_S0/w-d-xo.html Have a great day! -- Jason
I erased all my data while installing new window 10 from a bootable usb , now by using a recovery software i can see all my previous files, how to erase them completely so that no one can restor my files withthr help any recovery software, will this method (which you show in your video ) can erase those data also??
Yes, if you use the "Clean Data" option presented in this video it will overwrite all portions of the hard drive(s) multiple times to keep the next user from being able to "undelete" the files using data recovery software. Make sure that the process completes successfully without any errors and you will be good-to-go. I have another longer "Windows Reset" video here if you're interested: th-cam.com/video/zW2v3M_xFVY/w-d-xo.html Cheers! -- Jason
jump to cmd line option on recovery USB installer; run 'diskpart'....then 'list disk'....then 'select disk x' as desired....'clean all' will then write zeros across entire drive. (It is empty!!!) Repeat 'select disk x' / 'clean all' for any other drives in question...
Hi, sorry it took me a few days to write back. The "Reset this PC" program will keep/retain your Windows product key after it is complete. No need to worry. Thanks! -- Jason
Hey Jason. Im planning on selling my oc so i downloaded windows again and tried doing this method to reset the hard drives. When i do it it tells me a problem has occured and it didn't make any modifications
Hi! You mentioned that you downloaded Windows again and the "Reset this PC" program still didn't work. Just an idea: Try doing a complete "Clean Install" of Windows using the instructions in my video here: Windows 10: th-cam.com/video/bP03Y-l9NOM/w-d-xo.html Windows 11: th-cam.com/video/ZMKl9wBJYD0/w-d-xo.html In the video(s) I show you how to delete/remove ALL of the partitions on the hard drive. It is possible that the drive currently has an invalid or corrupt recovery partition that is not allowing "Reset this PC" to work properly. Performing a "Clean install" of Windows 10/11 (including the part where you remove ALL partitions) will make the new Windows operate 100% was it was designed. Make sure you have already backed up any files/data you want to keep before deleting the partitions. From there, you could try running the "Reset this PC" program once more and it should work properly. You could also download and run a program like CCleaner and use the "Drive Wiper" function to erase/overwrite "Free Space Only" multiple times to ensure that none of your data is will be recoverable, because deleting the partitions alone is not enough to keep it safe. I hope some of these ideas are helpful! -- Jason
@@JasonBagnell thanks. After researching the problem further online i tried using the cmd as admin and type "dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth" then restarted my pc and it worked I appreciate the help
Hi! That is really good to know. I will start recommend that people try using the DISM command when they run across the same issue. Thanks!! :) -- Jason
Hey Jason I’m having a weird problem. Installed a new gpu the other day and booted it and up and everything worked perfectly. My girlfriend got a new pc that needed windows 11 to operate (I’m on windows 10) I downloaded windows 11 onto a clean usb and got her pc set up working perfectly. Now for some reason when I loaded up my pc today almost all of my files were missing, it seems like all of my drivers are uninstalled, it singed me out of my discord,steam,etc and I’ve tried absolutely everything to fix it with no luck. Now I’m at the point where everytime I try and factory reset my pc and doesn’t work, it just doesn’t make any changes. I’m not sure what to do and I ran a full virus check and got no threats or anything. Starting to run out of options, any ideas?
To add to that, mainly my graphics driver won’t reinstall with any luck what so ever so I can’t really just try and redownload everything again. I didn’t have anything too important saved file was so I was okay just factory resetting but no matter what I can’t get that to work
Wow, that does sound strange. Nothing that happened on your girlfriend's PC should have effected your PC unless you were both using the same Microsoft / OneDrive account and someone deleted or moved a bunch of files. The Windows Reset process does erase aftermarket hardware drivers and it brings the PC back to a freshly reloaded Windows state. If you used the "Keep my files" option and did NOT use the Clean Data option, it should have placed the data folders from your user profile onto the desktop screen of the new/fresh Windows installation once the reset procedure completed. Seeing how your graphics card driver won't reinstall, I have a few ideas for you. Try downloading and installing an older version of the graphics card driver to find out if the latest version is incompatible for some reason. If that doesn't work, you can download and reinstall Windows 10 to a BLANK hard drive. Assuming you've backed up all of the files you want to keep, go to the following link and click the "Download Now" button to download the Windows 10 Media Creation tool: www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 Run the file you just downloaded and use it to create a bootable Windows 10 USB flash drive. Boot to the flash drive and step through the Windows 10 installation process. When it asks which drive/partition you want to install Windows 10 onto, click on each and every partition and click Delete until they are all gone. Make sure you've backed up everything you need BEFORE doing that. Don't worry about trying to create a new partition - simply click Next and Windows will create anything that it needs for the new installation. Finish going through the Windows 10 setup process and then download and install any drivers that are needed. Run Windows Update to bring the system fully up-to-date. Hopefully everything will work like new at that point. Again, be careful to make a copy of any file/data you care about before trying what I mentioned above because they will get erased when the partitions are removed. Let me know if you have any luck with it! Happy holidays -- Jason
I got the message on my windows pc that it looks like Windows didn't load correctly. Kindly tell me that data from which drive will be removed from laptop after reinstalling windows?
Hi! The "Reset this PC" program will secure erase all data from the drive Windows is installed on (Typically C:) if you use the "Remove everything" and "Clean data: Yes" options. If you also select the "Delete files from ALL drives" option, it will erase the data on ALL drives/partitions that are installed inside the computer. I hope this gave you the answer you are looking for. Cheers -- Jason
@@kiyoshi1002 If you have access to another working Windows computer with Internet access, you could create a Windows Installation USB flash drive and perform a “clean install” of the operating system. Here are links to my videos on the topic: Windows 10: th-cam.com/video/bP03Y-l9NOM/w-d-xo.html Windows 11: th-cam.com/video/ZMKl9wBJYD0/w-d-xo.html Feel free to write back with any questions. Thanks - Jason.
Hi! I made another video where I used the "Reset this PC" program to have it clear ALL hard drives that are installed in the computer. Take a look at it and you'll see where I make the selection: th-cam.com/video/7ceHpGlhp9E/w-d-xo.html
Hi! Running the 'Reset this PC' program can likely resolve the issue by restoring Windows to a clean-running state, but it does require some effort afterward. Even if you choose 'Keep my files,' it will remove all programs, applications, printers, and third-party drivers, so you'll need to reinstall them. Before going that route, you might try running a scan with MalwareBytes to check for any harmful software that could be causing the issue. After the scan, reboot your PC and see if the problem persists. You could also check your startup programs by right-clicking the taskbar, selecting 'Task Manager,' and disablie any unnecessary or suspicious items under the 'Startup' tab. Reboot the PC and see if you were able to resolve the issue without needing a full reset. Hope this helps! Have a great day -- Jason :)
Hi! When the "Reset this PC" process is complete the computer will be left with a perfectly clean and working version of Windows. I made another video that fully describes the process: th-cam.com/video/zW2v3M_xFVY/w-d-xo.html Thanks -- Jason
What happens if you have your User, Downloads, Music, etc on D drive? This is what I'm trying to find out and I can't confirm that Windows will ignore that.
Hi! I don't have an exact answer for that one. It's always a good idea to have a recent backup copy of you data files, just in case things go differently than you expect. You could try selecting the "Keep my files" option at the beginning and then make sure the the "Delete files from all drives" option (if prompted) is set to "No, only Windows drive". That setting should make the program make changes only to the bootable partition that Windows is installed on and it should ignore the rest. I hope this info helps! -- Jason :)
Hi! After the "Reset this PC" process is complete, it will boot back up and ask for you to connect to a WiFi/LAN network and it will want you to create or join a Microsoft Account. At that point, many people just power off the PC and then turn it over to the next owner (or just discard the PC) so that person can continue forward. As long as you selected the "Remove everything and "Clean data: Yes" options, the drive has already been erased at that point. If you want to boot to the Windows Desktop screen to see exactly how things came out, you can use one of the tricks from another video I made that show you how to get Windows Setup to bypass the Network/Account requirement. See: th-cam.com/video/UdyP_bHSUlE/w-d-xo.html I hope this helps! -- Jason :)
You're welcome! I'm not sure if you've seen my other video on the "Reset this PC" program. 287,000 views and growing! th-cam.com/video/zW2v3M_xFVY/w-d-xo.html Have a great day -- Jason
Hi! Your comment also appeared in the other video I created about the Windows "Reset this PC" program. I'm going to duplicate my response here and also add some new information at the end. BEGINNING: "Using the 'Reset this PC' feature with the 'Clean data: Yes' option is designed to overwrite and clear data on various types of storage drives, including M.2 NVMe SSDs. However, it's important to note that the effectiveness of secure erasure can depend on several factors, such as the specific drive, firmware, and the methods used by data recovery tools. While this method provides a reasonable level of data removal for general use, it might not be considered a foolproof secure erase. If you're concerned about sensitive data, especially on M.2 NVMe SSDs, manufacturers often provide specialized tools or utilities for secure erasure. These tools interact with the drive's firmware to perform a more thorough and secure data deletion. Always refer to the manufacturer's guidelines and recommendations for your specific SSD model. If you have particularly sensitive data or high-security requirements, consider using dedicated secure erase tools that are designed for SSDs to ensure a more comprehensive and secure erasure process." :END NEW INFO: I found a great video on TH-cam that describes the process for loading the Samsung Magician SSD management program and then using it to create a bootable USB flash drive that can be used to perform a Secure Erase on any of their SSD drives. Using the utility from the manufacturer guarantees that there will not be ANY trace of data remaining on the drive. Here's a link to the video: th-cam.com/video/9NK_cHypmHk/w-d-xo.html For the most part, using Microsoft's "Reset this PC" should be good enough for almost all purposes. The only worry with SSD drives is that they use "wear leveling" to distribute data evenly over all areas of the drive. If the secure erase procedure erases/overwrites 100% of the SSD drive, that drive will also have a cache of additional storage cells that are used whenever the drive finds errors and replaces the bad cells with new ones from the cache. So, in theory, erasing 100% of the drive does not actually erase everything, including the additional storage cells. Also, when Windows overwrites 100% of all areas of the drive with new data, we assume that wear leveling feature of the drive is distributing the new data evenly and is covering all portions of the drive. If it doesn't, some data may still be recoverable by a data recovery center that can map out ALL of the drive's contents. If you use the manufacturer's utility to secure erase your SSD drive, you will need to completely reload Microsoft Windows from scratch when it's done if you want to re-use the computer using that drive. That's the beauty of the "Reset this PC" program, because it secure erases the drive *AND* leaves the system with a fresh copy of Windows on the drive when it's done. So if you don't have extreme security concerns (like government info, corporate trade secrets, etc), you'll be be OK using the "Clean data: Yes" option to secure erase your SSD, m.2/nVME drive. But if your information really is that sensitive, a hammer or a drill are good options too!
I’d like to add that it wipes removable drives on Windows 11 even if it says it won’t. Remove it before you begin, I just lost years worth of files. EDIT: in the video he has no option for it but newer versions let you “see affected drives” and doesn’t list removable ones it seems or not mine anyway-so I left it in after always removing it all this time and my whole backup of my PC is gone that I had on it.
Thanks for letting people know what you found. It's always a good idea to unplug any important drives (flash drive, external hard drives, etc) before running a program like this. The program's options might appear different on various PCs with different hard drive configurations. Windows Update can also push out a newer version of the program, which can make it appear different as the program evolves. Sorry to hear about the loss of files on the removable drive. I'm just curious, did you use the "Keep my files' or the "Remove everything" option? If you used "Keep my files, I would be shocked to learn that it erased the removable drive. Microsoft needs to be more descriptive and clear about exactly what is going to happen before the procedure starts. Let me know -- Thanks -- Jason
@@JasonBagnell I used the “remove everything” option but, it just doesn’t list removable drives as being affected by that when it shows all the others.
No, Windows will still be activated after the "Reset this PC" procedure is complete. I've never had a problem with it and Windows 10/11 save the PC's activation information digitally on Microsoft Activation servers so you shouldn't need to worry about it. Cheers -- Jason
Thank you so much for this Ive been having random bugs where games like roblox, valorant and some other games just wont start and I'm pretty good with computers. SO ofcourse I tried everything Ik and looked up some stuff as well. I currently believe there is something wrong with my windows os itself. I'll update in a bit to see if this fixes my issue with valorant as thats my main concern and most of my games have been working just fine.
You're welcome! I hope it fixes the issues your PC is having, if you choose to run the "Reset this PC" program. Make sure you backup of your data files first! Here is another video I made where I show how to run the program. This next video assumes that you want to remove ALL data from the drive and also perform a secure erase on the hard drive, like you would if you were trashing or reselling the PC. Video Link: th-cam.com/video/zW2v3M_xFVY/w-d-xo.html Have a great day! -- Jason
@@JasonBagnell Yeah I decided to do a clean erase of all my drives and just give a fresh reset and all my games work perfectly now. I am no longer having issues with any of my games not starting.!!
Hi! At timestamp 1:43 I did click on the "Local reinstall" button that says "Reinstall Windows from this device" underneath. That will allow the process to move forward without requiring the program to download any files from the Internet before the process begins. -- Jason
Hi! If the problems is software related, it will probably fix the blue-screen issue you're having. If the problem is hardware related (i.e. faulty memory module, failing hard drive/motherboard, etc), it won't. Please know that running the "Reset this PC" program will remove ALL programs and 3rd party drivers (for printers, video cards, etc). If you use the "Keep my files" option, it won't erase the files in your Desktop, Documents, Pictures, Videos and Music folders. If you use the "Remove everything" option, it WILL erase ALL data files on your PC, so be careful. I recommend making a backup before you continue, just in case. Gook luck with it! -- Jason
The real test would be to run Recuva, DIskDrill, and/or QPhotorec on the drives in question; if the equivalent of a 'clean all' (which does zero the drives with zero-writes), naturally nothing will be found whatsoever with the aforementioned recovery tools. (Until then, there is still some doubt, as the same results would be achieved with just a quick format or assorted and reinstall, but with underlying/non-overwritten data still waiting....)
Using the "Remove Everything" and "Clean data" options make the procedure take a long long time. That big delay is when Windows is busy overwriting the hard drive's sectors and clusters several times. All recovery utilities should indicate that no usable data is present on the drive after the procedure is finished but it would still be interesting to use a Hex Editor program to see exactly what's left on the drive after the secure erase procedure is complete. Maybe a bunch or 00000's or maybe the drive ends up with a bunch of random characters. I found a quote on Microsoft's website that stated: "If you choose the Fully Clean The Drive option, the Reset This PC tool will perform a full format of the hard disk that will involve a much more methodical and secure erasure of your data. This includes several passes over the hard disk writing 0's and then other random numbers to every sector on the hard disk. This almost ensures that you'll never be able to recover any of the data files. As you'd expect, this option will take a long time to complete." Link: answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/reset-this-pc-which-option-is-used-to-just-remove/cfb3ea30-6aea-498d-af73-3b38353304d5 Cheers ! -- Jason
Zero-filling a spinner should take about 2.5=3 hours per TB ? Zero reasons to overwrite more than once, IMO...; likely much faster to do a single pass with a Linux Live distro and just a single random pass with shred, if MS is going to do more than one pass...
Even SysInternals' 'SDelete' only does a single pass overwrite by default, although you can specify how many passes you want as an option, and it can overwrite the MFT's very small files as well when zeroing a drive @@JasonBagnell
Hi, I Know my doubt will to depends on size of the HDD/SSD, but in this case you done in the video for reference only, how many time takes it procedure? @@JasonBagnell
Hi! I don't have an exact answer for you but if the PC uses a SSD drive it will occur much faster. Expect 1-2 hours if the the drive is less than 1TB. If the PC has a large mechanical hard drive the process will take much longer, possibly 8-48 hours. Sometimes the process will remain on the same % number for a long time but as long as the dots are still spinning, it is still working. Just be patient. Have a great day! -- Jason @@atonhi
Hi! The secure erase process essentially overwrites all portions of the drive with new/different data. Data recovery programs are only capable of reading the information that is currently stored in each area of the drive. When you delete a file, the file is removed from the file table but the actual contents of the file remain on the drive and CAN be recovered by data recovery utilities because the data has never been overwritten. That's where the secure erase procedure comes in. It overwrites ALL areas of the drive so recovery utilities can only recover a bunch of garbage characters or a bunch of 0's. Here's a video I made where I used Microsoft's "Reset this PC" to secure erase a drive and I then used Recuva and Disk Drill to try to recover any of the files that were previously on the drive before it was erased: th-cam.com/video/j5dO3iG1_S0/w-d-xo.html Long story short -- The recovery utilities did not find any of the original files. Cheers -- Jason
Hi! I always suggest that you have a backup copy of all files you want to keep before running a program like "Reset this PC", just to be safe. The program is useful for two different scenarios. 1) If you want to erase ALL data from the PC so it can be sold or thrown out, you would want to use the "Remove everything", "Clean data: Yes" and "Delete files from all drives" option. 2) If you simply want to revert Windows back to a clean running state without losing your data files, you would click the "Keep my files" option and do NOT use the "Clean data: Yes" and do NOT use "Delete files from all drives" option. Again, I advise you to have a backup copy of any files you want to keep and then proceed through the reset process very carefully, reading everything that is shown before allowing the program to continue forward. Microsoft should provide warnings about what will be erased using the settings you have selected. I hope this helps -- Jason
All of your data, including the Windows operating system and the programs, are stored on the hard drive. Most computers only have one hard drive inside its case. Assuming you only have one hard drive in your PC, disconnecting it (physically unplugging the power and data cables) would make the PC unable to boot up and load Windows. All of your personal files and data files are located on the drive you disconnected. You can then remove the hard drive from the computer's case before discarding the computer. Doing this will make the computer unusable for the next person unless they understand that they will need to install their own hard drive and then install a copy of Windows. I sometimes accumulate old PCs from my customers over time. If I ever put a very old PC outside for the trash collector, I ALWAYS remove the customer's hard drive from the computer's case before putting the computer outside. If a passer-by takes the computer from my driveway, none of my customer's data will be there and whoever took it will need to install a new hard drive before the computer will become useful to them. I'm not sure if I hit the right angle for your question. Feel free to write back with more info. Happy Holidays!! -- Jason
@@JasonBagnell For some reason my old user shows up when I’m not even logged into the same Microsoft account BUT all the files are empty, am I supposed to worry about my files not being fully gone?
If you used the "Remove Everything" option and set "Clean Data" to YES during the Reset Procedure, none of your old data files should be present as long as the process completed without any errors. The "Clean Data" option makes the whole procedure take a LONG time, meaning 1-5 hours depending of the type of hard drive installed in your system (Mechanical vs SSD). If everything went smoothly, no errors appeared, and it took a long time (45+ minutes or longer), that would indicate that the data files have been secure erased.
Hi! -- I just reviewed my other video that goes more in-depth about the "Clean Data" part of the Windows Reset process. See: th-cam.com/video/7ceHpGlhp9E/w-d-xo.htmlsi=th4au_jqlfwAAQv6 I don't remember what I used as the original username before I started the process but after the Windows Reset procedure finished, only 1 account named "User" remained and no data was anywhere to be found on any/all of the drives. To be safe, I recommend that you run the Windows Reset procedure again, following the methods shown in the video mentioned above. As long as you don't get any errors, everything will have been secure erased, provided the "Erase Everything" and "Clean Data: YES" options were selected. It is a good sign that the files from your old Windows installation were not present but running the process again would give you more peace-of-mind. Happy Holidays! -- Jason
I always complete the “Reset this PC” procedure, complete the initial Windows Setup process and then look at all of the hard drive(s) to make sure that no data remains on the drive. So far, it has done a great job but it never hurts to check to make sure before turning your old PC over to someone else. Have a great day! - Jason. :)
Thank you so much for this video and taking the time out of your day to answer an important question we all had 😃
You're welcome! I realized that I did not cover this topic in the original video so I made this one to provide people with answers. Have a great day! -- Jason
Thank you. Appreciate the effort to amke a whole new video based on a query from someone unknown.
Your recognition means a lot, thank you! 😊 I'm always happy to put in the extra effort when it counts. Have a fantastic day! -- Jason
Thanks for clearing up this experiment. Must have taken some time to set-up and try.
I was curious to find out the answer for myself too. At first I didn’t think I would be creating a real full-fledged video but it turned out to be interesting enough to post. Have a great day - Jason
Thank you Jason. I can safely dispose of my old gaming laptop that has served me 6 years!
You're welcome -- Thanks for your comment!
Cheers -- Jason
Well explained , help me to sell my old laptop stress free by erasing all my datas....keep going buddy❤
Thank you so much for the kind words! I'll keep creating and posting videos as I can. Thanks for your support! -- Jason 😀
Very good follow up video on your last one. The one thing that still makes me wary is when the option you pick to clear everything still says "but will make it harder to recover files". That doesn't sound like it says that it CAN'T be done. lol
Thanks for finding and watching BOTH videos, A true fan...! Here's yet *another* video where a show how good of a job the "Reset this PC" program does when it secure-erases the drive. See: th-cam.com/video/j5dO3iG1_S0/w-d-xo.html
I used several data recovery utilities and they could NOT recover any data from the drive after it was secure erased. Advanced forensics labs do, however, have methods that go way above and beyond what us mere mortals can do. You might have heard of the term "DOD7 Secure Erase", which is a US Department of Defense standard for secure erasing a hard drive by overwriting it at least 7 times. The "Reset this PC" program does not go to that extreme, and it would take a LONG LONG time, but it does a good enough job to keep people who don't own a $1 million forensics data recovery lab from being able to recover any data.
The hard drive only knows how to read data the is CURRENTLY on the drive. There is no technology in the drive to allow it to scan the surface for magnetic traces of previous versions of data that has been overwritten. The forensic labs pull the magnetic media out of the drive and use other equipment that IS capable of doing that -- But who has access to a forensic lab?
Thanks for your comment and I appreciate your interest in my channel. I just set up a new TH-cam studio and will be making lots of new IT videos starting soon. Cheers -- Jason :)
@@JasonBagnell Thank you for the awesome reply. Really appreciate it. Makes me feel better about erasing and giving away our PC.
You can read thoughts… 😂thanks for this video.
I loved how your original comment tied all of these videos together! Have a great Super Bowl weekend! -- Jason
So in short, in setting if i keep it as "No, only windows drive" it ill only clear C drive, on which i have windows and E disk will be intact?
Yes, that should be the case. I always perform a full backup of all of my drives/data before clicking anything that says "Delete" or "Erase" because there is always a potential surprises but only the Windows drive will get "cleaned" if "No, only Windows drive" is selected. -- Jason
Disconnect your other drives to be sure.
Thank you for commenting the actual answer so I know this is a video worth watching
Nevermind. I see he didn't actually test that option
very, very useful. and simple. thanks a lot!
You're welcome! Don't miss my full video on how to use the "Reset this PC" program here: th-cam.com/video/zW2v3M_xFVY/w-d-xo.html Have a great day! -- Jason :)
appreciate the effort sir..thank you so much..this question has been lingering in my mind for a long time as well..thanks again
You're welcome! Have a great week -- Jason 🙂
This option to reset "all drives" toggle is now missing on windows 11. im not sure if this was a change made by microsoft on the latest update or a problem on my end.
Hi! You can download a free program called "CCleaner" from CCleaner.com. It has a "Wipe Disk" option that lets you select a particular drive and overwrite it's data multiple times. I sometimes use it to clear out (secure erase) hard drive that I connect to my computer with a SATA to USB adapter cable. Hopefully that will help! -- Jason
I have only one SSD that is split into two partitions, are those two partitions considered two separate drives and does selecting "No, only Windows drive" still affect the whole SSD, or just the partition where Windows is installed?
Hi! From what I've read about it, if you select "No, only Windows drive", the "Reset this PC" program should only erase the partition Windows is installed on while leaving the other data partition intact. I recommend that you make a back copy of the important files on the secondary partition, just in case. Thanks -- Jason :)
Well that just saved me either a lot of work or a lot of embarrassment. Thank you very much.
Great, I'm glad you found the video helpful. I have a more thorough version available for viewing here: th-cam.com/video/zW2v3M_xFVY/w-d-xo.html Have a great day! -- Jason :)
Hi. So I’m going to sell my surface pro and the first time I didn’t know about the “fully clean the drive option”, so I only did the delete everything. So when I found out about that, I started the tablet again and signed in with my account as if I was a new owner and then I reseted it correctly including “cleaning the drive”. Is what I did correct, is it safe to sell now? (In summary I basically restarted my devices two times, one without cleaning the drive and one with).
Hi! Yes, as long as you used the "Clean data: Yes" option, the drive will have been secure-erased. Just make sure that you didn't enter your E-mail address (Microsoft Account) at the last part of the installation because that would allow Windows to download a fresh copy of your data from OneDrive and save it onto the freshly reset PC. Have a great day! -- Jason
Very informative video. Thanks!
Thanks so much This is exactly what I needed to know my current boot SSD in my gaming pc is dying and I want to replace it I wanted to format this drive and my 2 other m.2 drives to make sure my pc was completely clean and ready for my replacement boot SSD I liked and subscribed thanks alot
Thanks, I'm glad you found the information helpful! I also have videos on my channel that show how to perform a "Clean Install" of Windows 10/11 after removing all of the partitions from the drive(s). In your case you don't really need to secure erase (overwrite) the drives because security is not a concern. Simply removing the partitions and recreating new one(s) would give the computer a fresh start without burning through a bunch of the write cycles on your SSD drives. It's not much of a problem for most SSDs though. My 2TB Samsung 990 Pro NVMe SSD drive has an "Endurance" rating of 1,200TB which means that I can completely overwrite the drive 600 times before it will have used up it's write cycles. Good luck with it and have a great weekend! -- Jason :)
@@JasonBagnell Thanks for all info it really helps however I have a question Id really appreciate if you could help with basically I have a old Samsung rv511 laptop and it was running windows 7 however I recently updated it to windows 10 I had to use a cd emulator as the official way to install windows 10 did not work basically it has been running perfectly on windows 10 for the last week but yesterday for some reason I decided to convert the mbr to gpt through command prompt now when I boot my laptop it boots with a black screen then like a windows 7 loading bar then successfully boots to windows 10 so it works fine but I think I messed it up I'm wondering if I can get the windows boot screen working again or possibly revert it to mbr uefi is enabled in bios however I'm unable to double check it's still enabled as I'm unable to load into bios when I boot the laptop it just says resuming system also I somehow accidentally deleted the recovery mode partition I don't know what to do now there is only 1 important folder I have on the pc which I can backup if I do need to completely reinstall windows and im guessing the drive will need to be set back to MBR? Thanks
Hi! I just saw your message. Can you still reach the Windows desktop screen? If so, there are some options if you are still having the problem. Let me know and we can continue the conversation from there.
This week I ran into an issue where I had to convert a drive from MBR to GPT. My customer had an 11 year old Dell PC that had custom software on it that cannot be reloaded without great expense. I bought him a new 13th Generation Intel i5-13400 PC and made an image of the old PC's drive using "Macrium Reflect". After I restored the image onto the new system's NVMe drive, the NVMe drive would not even appear in the UEFI as a boot device. It turns out that the new Dell PCs will absolutely NOT support booting from legacy drives that are configured as MBR.
I ended up booting the new PC up to the latest "Hirens Boot CD PE" flash drive image, which contains the Intel Rapid Storage Technology (RST) disk controller drivers. I opened a command prompt window and issued the following two commands:
mbr2gpt /validate /disk:0 /allowFullOS
mbr2gpt /convert /disk:0 /allowFullOS
When I went back into the UEFI/BIOS, the drive with the cloned image appeared and the system was able to boot properly to it and everything worked great. Very interesting -- The new Dell PCs will only allow the system to boot through UEFI to GPT enabled hard drives. I ran a Windows 11 in-place-upgrade to bring the PC from Windows 10 to Windows 11 and it went through without any problems.
Here's and idea, make a bootable "Hirens Boot CD PE" flash drive and boot the laptop to it. You'll then have access to the file system on the laptop's hard drive and you can copy your critical files off of the computer. If you don't need anything else on the laptop's hard drive, perform a clean install of Windows 10 using the steps I show in my video here: th-cam.com/video/bP03Y-l9NOM/w-d-xo.html
Write me back and let me know where you're at! Cheers -- Jason
Hello Jason, great video! I have a "newbie" problem of great proportion. I was going to install a 2tb SSD into my old computer which only has a 500gb SSD so I cloned drive C:, no issues. Then, I decided to just build a new computer instead and install 2 - 2tb SSD's. After I built the new system and installed the one SSD that was right out of the box, all was good, but here is the problem; the SSD I cloned I can't seem to wipe the Windows data so I was told to just reformat it. I did that and now my 2tb SSD only shows 500gb available. Please help me restore this 2tb SSD to out of the box condition. Thank you so much! Keep doing what you do.
Wow, I also have the same problem. I hate to think that my 4tb SSD is ruined and I have to purchase another.
At 2:35 you state "any drive" so follow-up question. Since the SSD I am trying to wipe is in an enclosure that I used to try and clone it. Will doing this process that you describe work to take this SSD to new condition maybe since it is not a flash drive but and actual SSD?
@jazzman9469 @Jeff1960G Hi Jazzman9469 (and Jeff) It sounds like when you cloned the 500GB SSD drive to the 2TB SSD drive, the cloning process did not "stretch" the partition to use the full amount available space on the 2TB SSD drive. If you're not worried about the data on that drive, you can follow the directions in my Windows 10/11 clean install videos, which show how to remove ALL partitions from the drive and then perform a perfectly clean/fresh Windows 10/11 installation. The full capacity of the drive will be available when it's all done. For Windows 10: th-cam.com/video/bP03Y-l9NOM/w-d-xo.html For Windows 11: th-cam.com/video/ZMKl9wBJYD0/w-d-xo.html Another option is to use a program like AOMEI Partition Assistant (or similar) to stretch the partitions that contains C: to utilize the full capacity of the drive. I hope this helps! -- Jason :)
What happens if I don't reinstall Windows, like you did in the video? Would I lose access to Windows if I did reinstall it?
Hi! The last part of the "Reset this PC" program reinstalls Windows, so when it's finished the computer will be running a "Clean" copy of the same version of Windows it was running before, i.e. 8/10/11. I have two other videos that show how to erase all of the partitions off of the hard drive and then it shows you how to install a fresh/clean copy of Windows 10/11 from scratch. Would that be what you're looking for?
For Windows 10: th-cam.com/video/bP03Y-l9NOM/w-d-xo.html
For Windows 11: th-cam.com/video/ZMKl9wBJYD0/w-d-xo.html
Let me know if you have any additional questions. Thanks! -- Jason
3:00 don't u select download windows ?
I mean you don't risk anything like losing Key stuffs for windows to run ?
Hi! If you selected "Local Reinstall" in one of the previous steps, the "Download Windows" slider will be set to No because you told it to use the files already on the system to perform the fresh install. That could be useful in an offline situation. Have a great day -- Jason
Hi! The Windows Product Key will remain active on the PC after the reset. All of the software will be removed, i.e. Adobe, Chrome, Microsoft Office, etc.
Hello Mr Jason i have a small question. I have already read up on the local and cloud installation option but I didn't fully understand it. Could you help me and explain what the respective options are (first of all, my internet connection is relatively fast)
Hi! As I understand it, your current copy of Windows already has everything it needs to perform a Windows Reset without requiring any additional files from the Internet. If you use the "Local" option, your system will be completely reset to the version of Windows you are currently running. If you use the "Cloud download" option, the Windows Reset procedure will connect to the Internet and downloaded the latest, most up-to-date version of your Windows operating system and it will then perform the erase/reinstall. So, if you use "Local", you'll end up with the same version your already have. If you use "Cloud", you should end up with the latest version that is available, which might be newer than the version you were originally running. There would also be less Windows Updates available for download (using the Cloud download option) once the process is complete, which is a good thing. I hope this helps!! Cheers -- Jason
@@JasonBagnell I thank you very much for your answer and also at this time. Would you recommend cloud download because I'm having problems making updates at the moment because the same update fails every time
Yes, in your case I recommend that you use the Cloud Download option. You will end up with a completely fresh Windows operating system and everything should be up-to-date when it's finished. There are usually a few minor updates that will still need to download and install but the Windows Update component of your new fresh installation should no longer be jammed up. The only pain is that you will need to reload all of your Apps and Programs again.
I have recently come across a problem where Windows Update KB5034441 continuously fails to install. If the "Recovery Partition" on your computer is less than 800MB, the update will fail and there is no way to keep it from failing aside from using a Drive Partition program to expand the size of the Recovery Partition, which is way beyond what most normal users would want to do. There is a way to disable 1 or more particular Windows Updates, so if you ever need that information just let me know and I'll send it to you. Wishing you the best! -- Jason
@@JasonBagnell Yes, a similar update didn't work for me either and it kept failing, so I also wanted to reset my PC or I have now reset it. (Now this is a question that doesn't fit the topic, but perhaps do you know which browser is best suited for PC ) and if the error persists despite the reset with the update failing, I would write to you again
This was so helpful; thank you! I followed this, and it erased all my files, but there is a drive left, "Recovery Image (E:) drive." Is that something I should be worried about with respect to data being recovered in the future? and if so, how do I delete it? Thanks!
Hi! That is the recovery partition that was created by the PC manufacturer. It can be "hidden" by following the steps in the first 42 seconds of this video: th-cam.com/video/gdIA_quBYx0/w-d-xo.htmlsi=MIBY5BnURlmXniGV
The video essentially shows you how to remove the drive letter from the partition, which will keep it from appearing in the Windows Explorer. I would leave the partition on the drive instead of deleting it, to keep anything bad from happening (just to be safe). Thanks! Jason
Great I watched your first video and started, now do I have to start it back up in windows and re do it?
Hi Manuel -- I'm not sure if I know exactly what you're asking but I'll comment about a specific situation. Lets say that your computer has more than one hard drive installed and ALL of them contain personal data. You are about to sell (or throw away / recycle) the computer and want to make sure that your data on ALL drives has been securely erased.
If you ran the Windows Reset the procedure the first time and did NOT set the "Delete files from all drives" to "Yes, all drives", some of your data will still be at risk. In that case you can run the *Windows Reset procedure again* and configure it exactly like I did in this video to have Windows erase ALL of the hard drives instead of only the drive that contains Windows.
If that seems like a pain, you can also download a 3rd party utility like CCleaner and use the "Drive Wiper" option and configure it to completely erase all portions of the additional drives.
I hope this helps! If not, a sledgehammer works too -- LOL !!
Cheers -- Jason
Nice, I don't remember this option available in the past. It had always only cleaned the C: drive. I wonder which version of windows added this? I assume win10, but it has been updated several times.
It’s funny you wrote that! I made another video in response to a comment that shows how to get the procedure to erase ALL hard drives. Check it out! - VIDEO:
th-cam.com/video/7ceHpGlhp9E/w-d-xo.html
@@JasonBagnellYeah, I already seen the link and watched it and responded. Thanks for taking the time to make the video and teach me a new option I didn't know about.
@rmjohnson144 Yes, I realized earlier this morning that I responded to you on the wrong video - LOL! Have a great evening - Jason
Jason - any videos step by step to migrate files settings from old PC to new PC ? I'm doing Win 10 Home PC to Win 10 PRO PC
Hi! Unlike the Mac operating system, I don't know of a good way to automatically move your Windows environment from your old PC to your new PC. I haven't checked in a while to see if Microsoft has added a new program that fulfills that need. I usually transfer the contents of the user's original user profile (i.e. C:\Users\Username) from the old computer to the new one and then put the files in the proper location. You then need to install and configure all applications and printers that were on the old computer onto the new computer if you need them. If all of your files are in Microsoft OneDrive, you can just enter the same Microsoft Account on the new PC and the files from your OneDrive account will automatically synchronize to the new PC from the cloud.
I have used a paid program called PC Mover Professional a few times and it did a good job of moving everything, including the programs that were installed on the old PC along with their serial numbers. I wouldn't say that it is very easy to get through the process with PC Mover but if you're patient, most people can usually get through the process. They have you connect a network cable between the two computer and it transfers the data at Gigabit speed.
Other times I have made a backup using the free "Veeam Agent for Windows" backup program and then boot to the recovery image and perform a full restoration to the new PC. I've done that several times when someone's computer completely died and it worked great. I can't guarantee that you will have success doing that but it is likely to work if you're (for example) going from a HP PC with an Intel processor to a new HP PC with an Intel processor.
I need to do some more research on it to see if any easier methods have become available. Maybe other people who are reading this comment have a suggestion?
Thanks!! -- Jason
@@JasonBagnell I just reset my PC as instructed, but I got stuck on the login or sign-up screen for my Microsoft account. Windows won't let me bypass it and complete the reset process, so I had to resort to reinstalling from USB.
@dbest4755 Hi! I have another video that shows a few “tricks” that can bypass the Microsoft account requirement: th-cam.com/video/UdyP_bHSUlE/w-d-xo.html Hope it’s not too late for it to be helpful. Have a great day! - Jason
I’ve gone through this process twice and it doesn’t reset the computer back to to the original settings. It just goes through the process. I’ve tried to use the command prompt admin, but it won’t let me clean the hard drive.
Hi! It sounds like there might be some corruption in your PC's Windows installation that is prevents the program from running properly. Try running the CHKDSK, SFC and DISM commands I mention in this video to see if any corruption can be repaired: th-cam.com/video/EWvt5OtZ1e4/w-d-xo.html Let me know what happens. Thanks! -- Jason :)
I'm so confused. I was humming along great on your previous video then half way through you said to not be connected to internet so I tried to start over but the options are not the same when offline. Trying to follow this video I'm finding the same issue. I want to sell my computer and don't want any of my personal files or data accessible to the new owner. Should I be connected to internet when doing this?
Hi! Here's a quick answer. If the you're at the end of the process and it is asking you to setup the new copy of Windows (i.e. When you need to enter your country, keyboard format, etc), you can try leaving the PC disconnected from the Internet which might cause a "Continue without Internet" or "Continue with limited setup" option to appear. If so, click on it. It that doesn't work, you might be able to use the No@Thankyou.com trick to bypass entering your Microsoft Account information during the Windows Setup process. If that doesn't work, there is one more thing you can try. Take a look at this video, especially the part about entering the BYPASSNRO command: th-cam.com/video/UdyP_bHSUlE/w-d-xo.html Hopefully that will help! Thanks -- Jason
As long as you used the "Remove everything" and "Clean data: Yes" options, you data will have been securely erased from the PC's hard drive. Just make sure that you don't enter your E-mail address towards the end of the Reset process because you don't want any of your information flowing back onto the PC. Some people just shut down the computer when it reaches the point it asks you to select the Country / Keyboard and they turn it over to the new owner so that person can complete the installation using their own information. Cheers -- Jason
@@JasonBagnell ok thank you for your quick reply :) I will try that. But just want to confirm. Should I be connected to the internet during this process?
@@JasonBagnell oh ok gotcha, thank you so much for your help with this. I'm not tech savvy at all so I really appreciate your videos! :)
Recent Windows Updates sometime change the way things work, so if you did not have any luck without being connected to the Internet, first try running the BYPASSNRO command mentioned in my other video before connecting the PC to the Internet. Running the command usually makes the "I don't have Internet" link to appear, and you can then continue forward and setup the computer with a generic user account, like "User" and you will not need to enter an E-Mail address/Microsoft Account. If that doesn't work, connect the PC to the Internet and then try the No@Thankyou.com trick. Hopefully it will error out after you enter a random password and it finally reach the Windows Desktop screen without requiring a valid E-Mail account. If that doesn't work, you can just power off the PC at the point where it asks for you to enter your Email/Microsoft account and turn it over to the new user. The part where it deletes your data and secure erases the hard drive completes before it asks you to enter your E-mail address. I hope this helps! -- Jason
What if i have dual boot with windows and ubuntu…will this securely erase my ubuntu files also ?
Hi! I am not certain what will happen in a dual-boot environment so be careful. If it is important that you need to keep the Ubuntu environment, you probably should not risk running the "Reset this PC" program.
You could try running it with the "Keep my Files" option and do NOT use "Clean data: Yes" option. That way hopefully it would only make changes within the Windows-related folders on the primary hard drive, i.e. C:\Windows, C:\Program Files, C:\Program Files (x86), C:\ProgramData, and C:\Users. Be careful though -- I'm *not recommending* that you run the program because it might also reset the bootloader files that would harm your PC's dual-boot configuration. Make a backup of any important files first, just to be safe. Thanks -- Jason
Hey, will this get rid of viruses for infected file? I downloaded some kind of malware and did mrt scan and i found out i had 2 infected files now i cant update windows and my pc is running slower than useual.
Hi! If you suspect a virus is running on your computer, a lot of people download and run the free/personal version of MalwareBytes Antimalware from: www.malwarebytes.com/mwb-download/thankyou Once the program is fully installed, click the SCAN button and let it run. You will eventually be presented with a list of any suspicious files it found. Allow the program to remove everything it found (Review the list to make sure that no programs you want to keep are on the list). Restart the computer after it is finished. The virus infected files will most likely no longer be on the PC at that point and you won't have to do anything major to get it running well again.
The "Reset this PC" program will also be able to remove the virus and it gives your PC a fresh start. It will, however, remove ALL of the programs that were previously installed and it can (if selected) delete all of your data off of the machine. If you're looking for a quick fix, try running a MalwareBytes AntiMalware scan first to see if it fixes the problems. Otherwise, you'll have A LOT of reloading to do.
Good luck with everything! Let me know how it turns out. - Jason :)
If you end up running the "Reset this PC", watch my other video where I show you, step-by-step, how to get through the process. Here's a link: th-cam.com/video/zW2v3M_xFVY/w-d-xo.html In your case, you would select the "Keep my files" option. -- Jason
@JasonBagnell i ran the reset last night went to download windows again and couldn't instal updates i was trying to before I even downloaded malware bytes it caught the infected files but could not properly dispose of them I'm not sure what to do I do not have the money to bring it to a technician.
Also I came across this program called Trojan script is it a legit program I can use to get rid of viruses?
@@solojoe-r6o Hi again! So, was the "Reset this PC" program able to run and did it finish properly? If not, something on the computer might be preventing it to run.
If MalwareBytes was unable to delete the infected files, you could try running MalwareBytes in Windows "Safe Mode" and it might be able to remove the infected files. Here's another creator's video that shows how to boot the PC into Safe Mode: th-cam.com/video/-VcU2xan7Lk/w-d-xo.htmlsi=ZbpcCWSE2Z0mvM4Y&t=59 Choose the "Safe Mode with Networking" option for best results. Run Malwarebytes and hopefully it will be able to remove everything. Reboot the PC again and see if it is running better. Try running Malwarebytes from "normal" mode to make sure the infection is no longer detected.
Another option would be to reinstall Windows from scratch. I made two videos that show how to do it: For Windows 10: th-cam.com/video/bP03Y-l9NOM/w-d-xo.html For Windows 11: th-cam.com/video/ZMKl9wBJYD0/w-d-xo.html You will need access to a PC that has Internet access (if yours doesn't currently) and you'll need a blank 8GB+ USB flash drive to create the Windows Installation Media.
There is a part in the video that tells you to delete all of the "partitions" from the hard drive during the installation. DO NOT delete any of the partitions if you have data stored on the drive that you want to keep. Instead, you can select the largest partition to install the new copy of Windows and your old user profile data (Desktop, Documents, Videos, Pictures) will be moved into a "C:\Windows.Old" folder.
Try running MalwareBytes in Safe Mode first to see if it solves the problem. -- Jason
Thanks bro, am about to get a new rig and was wondering if doing this was sufficient. SOme told me I needed to wipe this and that made me worried. Definitely got a like from me,.
Glad I could help! I made another video here I tried to recovery ANY files from a PC I loaded 400GB of my personal data onto. After running "Reset this PC" with the "Clean data: Yes" and "Remove everything" options, none of the data was recoverable using several data recovery programs. You can view it here: th-cam.com/video/j5dO3iG1_S0/w-d-xo.html Have a great day! -- Jason
@@JasonBagnell Watched dat too cheers bruv
I erased all my data while installing new window 10 from a bootable usb , now by using a recovery software i can see all my previous files, how to erase them completely so that no one can restor my files withthr help any recovery software, will this method (which you show in your video ) can erase those data also??
Yes, if you use the "Clean Data" option presented in this video it will overwrite all portions of the hard drive(s) multiple times to keep the next user from being able to "undelete" the files using data recovery software. Make sure that the process completes successfully without any errors and you will be good-to-go. I have another longer "Windows Reset" video here if you're interested: th-cam.com/video/zW2v3M_xFVY/w-d-xo.html Cheers! -- Jason
jump to cmd line option on recovery USB installer; run 'diskpart'....then 'list disk'....then 'select disk x' as desired....'clean all' will then write zeros across entire drive. (It is empty!!!) Repeat 'select disk x' / 'clean all' for any other drives in question...
Do you loose windows key that comes with my pc bc im having problems with my pc and i cant fix it
Hi, sorry it took me a few days to write back. The "Reset this PC" program will keep/retain your Windows product key after it is complete. No need to worry. Thanks! -- Jason
Hey Jason. Im planning on selling my oc so i downloaded windows again and tried doing this method to reset the hard drives. When i do it it tells me a problem has occured and it didn't make any modifications
Hi! You mentioned that you downloaded Windows again and the "Reset this PC" program still didn't work. Just an idea: Try doing a complete "Clean Install" of Windows using the instructions in my video here: Windows 10: th-cam.com/video/bP03Y-l9NOM/w-d-xo.html Windows 11: th-cam.com/video/ZMKl9wBJYD0/w-d-xo.html In the video(s) I show you how to delete/remove ALL of the partitions on the hard drive. It is possible that the drive currently has an invalid or corrupt recovery partition that is not allowing "Reset this PC" to work properly. Performing a "Clean install" of Windows 10/11 (including the part where you remove ALL partitions) will make the new Windows operate 100% was it was designed. Make sure you have already backed up any files/data you want to keep before deleting the partitions.
From there, you could try running the "Reset this PC" program once more and it should work properly. You could also download and run a program like CCleaner and use the "Drive Wiper" function to erase/overwrite "Free Space Only" multiple times to ensure that none of your data is will be recoverable, because deleting the partitions alone is not enough to keep it safe. I hope some of these ideas are helpful! -- Jason
@@JasonBagnell thanks. After researching the problem further online i tried using the cmd as admin and type "dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth" then restarted my pc and it worked
I appreciate the help
Hi! That is really good to know. I will start recommend that people try using the DISM command when they run across the same issue. Thanks!! :) -- Jason
Hey Jason I’m having a weird problem. Installed a new gpu the other day and booted it and up and everything worked perfectly. My girlfriend got a new pc that needed windows 11 to operate (I’m on windows 10) I downloaded windows 11 onto a clean usb and got her pc set up working perfectly. Now for some reason when I loaded up my pc today almost all of my files were missing, it seems like all of my drivers are uninstalled, it singed me out of my discord,steam,etc and I’ve tried absolutely everything to fix it with no luck. Now I’m at the point where everytime I try and factory reset my pc and doesn’t work, it just doesn’t make any changes. I’m not sure what to do and I ran a full virus check and got no threats or anything. Starting to run out of options, any ideas?
To add to that, mainly my graphics driver won’t reinstall with any luck what so ever so I can’t really just try and redownload everything again. I didn’t have anything too important saved file was so I was okay just factory resetting but no matter what I can’t get that to work
Wow, that does sound strange. Nothing that happened on your girlfriend's PC should have effected your PC unless you were both using the same Microsoft / OneDrive account and someone deleted or moved a bunch of files. The Windows Reset process does erase aftermarket hardware drivers and it brings the PC back to a freshly reloaded Windows state. If you used the "Keep my files" option and did NOT use the Clean Data option, it should have placed the data folders from your user profile onto the desktop screen of the new/fresh Windows installation once the reset procedure completed.
Seeing how your graphics card driver won't reinstall, I have a few ideas for you. Try downloading and installing an older version of the graphics card driver to find out if the latest version is incompatible for some reason. If that doesn't work, you can download and reinstall Windows 10 to a BLANK hard drive. Assuming you've backed up all of the files you want to keep, go to the following link and click the "Download Now" button to download the Windows 10 Media Creation tool: www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
Run the file you just downloaded and use it to create a bootable Windows 10 USB flash drive. Boot to the flash drive and step through the Windows 10 installation process. When it asks which drive/partition you want to install Windows 10 onto, click on each and every partition and click Delete until they are all gone. Make sure you've backed up everything you need BEFORE doing that. Don't worry about trying to create a new partition - simply click Next and Windows will create anything that it needs for the new installation. Finish going through the Windows 10 setup process and then download and install any drivers that are needed. Run Windows Update to bring the system fully up-to-date. Hopefully everything will work like new at that point.
Again, be careful to make a copy of any file/data you care about before trying what I mentioned above because they will get erased when the partitions are removed. Let me know if you have any luck with it!
Happy holidays -- Jason
Thank you!!
I’m glad you found it helpful - Have a great day! - Jason
I got the message on my windows pc that it looks like Windows didn't load correctly. Kindly tell me that data from which drive will be removed from laptop after reinstalling windows?
Hi! The "Reset this PC" program will secure erase all data from the drive Windows is installed on (Typically C:) if you use the "Remove everything" and "Clean data: Yes" options. If you also select the "Delete files from ALL drives" option, it will erase the data on ALL drives/partitions that are installed inside the computer. I hope this gave you the answer you are looking for. Cheers -- Jason
@@JasonBagnellThat's exactly what I did so now I have to reinstall the drives or something ?. Please tell me
My pc didn't load correctly please help me 😢
@@kiyoshi1002 If you have access to another working Windows computer with Internet access, you could create a Windows Installation USB flash drive and perform a “clean install” of the operating system. Here are links to my videos on the topic: Windows 10: th-cam.com/video/bP03Y-l9NOM/w-d-xo.html Windows 11:
th-cam.com/video/ZMKl9wBJYD0/w-d-xo.html Feel free to write back with any questions. Thanks - Jason.
Hi Jason, What if i choose Clear data but the other option choose only C drive. What will happen?
Hi! I made another video where I used the "Reset this PC" program to have it clear ALL hard drives that are installed in the computer. Take a look at it and you'll see where I make the selection: th-cam.com/video/7ceHpGlhp9E/w-d-xo.html
Does resetting my pc helps in fixing hourglass flickering beside the cursor??
Hi! Running the 'Reset this PC' program can likely resolve the issue by restoring Windows to a clean-running state, but it does require some effort afterward. Even if you choose 'Keep my files,' it will remove all programs, applications, printers, and third-party drivers, so you'll need to reinstall them.
Before going that route, you might try running a scan with MalwareBytes to check for any harmful software that could be causing the issue. After the scan, reboot your PC and see if the problem persists. You could also check your startup programs by right-clicking the taskbar, selecting 'Task Manager,' and disablie any unnecessary or suspicious items under the 'Startup' tab. Reboot the PC and see if you were able to resolve the issue without needing a full reset.
Hope this helps! Have a great day -- Jason :)
@@JasonBagnellThank you
Will i still be able to use the pc and reinstall windows later on if i decide to delete files from ALL drives?
Hi! When the "Reset this PC" process is complete the computer will be left with a perfectly clean and working version of Windows. I made another video that fully describes the process: th-cam.com/video/zW2v3M_xFVY/w-d-xo.html Thanks -- Jason
thanks for the info, i was wondering if i had win10 pro activated and i wiped the pc would it keep win10 pro ?
Hi! Yes, the computer will retain its current version of windows and product key after the reset procedure is complete. Have a great day! - Jason
@@JasonBagnell legend! thank you
What happens if you have your User, Downloads, Music, etc on D drive? This is what I'm trying to find out and I can't confirm that Windows will ignore that.
Hi! I don't have an exact answer for that one. It's always a good idea to have a recent backup copy of you data files, just in case things go differently than you expect. You could try selecting the "Keep my files" option at the beginning and then make sure the the "Delete files from all drives" option (if prompted) is set to "No, only Windows drive". That setting should make the program make changes only to the bootable partition that Windows is installed on and it should ignore the rest. I hope this info helps! -- Jason :)
now i can recycle my old computer. thanks
You're welcome! I'm glad the video helped you get your old computer ready for recycling. Nice work! Cheers -- Jason :)
Do I need internet access to do this ? I'm just trying to delete everything before getting rid of my pc
Hi! After the "Reset this PC" process is complete, it will boot back up and ask for you to connect to a WiFi/LAN network and it will want you to create or join a Microsoft Account. At that point, many people just power off the PC and then turn it over to the next owner (or just discard the PC) so that person can continue forward. As long as you selected the "Remove everything and "Clean data: Yes" options, the drive has already been erased at that point.
If you want to boot to the Windows Desktop screen to see exactly how things came out, you can use one of the tricks from another video I made that show you how to get Windows Setup to bypass the Network/Account requirement. See:
th-cam.com/video/UdyP_bHSUlE/w-d-xo.html I hope this helps! -- Jason :)
thanks!
You're welcome! I'm not sure if you've seen my other video on the "Reset this PC" program. 287,000 views and growing! th-cam.com/video/zW2v3M_xFVY/w-d-xo.html Have a great day -- Jason
Did that work on nvme m.2 ssd?!
Hi! Your comment also appeared in the other video I created about the Windows "Reset this PC" program. I'm going to duplicate my response here and also add some new information at the end. BEGINNING: "Using the 'Reset this PC' feature with the 'Clean data: Yes' option is designed to overwrite and clear data on various types of storage drives, including M.2 NVMe SSDs. However, it's important to note that the effectiveness of secure erasure can depend on several factors, such as the specific drive, firmware, and the methods used by data recovery tools.
While this method provides a reasonable level of data removal for general use, it might not be considered a foolproof secure erase. If you're concerned about sensitive data, especially on M.2 NVMe SSDs, manufacturers often provide specialized tools or utilities for secure erasure. These tools interact with the drive's firmware to perform a more thorough and secure data deletion.
Always refer to the manufacturer's guidelines and recommendations for your specific SSD model. If you have particularly sensitive data or high-security requirements, consider using dedicated secure erase tools that are designed for SSDs to ensure a more comprehensive and secure erasure process." :END
NEW INFO: I found a great video on TH-cam that describes the process for loading the Samsung Magician SSD management program and then using it to create a bootable USB flash drive that can be used to perform a Secure Erase on any of their SSD drives. Using the utility from the manufacturer guarantees that there will not be ANY trace of data remaining on the drive. Here's a link to the video: th-cam.com/video/9NK_cHypmHk/w-d-xo.html
For the most part, using Microsoft's "Reset this PC" should be good enough for almost all purposes. The only worry with SSD drives is that they use "wear leveling" to distribute data evenly over all areas of the drive. If the secure erase procedure erases/overwrites 100% of the SSD drive, that drive will also have a cache of additional storage cells that are used whenever the drive finds errors and replaces the bad cells with new ones from the cache. So, in theory, erasing 100% of the drive does not actually erase everything, including the additional storage cells. Also, when Windows overwrites 100% of all areas of the drive with new data, we assume that wear leveling feature of the drive is distributing the new data evenly and is covering all portions of the drive. If it doesn't, some data may still be recoverable by a data recovery center that can map out ALL of the drive's contents.
If you use the manufacturer's utility to secure erase your SSD drive, you will need to completely reload Microsoft Windows from scratch when it's done if you want to re-use the computer using that drive. That's the beauty of the "Reset this PC" program, because it secure erases the drive *AND* leaves the system with a fresh copy of Windows on the drive when it's done. So if you don't have extreme security concerns (like government info, corporate trade secrets, etc), you'll be be OK using the "Clean data: Yes" option to secure erase your SSD, m.2/nVME drive. But if your information really is that sensitive, a hammer or a drill are good options too!
I’d like to add that it wipes removable drives on Windows 11 even if it says it won’t. Remove it before you begin, I just lost years worth of files.
EDIT: in the video he has no option for it but newer versions let you “see affected drives” and doesn’t list removable ones it seems or not mine anyway-so I left it in after always removing it all this time and my whole backup of my PC is gone that I had on it.
Thanks for letting people know what you found. It's always a good idea to unplug any important drives (flash drive, external hard drives, etc) before running a program like this. The program's options might appear different on various PCs with different hard drive configurations. Windows Update can also push out a newer version of the program, which can make it appear different as the program evolves.
Sorry to hear about the loss of files on the removable drive. I'm just curious, did you use the "Keep my files' or the "Remove everything" option? If you used "Keep my files, I would be shocked to learn that it erased the removable drive. Microsoft needs to be more descriptive and clear about exactly what is going to happen before the procedure starts. Let me know -- Thanks -- Jason
@@JasonBagnell I used the “remove everything” option but, it just doesn’t list removable drives as being affected by that when it shows all the others.
Will this remove the windows activation key? Will I need to re-enter it?
No, Windows will still be activated after the "Reset this PC" procedure is complete. I've never had a problem with it and Windows 10/11 save the PC's activation information digitally on Microsoft Activation servers so you shouldn't need to worry about it. Cheers -- Jason
Thank you so much for this Ive been having random bugs where games like roblox, valorant and some other games just wont start and I'm pretty good with computers. SO ofcourse I tried everything Ik and looked up some stuff as well. I currently believe there is something wrong with my windows os itself. I'll update in a bit to see if this fixes my issue with valorant as thats my main concern and most of my games have been working just fine.
You're welcome! I hope it fixes the issues your PC is having, if you choose to run the "Reset this PC" program. Make sure you backup of your data files first! Here is another video I made where I show how to run the program. This next video assumes that you want to remove ALL data from the drive and also perform a secure erase on the hard drive, like you would if you were trashing or reselling the PC. Video Link: th-cam.com/video/zW2v3M_xFVY/w-d-xo.html Have a great day! -- Jason
@@JasonBagnell Yeah I decided to do a clean erase of all my drives and just give a fresh reset and all my games work perfectly now. I am no longer having issues with any of my games not starting.!!
I'm glad everything worked out well for you! Enjoy your nice new "clean" configuration! -- Jason :)
Does anyone know why he didn't select "Reintall Wibdows from ths device"?
Hi! At timestamp 1:43 I did click on the "Local reinstall" button that says "Reinstall Windows from this device" underneath. That will allow the process to move forward without requiring the program to download any files from the Internet before the process begins. -- Jason
Does resetting my pc helps in fixing blue screen?
Hi! If the problems is software related, it will probably fix the blue-screen issue you're having. If the problem is hardware related (i.e. faulty memory module, failing hard drive/motherboard, etc), it won't. Please know that running the "Reset this PC" program will remove ALL programs and 3rd party drivers (for printers, video cards, etc). If you use the "Keep my files" option, it won't erase the files in your Desktop, Documents, Pictures, Videos and Music folders. If you use the "Remove everything" option, it WILL erase ALL data files on your PC, so be careful. I recommend making a backup before you continue, just in case. Gook luck with it! -- Jason
The real test would be to run Recuva, DIskDrill, and/or QPhotorec on the drives in question; if the equivalent of a 'clean all' (which does zero the drives with zero-writes), naturally nothing will be found whatsoever with the aforementioned recovery tools. (Until then, there is still some doubt, as the same results would be achieved with just a quick format or assorted and reinstall, but with underlying/non-overwritten data still waiting....)
Using the "Remove Everything" and "Clean data" options make the procedure take a long long time. That big delay is when Windows is busy overwriting the hard drive's sectors and clusters several times. All recovery utilities should indicate that no usable data is present on the drive after the procedure is finished but it would still be interesting to use a Hex Editor program to see exactly what's left on the drive after the secure erase procedure is complete. Maybe a bunch or 00000's or maybe the drive ends up with a bunch of random characters.
I found a quote on Microsoft's website that stated: "If you choose the Fully Clean The Drive option, the Reset This PC tool will perform a full format of the hard disk that will involve a much more methodical and secure erasure of your data. This includes several passes over the hard disk writing 0's and then other random numbers to every sector on the hard disk. This almost ensures that you'll never be able to recover any of the data files. As you'd expect, this option will take a long time to complete."
Link: answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/reset-this-pc-which-option-is-used-to-just-remove/cfb3ea30-6aea-498d-af73-3b38353304d5
Cheers ! -- Jason
Zero-filling a spinner should take about 2.5=3 hours per TB ? Zero reasons to overwrite more than once, IMO...; likely much faster to do a single pass with a Linux Live distro and just a single random pass with shred, if MS is going to do more than one pass...
Even SysInternals' 'SDelete' only does a single pass overwrite by default, although you can specify how many passes you want as an option, and it can overwrite the MFT's very small files as well when zeroing a drive
@@JasonBagnell
Hi, I Know my doubt will to depends on size of the HDD/SSD, but in this case you done in the video for reference only, how many time takes it procedure? @@JasonBagnell
Hi! I don't have an exact answer for you but if the PC uses a SSD drive it will occur much faster. Expect 1-2 hours if the the drive is less than 1TB. If the PC has a large mechanical hard drive the process will take much longer, possibly 8-48 hours. Sometimes the process will remain on the same % number for a long time but as long as the dots are still spinning, it is still working. Just be patient. Have a great day! -- Jason @@atonhi
It doesnt clear it up for me. Im told anyone with a good recovery tool can still access your details.
Hi! The secure erase process essentially overwrites all portions of the drive with new/different data. Data recovery programs are only capable of reading the information that is currently stored in each area of the drive. When you delete a file, the file is removed from the file table but the actual contents of the file remain on the drive and CAN be recovered by data recovery utilities because the data has never been overwritten. That's where the secure erase procedure comes in. It overwrites ALL areas of the drive so recovery utilities can only recover a bunch of garbage characters or a bunch of 0's. Here's a video I made where I used Microsoft's "Reset this PC" to secure erase a drive and I then used Recuva and Disk Drill to try to recover any of the files that were previously on the drive before it was erased: th-cam.com/video/j5dO3iG1_S0/w-d-xo.html Long story short -- The recovery utilities did not find any of the original files. Cheers -- Jason
Does factory reset remove the partitions of c,d,e drives?
Anybody please quickly respond
Hi! I always suggest that you have a backup copy of all files you want to keep before running a program like "Reset this PC", just to be safe. The program is useful for two different scenarios. 1) If you want to erase ALL data from the PC so it can be sold or thrown out, you would want to use the "Remove everything", "Clean data: Yes" and "Delete files from all drives" option. 2) If you simply want to revert Windows back to a clean running state without losing your data files, you would click the "Keep my files" option and do NOT use the "Clean data: Yes" and do NOT use "Delete files from all drives" option. Again, I advise you to have a backup copy of any files you want to keep and then proceed through the reset process very carefully, reading everything that is shown before allowing the program to continue forward. Microsoft should provide warnings about what will be erased using the settings you have selected. I hope this helps -- Jason
If you disconnect your hard drive, and it’s just the PC you want to reset, does it rest everything off the PC..
All of your data, including the Windows operating system and the programs, are stored on the hard drive. Most computers only have one hard drive inside its case. Assuming you only have one hard drive in your PC, disconnecting it (physically unplugging the power and data cables) would make the PC unable to boot up and load Windows. All of your personal files and data files are located on the drive you disconnected. You can then remove the hard drive from the computer's case before discarding the computer. Doing this will make the computer unusable for the next person unless they understand that they will need to install their own hard drive and then install a copy of Windows.
I sometimes accumulate old PCs from my customers over time. If I ever put a very old PC outside for the trash collector, I ALWAYS remove the customer's hard drive from the computer's case before putting the computer outside. If a passer-by takes the computer from my driveway, none of my customer's data will be there and whoever took it will need to install a new hard drive before the computer will become useful to them.
I'm not sure if I hit the right angle for your question. Feel free to write back with more info.
Happy Holidays!! -- Jason
@@JasonBagnell For some reason my old user shows up when I’m not even logged into the same Microsoft account BUT all the files are empty, am I supposed to worry about my files not being fully gone?
If you used the "Remove Everything" option and set "Clean Data" to YES during the Reset Procedure, none of your old data files should be present as long as the process completed without any errors. The "Clean Data" option makes the whole procedure take a LONG time, meaning 1-5 hours depending of the type of hard drive installed in your system (Mechanical vs SSD). If everything went smoothly, no errors appeared, and it took a long time (45+ minutes or longer), that would indicate that the data files have been secure erased.
@@JasonBagnell But do you have an answer as to why my user was there BUT all the files were empty in my user, like is that something to worry about?
Hi! -- I just reviewed my other video that goes more in-depth about the "Clean Data" part of the Windows Reset process. See: th-cam.com/video/7ceHpGlhp9E/w-d-xo.htmlsi=th4au_jqlfwAAQv6
I don't remember what I used as the original username before I started the process but after the Windows Reset procedure finished, only 1 account named "User" remained and no data was anywhere to be found on any/all of the drives.
To be safe, I recommend that you run the Windows Reset procedure again, following the methods shown in the video mentioned above. As long as you don't get any errors, everything will have been secure erased, provided the "Erase Everything" and "Clean Data: YES" options were selected.
It is a good sign that the files from your old Windows installation were not present but running the process again would give you more peace-of-mind.
Happy Holidays! -- Jason
What a dangerous option. Windows should stick to Windows and not touch other stuff. We have DiskManagement for that.
I always complete the “Reset this PC” procedure, complete the initial Windows Setup process and then look at all of the hard drive(s) to make sure that no data remains on the drive. So far, it has done a great job but it never hurts to check to make sure before turning your old PC over to someone else. Have a great day! - Jason. :)