How to restore Windows XP to factory settings

Posted on July 31, 2009 at 5:18 am

Oddly enough, I’ve been asked by many people recently how they can restore their computers to “factory settings”. Depending on how you look at it, factory settings can mean several things.

For me, factory settings means getting the computer back to the state when you first bought it. This includes the OS with all the third-party software they like to install with it.

Another way to think about it is to perform a clean install of the operating system, so that you are working with a bare bones version of the OS. The difference between a clean install and getting the computer back to the state you bought it in is the fact that the former does not include any junk third party software.

Finally, factory settings could mean performing a system restore to a previous state of the OS. I’ll try to explain how you can perform each one of these methods in the article below.

Restore Factory Settings – System Restore

System Restore is the in-built tool of Windows XP and Windows Vista that allows you to roll back the registry to a previous state. Note that it only “restores” previous settings for the registry and Windows system files.

You can use system restore to get rid of spyware, but if system restore does not fix your problem, you’ll have to resort to either a clean install of the OS or using your recovery CD/DVDs.

You can read my previous post on how to restore your computer using the System Restore feature. If system restore is disabled, you can read my post on how to enable system restore again.

Restore Factory Settings – Recovery CD/DVDs

Most computers come with either a recovery CD/DVD or a recovery partition that is hidden on the computer. This is true for most HP and Dell machines now these days.

If you have one of these, you can access the recovery from within Windows or during startup.

For HP, you can go to Start, All Programs, HP Tools, and then choose HP PC System Recovery.

You can also press the F10 key multiple times during bootup to get access to the recovery console in case Windows is not loading properly.

On Dells, you can access the recovery partition by pressing Ctrl + F11 immediately after the machine is turned on.

Note that all of your data will be lost on the hard drive. Using a recovery CD is not the same as repairing XP. When you repair Windows XP, all of the system files are replaced with the original ones, but your data and applications remain intact.

Restore Factory Settings – Clean Install XP

Your last and final option for restoring XP to factory settings is to perform a clean install. This requires having the CD/DVD for the OS. If you only have a hidden recovery partition, you will not be able to perform a clean install.

A clean install basically consists of booting from the original XP CD, deleting all partitions, recreating new partitions, and then installing Windows XP from CD.

It’s a fairly straight-forward process and you can read this excellent tutorial for step by step instructions. Again, it’s important to note that you will lose all your data in this process.

If you need to fix corrupted or missing Windows system files without losing any data, it is recommended you try a repair install of XP (scroll down to the bottom of the article). Enjoy!

» Filed Under Computer Tips

Comments

10 Responses to “How to restore Windows XP to factory settings”

cathy said on : September 22nd, 2009 at 9:26 am

hey aseem. i deleted microsoft office and i can’t get it back. i don’t have the cd that came with my laptop. what would be the best option for me?

Kevin said on : December 6th, 2009 at 7:48 pm

Hi,

I have a Gateway computer with Windows Vista and I was wonder if there is a way to restore the computer back to the factory settings without the discs and also all my restore points are after the hardware problems started occurring!

Bryan said on : December 22nd, 2009 at 10:30 pm

This didnt help at all. I want to know how to get my pc to the point where i just bought it, and you didnt tell me how to do that. I have a spyware or malware on my pc, that when i search on searh engines, it takes me to a random site.

babalu said on : December 30th, 2009 at 2:03 am

Awesome guide. I needed to reset my Windows XP computer. This did the job.

croaky said on : January 9th, 2010 at 3:41 pm

Malwarebytes antimalware program will get rid of all that crap spyware for you

malwarebytes.org

There is the link; its a great program….

Massimo said on : January 13th, 2010 at 10:58 am

Hi, I read your instructions and I want to reset my computer, but I created a separate partition with all my data (D:). Will this partition be eliminated when I restore to factory settings? Is there a way to reset just the OS partition and install the OS while keeping the D partition intact? Thanks

Tony said on : January 23rd, 2010 at 2:04 pm

The ctrl+F11 on my xp dell did not work. Windows just goes ahead and loads. My desk top doesn’t even come up. Is there another way to restore? Tried F8 then restore, doesn’t help.
Thanks
Tony

cody said on : January 26th, 2010 at 10:56 am

I don’t know what these other people did but your suggestion worked flawlessly the first time and was very easy to execute.

gerardo said on : January 28th, 2010 at 11:31 am

Hi, I have a big problem. My hard disk crashed and I bought a new hard disk, but the people at the store told me I need to format the new hard disk. But my computer has a licensed copy of Windows XP and if I start with a new disk, how will I be able to install Windows XP without the old license?

Siva said on : February 2nd, 2010 at 8:39 pm

Thanks for share this article and useful information. I run a small company and had to restore a PC to factory settings. Your instructions helped.