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
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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?
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!
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.
Awesome guide. I needed to reset my Windows XP computer. This did the job.
Malwarebytes antimalware program will get rid of all that crap spyware for you
malwarebytes.org
There is the link; its a great program….
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
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
I don’t know what these other people did but your suggestion worked flawlessly the first time and was very easy to execute.
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?
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.
I’ve lost my Windows taskbar and its not coming back. Should I do this to reset Windows?
i have spyware on my windows xp computer. it loads but restarts so i can’t log in. how do i restore my computer without logging in?
my acer notebook has just download a defense software call personal security and it locks down all my programs except windows explorer and wont allow me to do a system restore, what do i do, and my parents will kill me if they find out
If I restore my computer, will i have to reload my printer software and word processor software and antivirus software, etc?
I have a virus on my computer and it won’t let me go to any microsoft sites, it will say Bad URL and won’t let me download anything from Microsoft! i want to set my computer back to factory settings to remove the virus. i did it once before but, can’t remember how! i have windows vista
I tried taking my PC back to factory settings by using the four Windows XP Home SP1 System Recovery CDs that came with my computer.
It goes through all four CDs and looks like it’s installing everything, but at the end, it won’t start Windows. I saved all of my files to an external hard drive, so that’s not a worry, but I can’t get the computer to work at all except for repeating the “install” process over and over.
Any ideas?
I tried restoring my Dell windows xp to factory setting but the cntr+F11 doesn’t work. What’s should I do? Thanks
I have found that when restoring Windows XP in a Dell, you have to set your Bios CDROM as first on the boot order.
You may have to get rid of the os option. You can do that in control panel/system/advance/start up and recovery set the time to 1 second and the annoyance will be minimal.
brayden: Try system restore on safe mode. if not go to msconfig and do a diagnostic start up. If you can get the computer to start up, try to down load Spybot.
Have a Dell XPS M140. Hard drive had to be replaced, therefore, the ctrl F11 does not work. Any other suggestions on how to get the computer back to factory settings?
I have a Gateway about 6 years old … does not have any factory restore built in. I tried F8, F10, F11 and also Alt with the previous Fkeys – did not work. Any more options I can try? how about software? any good ones I can buy? thx (I have XP SP3)
Will writing programs like MS word still be in the computer once it is restored to factory settings?