Can't factory reset my PC. "Couldn't find the recovery environment."

[lordhumus]

I want to keep my version of Windows 10, and not have to buy another product key and all, but I am not allowed to simply clear everything. Pls help

 

[DSzymborski]

Copies of Windows aren't tied to any individual install but to the hardware itself (and even then, Microsoft is more tolerant of this than ever before). Just make sure your copy is tied to your Microsoft ID. Would need more details about your PC for anything more specific.

 

[lordhumus]

Copies of Windows aren't tied to any individual install but to the hardware itself (and even then, Microsoft is more tolerant of this than ever before). Just make sure your copy is tied to your Microsoft ID. Would need more details about your PC for anything more specific.

I have an i7 7700k, GTX 1080 ftw, a new MSI SLI plus mobo (recently replaced an Asus mobo due to errors and malfunctions), a Seagate drive (1 Tb).

 

[DSzymborski]

Just make sure you're registered with Microsoft and do a full wipe and reinstall using the Windows 10 Media Creation tool. Though make sure your important data is backed up, though you should plan to do that anyway! New motherboard usually means a good idea to do a full wipe regardless.

 

[lordhumus]

Just make sure you're registered with Microsoft and do a full wipe and reinstall using the Windows 10 Media Creation tool. Though make sure your important data is backed up, though you should plan to do that anyway! New motherboard usually means a good idea to do a full wipe regardless.

That's the problem. I can't reset my PC. When I try to full reset, I'm told that the Recovery environment cannot be found, and then it closes the menu

 

[DSzymborski]

Just make sure you're registered with Microsoft and do a full wipe and reinstall using the Windows 10 Media Creation tool. Though make sure your important data is backed up, though you should plan to do that anyway! New motherboard usually means a good idea to do a full wipe regardless.

That's the problem. I can't reset my PC. When I try to full reset, I'm told that the Recovery environment cannot be found, and then it closes the menu

You're not looking for the Recovery environment. You want to be loading Windows 10 from a flash drive or a freshly-made disk directly from startup and deleting the existing partitions and then installing a fresh copy.

 

[lordhumus]

Just make sure you're registered with Microsoft and do a full wipe and reinstall using the Windows 10 Media Creation tool. Though make sure your important data is backed up, though you should plan to do that anyway! New motherboard usually means a good idea to do a full wipe regardless.

That's the problem. I can't reset my PC. When I try to full reset, I'm told that the Recovery environment cannot be found, and then it closes the menu

You're not looking for the Recovery environment. You want to be loading Windows 10 from a flash drive or a freshly-made disk directly from startup and deleting the existing partitions and then installing a fresh copy.

I'm not too tech savvy, how would I do that (and could I use my old windows 10 drive as the installation drive, and how would I keep my version and not need a new code?)

 

[DSzymborski]

Just make sure you're registered with Microsoft and do a full wipe and reinstall using the Windows 10 Media Creation tool. Though make sure your important data is backed up, though you should plan to do that anyway! New motherboard usually means a good idea to do a full wipe regardless.

That's the problem. I can't reset my PC. When I try to full reset, I'm told that the Recovery environment cannot be found, and then it closes the menu

You're not looking for the Recovery environment. You want to be loading Windows 10 from a flash drive or a freshly-made disk directly from startup and deleting the existing partitions and then installing a fresh copy.

I'm not too tech savvy, how would I do that (and could I use my old windows 10 drive as the installation drive, and how would I keep my version and not need a new code?)

Again, you don't need a new code. Copies are tied to motherboards/your Microsoft account, not any particular install or any particular hard drive. If your Windows functions now, you could install it a billion times on this same PC without issues whether you use your old hard drive or a new hard drive.

Start here:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/15088/windows-create-installation-media

And then boot to either the optical media or the thumb drive.

Follow the reinstall directions here:

http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/software/operating-systems/1401617/how-to-clean-install-windows-10-and-create-boot-media/page/0/1

 

[aquielisunari]

Just make sure you're registered with Microsoft and do a full wipe and reinstall using the Windows 10 Media Creation tool. Though make sure your important data is backed up, though you should plan to do that anyway! New motherboard usually means a good idea to do a full wipe regardless.

That's the problem. I can't reset my PC. When I try to full reset, I'm told that the Recovery environment cannot be found, and then it closes the menu

It won't be the problem if you download the aforementioned media creation tool and create a USB boot drive(8GB min.) with the tool so you can install it with the USB stick.

Click Start/ Settings/ Update and Security/ Activation to see if your device is activated with a digital license which is what you want to see.

 

[captaincharisma]

Copies of Windows aren't tied to any individual install but to the hardware itself (and even then, Microsoft is more tolerant of this than ever before). Just make sure your copy is tied to your Microsoft ID. Would need more details about your PC for anything more specific.

I have an i7 7700k, GTX 1080 ftw, a new MSI SLI plus mobo (recently replaced an Asus mobo due to errors and malfunctions), a Seagate drive (1 Tb).

if you replaced your motherboard then this article will help with re activating windows after a major hardware change like a motherbord

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-re-activate-windows-10-after-hardware-change

Note that these steps will work for you as long as your current windows 10 install has been fully updated and this is not a brand name PC

i would also recommend if you haven't already link your windows 10 copy to a MS account such as hotmail or outlook, this will also be described in the link i provided

as for the error it sounds like something is wrong with the recovery feature in windows 10 or your recovery partition was somehow deleted.