[SOLVED] How to restore a cloned HDD to its factory settings (Can't Use System restore)

[twranks]

Hey guys,
I cloned my HDD about two years ago. Now, I want to revert the PC back to its factory settings. I've backed up my files to an external HDD so I'm not worried about losing data. I can't use system restore (probably because I cloned from an Acer to a Dell) so if someone could point me in the right direction to restore my system to factory settings, I'd really appreciate it.

 

[rgd1101]

Can't do a fresh windows 10 install?

 

[wpgwpg]

Settings -> Update and Security -> Recovery -> Reset this PC. I urge you to make a full system backup to an external hard drive prior to doing a reset. I use the free version of Macrium Reflect for backups, but there are numerous other backup/restore programs you can download.

 

[USAFRet]

Hey guys,
I cloned my HDD about two years ago. Now, I want to revert the PC back to its factory settings. I've backed up my files to an external HDD so I'm not worried about losing data. I can't use system restore (probably because I cloned from an Acer to a Dell) so if someone could point me in the right direction to restore my system to factory settings, I'd really appreciate it.

By "factory" that would be referring to the original Asus.
Which you can't do, being in a Dell.
And you can't revert back to original Dell, because that partition no longer exists.

Just do a full wipe and reinstall of a bare Win 10.
That's as close as you'll get.

 

[twranks]

Can't do a fresh windows 10 install?

I tried that too but it wouldn't let me. The reason it gave: "you can't install windows on a USB flash drive". Problem is, it's not a flash drive. Then again, I could've been using the wrong windows installer

 

[twranks]

Settings -> Update and Security -> Recovery -> Reset this PC. I urge you to make a full system backup to an external hard drive prior to doing a reset. I use the free version of Macrium Reflect for backups, but there are numerous other backup/restore programs you can download.

Sorry I think I used the wrong term. By System restore, I meant the "reset this PC" function

 

[USAFRet]

I tried that too but it wouldn't let me. The reason it gave: "you can't install windows on a USB flash drive". Problem is, it's not a flash drive. Then again, I could've been using the wrong windows installer

Follow this:

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[twranks]

By "factory" that would be referring to the original Asus.
Which you can't do, being in a Dell.
And you can't revert back to original Dell, because that partition no longer exists.

Just do a full wipe and reinstall of a bare Win 10.
That's as close as you'll get.

Oh wow okay. So how do the full wipe as my "reset this PC" function is not working

 

[USAFRet]

Oh wow okay. So how do the full wipe as my "reset this PC" function is not working

The link I posted above outlines this.

 

[twranks]

Follow this:

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

forums.tomshardware.com

Awesome, this worked great. Thanks!