Windows 10 Refuses to Reset without Recovery Media

[AJ_O]

This is extremely frustrating for me. I have no available recovery media, and I am NOT in a position where I have the network speed to download an ISO to make recovery media.

I've been using this laptop for a year and a half, and because of all the crap that I've loaded on and off of it over time it NEEDS reset. Upgrading Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 HELPED, but it still needs reset.

I tried using Windows 10's built in reset feature, but every time, no matter if I click the option to let me keep my files or to start anew, it tells me that I can only do it once I've inserted recovery media, which isn't something that I find others having to deal with.

Is there anything I can do?

 

[Elf_Knight]

Hi! What do you mean reset? Do you mean the laptop constantly restarts? If it resets then you have already lost your work. You could try installing Windows 7 and pick up a referbished copy cheap off Amazon. If not then it sounds like a faulty motherboard. I would highly recommend asking the Microsoft customer support directly because that sounds like either a motherboard error or an OS error. If it is the latter than only Microsoft can fix it. Otherwise perhaps your laptop is dying. Sorry for the bad news!

 

[AJ_O]

Hi! What do you mean reset? Do you mean the laptop constantly restarts? If it resets then you have already lost your work. You could try installing Windows 7 and pick up a referbished copy cheap off Amazon. If not then it sounds like a faulty motherboard. I would highly recommend asking the Microsoft customer support directly because that sounds like either a motherboard error or an OS error. If it is the latter than only Microsoft can fix it. Otherwise perhaps your laptop is dying. Sorry for the bad news!

No, it isn't a faulty motherboard. Windows 10 has a built in reset feature that resets everything to the factory OS defaults, deleting your apps, programs, files and data. All of the tutorials I've seen online, however, do not inform me that I need to insert a recovery media disk/drive to use this feature. In fact, none of them mention that at all. They mention the existence of them for different ways to reset the computer, or to reinstall Windows entirely. That isn't what I'm looking for.

What I want to know is if there is something I'm missing here, or something that I need to change to get this to work. I know its possible, I've seen it done multiple times.

 

[SkyNetRising]

For reset feature to work, you must have recovery partition on your disk.
If you have deleted this partition to save up space, then reset feature will not work.

 

[AJ_O]

For reset feature to work, you must have recovery partition on your disk.
If you have deleted this partition to save up space, then reset feature will not work.

I'd thought of that, but it was a Windows 8 recovery partition, and it won't work with 10.

 

[SkyNetRising]

You could have reset your PC back to Win8.
So - you deleted recovery partition?

 

[Elf_Knight]

Here you go: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows-10/windows-10-recovery-options

 

[AJ_O]

You could have reset your PC back to Win8.
So - you deleted recovery partition?

I haven't yet, no. My problem is if I want to go back to Windows 10, I'll have to wait three days for the download because my internet isn't stable. So downloading Windows 10 again, I would need to not use my laptop for... well, three days. Are there no other solutions?

 

[Elf_Knight]

You could have reset your PC back to Win8.
So - you deleted recovery partition?

I haven't yet, no. My problem is if I want to go back to Windows 10, I'll have to wait three days for the download because my internet isn't stable. So downloading Windows 10 again, I would need to not use my laptop for... well, three days. Are there no other solutions?

In that case you would have to buy another copy to fix it cause your downloading speed is too slow. Or take it to a cybercafe or library that has good WiFi and download it there.

 

[johnnyb105]

As said above a lot of resturants have wi fi now and you could drink coffee and wait while it downloads make sure you have a blank dvd to make a real copy of windows 10 so if this happens again you have that just in case. Its not your motherboard either the links above show you where to start the process,,

 

[AJ_O]

Thanks for the input everyone. I'm going to have to find a place near me with better internet.