Step 1. Open the “Start” menu
Click the Windows logo in the lower-left corner of the screen. The “Start” menu will appear after that.
Step 2. Open the settings menu or “Settings”
Click the gear icon in the lower-left corner of the “Start” menu. After that, the “Settings” window will be opened.
Step 3. Click
"Updates & Security".
This option is at the bottom of the “Settings” menu options.
Step 4. Click the Recovery tab
This tab is on the left side of the window.
Step 5. Click Get started
It's under the "Reset this PC" heading at the top of the page. A pop-up window will be displayed.
Step 6. Click Remove everything
It's at the bottom of the pop-up window.
Step 7. Click Remove files and clean the drive
It's at the bottom of the pop-up window.
Step 8. Click Reset when prompted
The computer will start wiping data from the hard drive and after that, Windows will be reinstalled.
This process will take several hours, and all files on the hard drive will be deleted
Method 2 of 2: On Windows 7
Step 1. Turn off the computer
You can turn off the computer with the following steps:
-
Click the menu Start ”
Windowswindows7_start - Click " Shut down ” in the lower-right corner of the “Start” menu.
- Wait until the computer completely shuts down.
Step 2. Restart the computer
Press the power button or "Power"
on the computer chassis to turn it on.
Step 3. Press the F8 key repeatedly
When you press the button repeatedly as soon as the computer starts up, an advanced start-up menu opens.
If nothing happens and you go to the login page as usual, you are too late to press the “ F8" Restart the computer and try again.
Step 4. Select Repair Your Computer
Use the arrow keys to move the selector to that option at the top of the screen, then press Enter.
Step 5. Click Next when prompted
The keyboard settings will be confirmed afterwards.
Step 6. Enter the password when prompted
Type the password you use to log into the computer in the " Password " field, then click " OK ”.
Step 7. Click on System Image Recovery
This link is in the middle of the window.
Step 8. Select the factory default image
Click the "Dell Factory Image" (or similar) option to select it.
You may need to click the drop-down box to find the "Dell Factory Image" option
Step 9. Click Next
It's at the bottom of the window.
Step 10. Confirm to free the hard drive
You may need to check the box and click “ Erase " or " OK ”, or select the hard drive that needs to be formatted and click “ Erase ”, depending on the version of Windows 7 installed. After confirming the option to reset the computer, the hard drive will begin to empty and after that, the version of Windows available on the Dell factory default system image will be reinstalled or restored.
