Factory Restore Tips

[Pepsi_Jamie]

Hi all,

I've decided to restore my laptop back to its factory settings to do a complete clean up of all of my memory/software. The last time I did this, I had the annoying issue that involves a black screen w/cursor.

Are there any tips to do this? Also, how do you re-install the BIOS that came with the laptop (after installing the drivers, the PCSpecialist logo was replaced with an American Express Bios/Logo).

I'm currently in the process of transferring my important files on to an external hard drive, but any advice/tips would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[ubuysa]

Why did you change the original BIOS? Did PCS advise you to do that? Why do you want to change back now?

You're right that you need to copy your user data on to an external drive, but I also advise that you copy the entire contents of C;'\Users\your_name\AppData to the external HHD too. This folder is where bookmarks and other program related data is stored and you may want some of the back after the reinstall. Note that the AppData folder is hidden so you'll have to display hidden folder to be able to see it.

If it were me I'd download a copy of Macrium Reflect (free) from http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx and use that to take a full image of your C:\ partition/drive to the external HDD. Also use the Macrium Reflect tool to make a bootable disk or USB stick so you can boot the Macrium Reflect system and restore your old image should you need to for any reason. Macrium Reflect also allows you to mount images as virtual drives, so if you did forget to copy anything off to your external HDD you could mount the Macrium Reflect image and recover the data from there.

Ubuysa's rule #1: Always pack your own parachute (i.e. don't leap into the dark with ensuring you have a way to go back).