Best way to restore a computer back to its factory setting?

TheRock88

TheRock88

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So I got an old Acer laptop that Im gonna sell to a friend. So I needed to wipe the HDD clean (settings, saved history, passwords, etc) plus restore it back like when I first got it. Anyone know the best way to do this?

 
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Not sure how old the ACER is, but they usually have a hidden partition with a full system recovery option on it.  Hitting F11 during bootup usually gets you to the recovery.  If not, boot into Windows normally, and there will be an option under the All Programs (probably under another folder, so just open a couple to see if it's in there; start with anything called PC Tools or even the ACER name itself). 

Just choose the option to recover to factory without backing up data and you should be good.  Just beware that if the hard drive is on the downside of its normal life it may go very slowly or even fail.

(If it won't do an auto recovery, you may have to burn a set of discs from the built-in recovery partition first.)

 
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Thanks for the tips guys. I tried your method Silentbob and when it was done with the recovery mode, something must have happened to the hard drive because it couldnt boot up Windows anymore. Had to google to find an installation disc and use the Win7 USB/DVD tool but I eventually got it working. Lost all the Acer tools/widgets that came with it (probably for the best with no bloatware) but it looks like its running again.

 
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