There are a lot of answers to the question as  to why one would want to restore computer to factory settings, some of them being faulty software,  memory cleansing  or maybe  you just want to sell your computer to someone and want to present it in as original  form as you can. Well, there are two main ways by which you can achieve this. One is the all compatible traditional  CD method and other is the more specific Start-up method.

In this post we will help you to restore computer to factory settings using both techniques mentioned above. You may also like how to restore iPhone and custom computer cases.

How to restore computer to factory settings using CD

Step 1: Back up all the necessary stuff on your computer by transferring data either to CD, USB Drive, external hard disk or whatever you prefer. Although, most version of Windows allow some of the settings and files to be saved but it is advised not to completely rely on that.

Step 2: Put the Restore factory CD into your computer CD drive that came with the package.

Note: Most of the computer Vendors no longer contain a Recovery Disk with there computers, instead they let you have  Recovery partition in your computer hard disk where you can easily locate a recovery program generally starting with the company name like in case of HP  the program will be named as  HP PC System Recovery.

Step 3: After following step 2 all you have to do is ‘Confirm restore factory settings’ and wait for an hour or so until you are being prompted for a system restart. It should be kept in mind that disturbing you computer during this process can lead to serious malfunctioning of your computer.

Step 4: Press Reboot or wait till your computer reboots automatically.

How to Restore computer to factory settings using Start-Up

Step 1: Turn on your computer and while you are on the black screen enter into the Setup- configuration mode. This method helps you to restore your computer without using a CD by resetting your BIOS. There are a variety of function keys that work specifically for definite Computer Vendors. Some of them are:

Dell XP = Ctrl+F11
Dell Vista = F8
EEEPC = Esc
Compaq = F11
HP Desktop Vista = F11
Emachine = F10
Acer = Alt+F10

Step 2: After you enter the setup configuration mode you will be presented with a menu from which you can easily choose “Restore Factory Defaults” option and then you are into the process of restoring your computer to factory settings.

Ste3: Wait for an hour or so without disturbing your computer and  that’s it.