How to Reset an eMachine Computer

Most people who own an eMachine computer will find that it is likely that they will need to reset the computer at one time or another. It is a fact that PCs are more prone to viruses and malware than Macintosh computers. Sometimes the only way to restore an eMachine is to simply reset it.

Fortunately, it is not a difficult process to reset an eMachine computer, although the person doing the resetting should keep a few things in mind during the reset process.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• eMachine computer

1. Turn off the computer. If the computer is in a state that it can be properly shut down, follow the normal shutdown process. On the other hand, if the computer is not reacting to anything, simply pull the cord from the wall.

2. Restart the computer. Plug the computer back into the wall and press the "Power" button. Wait for the eMachine's computer to reach the screen that reads "Press F11 to start recovery." Once this screen appears, press the F11 key on the keyboard multiple times to make sure that it registers. If the recovery screen does not come up, you will need to turn the computer off and back on again and attempt to press the F11 button again when the prompt appears.

3. Select the proper option. After the F11 key is properly selected and the recovery screen appears, there will be a list of recovery options. Scroll to the option that says: "Full System Restore (with Backup). Choosing this option will move all of the contents of the Hard Disk to the C:\My Backup file. This will ensure that important files that have been created on the computer will not be deleted. However, the applications on the computer will need to be reinstalled.

4. Allow the Full System Restore to run its course. Depending on the age and effectiveness of the eMachine computer, it is possible this process could take up to 45 minutes. When the system restore is complete, the computer will restart itself. The startup could also take a while due to the fact that it will be restarting in Safe Mode.

5. Reinstall applications. Any of the files created on the computer should be saved. However, the applications that created them need to be reinstalled. This means that applications like Microsoft Office or Adobe software will need to be reinstalled from disks or online before you can open files created with Microsoft or Adobe programs.

Tips & Warnings

• A simple system restore may be all that is needed (see Resources below). A system restore resets a system back to a previous date. Therefore, if a problem just started in recent days, a person can restore the system to a point 1 week ago and remove the problem easily.
• Do not use the Internet without having some kind of protective software. Malware and viruses make people need to reset computers often. If the malware is avoided in the first place, people can avoid needing to do many things to restore a system.

Resources

• Resetting eMachines
• Troubleshooting eMachines
• How System Restore Works