How to Reset My Hard Drive on a Gateway Laptop

Resetting a hard drive entails completely wiping it of all data and reinstalling the operating system. If the performance of your Gateway laptop has been poor, or you want to start over with a fresh computer, restoring the hard drive is an effective solution. After this process, your computer will be back to its original factory condition, and should be just as fast as it was when it was brand new. Be aware that this process erases all data from your computer. For this reason, copy important files to another location prior to resetting the hard drive.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Copy all data you wish to keep to an external hard drive or a flash drive. Another back-up option is to copy data to CD-Rs or DVD-Rs if you have a CD/DVD burner. Ensure that you back up all your files and continue.

2. Insert the reset disc into your primary disc drive and close out of any windows that pop up. Restart the computer. After restarting, you will see a screen that says, "Press any key to boot from CD." Press any key and then follow the on-screen instructions. While following the onscreen instructions, you will come to a screen that asks, "Where do you want to install Windows?" Click "Drive Options (Advanced)" to show all the available options. Choose the "Primary" drive and press "Format." This will erase all data on the hard drive. Select the drive you just formatted and press "Continue." You are now ready to re-install the operating system.

3. Follow the remainder of the onscreen instructions. Your computer will complete the reinstall process by itself without any more actions required of you. Watch the process until you see a screen that asks you to set a new username and password. Complete all the fields, and your computer will restart as a completely reset and reformatted machine.

Tips & Warnings

• This article was designed for gateway machines. The directions above may or may not apply to computers made by other companies.

References

• Gateway Support