How to Restore the Factory Settings on an HP Pavilion Computer

Restoring a computer is simple.

It seems that the only solution to a computer issue is to start from scratch. Though it should be used as a last resort, restoring a computer to factory settings is not as difficult as it seems. You do not have to spend hundreds of dollars for something that can take you only 30 minutes of your own time. There are two ways to restore, and you have to choose the best one that suits you.

Things You'll Need

• Recovery disks

Instructions

Restore Using Recovery Disks

1. Boot the computer and close all programs. Make sure all peripherals, such as printers, are disconnected.

2. Place "Disk One" of the recovery disks into the disk drive and close. Shut down the computer.

3. Press the power button to boot the computer and press the "F11" key several times. A black screen with white lettering should then appear.

4. Press "F" to begin the reformatting process. The computer will reformat to the original, factory settings.

Restore Using System Recovery on Hard Drive

1. Boot the computer and close all programs. Make sure all peripherals, such as printers, are disconnected.

2. Select from the "Start" menu "All Programs," then choose "System Recovery" and then "PC Recovery."

3. Choose "PC Recovery" after restoring options load, and the click on "Next." The computer will shut down and restart on its own.

4. Continue the restoring process by clicking "OK" after the computer reboots.

5. Select "System Recovery," and the computer will begin to reformat. Restart the computer after restoring has completed.

Tips & Warnings

• When restarting the computer, do not select the "restart" option from the menu. Instead, select "shut down."

• Some models require you to press "F10" rather than "F11" when using the recovery disks. If the computer reboots as normally, shut down and try again, this time using "F10."

• If your system does not have recovery software on the computer, and you do not have recovery disks, you can contact HP and order them.

• All information and data will be lost when you restore back to the original settings. Backup any data such as pictures, music, and documents that you may want.

References

• HP: Recovery Support