How to Reboot a Dell Computer to Like New Condition

Save your files to a hard drive before rebooting your computer.

Just like any other computer, a Dell computer is susceptible to viruses and spyware. When a computer becomes overwhelmed with these programs, the only way to fix your computer is to reboot, also known as reformatting, the hard drive. This will reset Dell computers to their factory settings, causing all of your programs and files to be deleted, but your computer will be free of your previous problems.

Things You'll Need

• Flash drive

Instructions

1. Copy any files that you want to keep as rebooting the hard drive will cause it to lose all of your pictures, videos and more.

2. Insert the Windows recovery disc into the PC's disc drive and close it. A screen will pop up giving you information about the Windows recovery disc.

3. Press the "Escape" button on the keyboard to bypass the repair option because this will fix any virus or spyware infected PCs.

4. Select the "C:/" drive, the computer's default drive, to reinstall the computer to. Click "Next" and your computer will begin rebooting, which will take up to an hour to accomplish.

Tips & Warnings

• If you have lots of files that you want to keep, use a portable hard drive to copy them to.

• Do not remove the disc during the reboot process as this will corrupt the installation.

References

• Microsoft: How to Format a Hard Disk

Resources

• Laptoptopia: Common Laptop Problems