Factory Reset an HP Windows 8 Laptop

Whether your HP Windows 8 laptop is suffering from a virus, system errors, a software update that’s slowed everything to a crawl, or some other problem, a factory reset may be just what you need to get back to decent performance. Below, we’ve outlined how to do this through HP System Recovery.
uYIeVBS.png

Step 1: From the charms bar on the right side of the screen, search for “Recovery.” Select “HP Recovery Manager” from the search results. A menu with three columns of options should open.

Step 2: The column you want from this menu, which is the HP Recovery Manager, is the one on the left, titled “I need immediate help.” Select the bottom option, “Windows Recovery Environment,” then confirm that you want to reboot your laptop and start a system recovery. Your computer will restart, after which you will be greeted with a “Choose an option” menu screen.

Step 3: Select “Troubleshoot” from the menu, then click “Recovery Manager” from the next menu. This will return you to the Recovery Manager, which should look familiar from Step 2, though not quite the same.

Step 4: From the new Recovery Manager screen, select the top option from the “I need immediate help” column: “Microsoft System Restore.” Click through any additional menus to approve the system restore. Your system will now revert to factory settings.

Recap

Viruses and corrupt software are no fun for anyone, but HP and Windows 8 make it easy to restore your laptop to factory settings. Just make sure that you back up any personal files or data before you go through this process, as they will not be saved by the restore itself.