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Inspiron 5675, reset, Windows 10; user name still present
Update 2: Following the instructions on this page, I don't see an option for "factory image restore." I see "system restore," "system image recovery," "go back prev. version," but no factory image restore.
Update: I started this reset, and progress began, and came back a few hours and got my usual startup screen with my user login, so I guess the reset failed, though I didn't get a notification as such. I just did another restart, and tried to reset again, but this time got an error: "There was a problem resetting your PC."
Would appreciate suggestions on how to reset this.
I'm selling my Inspiron 5675, so I want to erase all of my data, a factor reset. I tried holding down shift key for restart, and selected "remove everything." After the reset process though, my name still shows up as a user, and now it asks me for my password.
How do I reset the computer so it doesn't have any of my info?
speedstep
8 Wizard
8 Wizard
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47K Posts
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March 18th, 2019 08:00
You need to run sysprep to re seal the machine and remove the previous user.
You can run the Sysprep command up to 8 times on a single Windows image. After running Sysprep 8 times, you must recreate your Windows image. In previous versions of Windows, you could use the SkipRearm answer file setting to reset the Windows Product Activation clock when running Sysprep.
Use Sysprep from Command Prompt. Run %WINDIR%\system32\sysprep\sysprep.exe to open the System Preparation Window. You can also use the Sysprep command together with the /generalize, /shutdown, and /oobe options.
bmcowboy
573 Posts
0
March 18th, 2019 08:00
Hi @newmar99 ,
Seems like you cannot perform the Win10 default OS reset successfully.
You may try to download Win10 media creation tool and create a bootable Win10 installation USB. Then do a fresh Win10 installation onto existing hard drive. You may choose deleting all existing partition during in installation process. After Win10 fresh installation done, you may then go through Recovery -> Reset this PC again. You can choose to clear all data from either OS partition only or all partitions.
When everything done, there should be no any personal data left on the hard drive.
newmar99
19 Posts
0
March 18th, 2019 08:00
Thanks for the reply. Last night after I posted here, I tried downloading the Dell Recovery Image for my computer: https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/drivers/osiso/wt64a.
I created USB drive with Dell Recovery Tool, booted from that, went to Troubleshooting: Recover From Drive as instructed here: https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/04/sln299044/how-to-download-and-use-the-dell-os-recovery-image-in-microsoft-windows?lang=en
But no luck, I got "There was a problem resetting your PC" again.
I'll try the Win10 media creation tool, but before I do, do you think there might be some issue getting in the way?
I did install a second SATA drive and PCIe drive after buying the computer, could that be causing an issue?
bmcowboy
573 Posts
0
March 18th, 2019 08:00
Hi again @newmar99 ,
It's quite a headache about "There was a problem resetting your PC" since it could be many reasons and hard to troubleshoot. I don't have experience on Dell PCs but do on some HP desktops and Lenovo laptops. Seems related with PC vendors' Win10 OEM builds.
Anyway, I used to go for the mentioned Win10 fresh re-installation method when needed, and always work for me so far.
newmar99
19 Posts
1
March 18th, 2019 12:00
Thanks for the responses. I ran Dell Recovery again to create a USB installation, and this time it worked.