The Windows 10 Reset this PC Restore Option will Fail When you Select the “Keep my Files"

Reset This PC Error

When attempting the Reset this PC restore option on a Windows 10 system. (See Figure 1.)


Figure 1. - Selecting the Keep My Files option during a PC Reset

If you have had the factory image restored using Dell Developed Recovery Environment (DDRE) you will encounter an error message "There was a problem resetting your PC. No changes were made." (See Figure 2.)


Figure 2. - Reset this PC Error, No changes were made.

This issue is a result of the DK-EXC.exe being damaged after processing the DDRE Factory Image Restore feature.

Note: If you do not need to retain data, the "Remove Everything" reset option will operate normally.

Workaround

The current workaround is to download DK-EXC.zip file from this hyperlink to the Dell Support Website unzip, and replace the corrupt DK-EXC.exe found in C:\Recovery\OEM\DK-EXC.exe with this downloaded DK-EXC.exe (right click the DK-EXC.ZIP and extract all to access the DK-EXC.exe file). We recommend using Windows File Explorer to copy and replace. After the DK-EXC.exe file has been replaced, you can re-run the Windows 10 Reset PC, using the "Keep my files" feature.

Corrupt DK-EXC.exe (See Figure 3) the correct DK-EXC.exe (See Figure 4.).

Figure 3. - Corrupt DK-EXC.exe



Figure 4. - Replacing the corrupt file with known good DK-EXC-exe file of another system

You will need to use Windows File Explorer and copy and replace the correct downloaded DK-EXC.exe to C:\Recovery\OEM\DK-EXC.exe) and then re-run Reset PC "Keep my files" for a successful re-image while keeping your files.