Win10’s ever-changing Reset functions

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LANGALIST By Fred Langa Microsoft has quietly removed one of Win10’s three built-in Reset options. In Version 2004 (April 2020), the somewhat confusin
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RuosChalet, lmacri, woody, Alex5723, abbodi86

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The next logical step would be to incorporate over-install in this function, where apps, settings and files are kept. Now we stil have to use a downloaded ISO or USB stick and start setup.exe while in Windows.

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How does one use “Reset” if the drive on which Windows is installed goes belly up?  Reset is not going to work on a system that cannot boot and can only be repaired by first replacing the drive.

For me, reset has been a useless feature from the start for the above stated reason.  System Restore is one step below it in uselessness.  A well-established regimen of drive imaging that is consistently followed protects from all issues, whether software or hardware in origin.

In the past couple of decades I have had two instances in which a hard drive failed so severely that it would not allow the PC to even POST.  It was dead, dead, dead.  I had four drives in the system at the time, and my troubleshooting began with unplugging one drive at a time and trying to boot.

When I found the bad drive, I replaced it and used drive image restore to get back online with no loss of data.

It’s one of those “Hardened Windows” requisites; be prepared for any and all types of failure.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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Microfix, RetiredGeek

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Reset isn’t only used when there’s a problem. Sometimes people just want a fresh start (looking at the folks that install way too much bloatware on their machine), or they want to wipe everything off before giving their computer away. Making the reset options easier and more flexible is something Microsoft should’ve done years ago.

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Now we still have to use a downloaded ISO or USB stick and start setup.exe while in Windows.

After somehow reinstalling from ISO, don’t you already have Windows 10 installed, the problematic installation. How then do you reset without losing all your apps, settings, and non-Windows files?

 

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When you use the MCT or ISO and run setup, you have three choices: (1) keep you apps and data, (2) keep only your data, and (3) keep nothing.
The choice is #1 if you want to keep your apps and data.

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“When you use the MCT or ISO and run setup, you have three choices: (1) keep you apps and data, (2) keep only your data, and (3) keep nothing.
The choice is #1 if you want to keep your apps and data.

 

By using ISO, do you mean when you are already in Windows 10 GUI and you insert a previously downloaded ISO (for example of a saved Windows ver 2009); or do you mean using a Windows system backup?

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#2299084 explains how you use the ISO.
The MCT basically works the same way. You can choose for it to make an ISO, or you can choose to do the in-place update directly. You have the same three choices.

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cmar6

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Within the Windows 10 GUI, you mount the ISO, then run setup.exe. If you restore from a backup you get whatever condition existed at the time of the backup.

If your objective is to get a new install of Windows then do NOT use a backup.

--Joe

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Barry

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[cmar6]

PKCano wrote:

MCT

I am still trying to understand what the choices will be in Windows 2004. Is there any choice that allows one to repair a problematic Windows installation, e.g., because of corrupted or deleted Windows file, but without touching any other settings or files, and if so, how do you get to that choice? (I am asking about the new Reset function, not about MCT or iso files.)

• This reply was modified 4 years, 5 months ago by cmar6.

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From what I understand from Fred Langa’s articles ( this one from this week’s newsletter for example), you have the choice with Reset to “keep my files” or “keep nothing.” “My files” are the files under your User ID, not your third-party installed programs and you customized settings. To my understanding, the only way now to ‘keep my apps and data” is to do an in-place install from the MCT or an ISO – I can be wrong, but that is the way I interpret it.

Or, of course, your image backup.

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cmar6

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Thanks, PK, for clarification. That’s what I wanted to know.

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