System Refresh/Reset or Restore in Windows 8

How to refresh, reset, or restore your PC

If you are having issues with your Windows 8 system, you'll be able to try refresh, reset, or restore it but this is often very little different from windows 7 and older versions.

Refreshing your system reinstalls Windows and keeps your personal files and settings. It conjointly keeps the apps that came together with your system and also the apps you put in from the Windows Store.

Resetting your system reinstalls Windows however deletes your files, settings, and apps—except for the apps that came together with your system. Restoring your system will undo recent system changes you've got created.

Before you proceed with Refresh / Reset its counseled to backup the information despite the fact that the information isn't lost throughout Refresh.



Before you start to refresh or reset your PC

In most cases, once you begin to refresh or reset your system, it’ll end on its own. However, if Windows wants missing files, you’ll be asked to insert recovery media, that is often on a optical disk, DVD disc or thumb drive. If that happens, what you’ll would like depends on your laptop.
If your laptop came with Windows 8.1 or Windows RT 8.1, you’ll would like the discs or thumb drive that came together with your laptop. Check the data that came together with your laptop to examine if your laptop manufacturer provided these discs or media. In some cases, you would possibly have created them after you 1st started your laptop.
If you upgraded your laptop to Windows 8.1 or Windows RT 8.1 with a optical disk, use that disc.

Refresh your PC without affecting your files

If your system is not performing as well as it once did, and you don't know why, you can refresh your system without deleting your personal files or changing your settings.

Note: If your system came with windows 8 and you upgraded it to windows 8.1 then refreshing will get it back to windows 8.
Only the Apps that came with the PC will remain rest all the apps will be removed.

To Refresh Your PC

1. Press the windows and the I key and open settings bar / Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, tap Settings, and then tap Change PC settings.
(If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, click Settings, and then click Change PC settings.)
2.Tap / click Update and recovery, and then tap / click Recovery.
3.Under Refresh your PC without affecting your files, tap / click Get started.
4.Follow the instructions on the screen.

Remove everything and reinstall Windows

If you want to recycle your PC, give it away, or start over with it, you can reset it completely.

Note: If your PC came with windows 8 and you upgraded it to windows 8.1 then resetting will bring it back to windows 8 if it has a windows 8 recovery partition.

All your personal files will be deleted and your settings will be reset.

Only the Apps that came with the PC will remain rest all the apps will be removed.

To Reset Your PC

1. Press the windows and the I key and open settings bar /Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, tap Settings, and then tap Change PC settings.

(If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, click Settings, and then click Change PC settings.)

2.Tap /click Update and recovery, and then tap /click Recovery.

3.Under Remove everything and reinstall Windows, tap / click Get started.

4.Follow the instructions on the screen.

Note : You'll be asked to choose whether you want to erase data quickly or thoroughly. If you choose to erase data quickly, some data might be recoverable using special software. If you choose to erase data thoroughly, this will take longer but it makes recovering data less likely.

Restore your PC to an earlier point in time

If you think an app or driver that you recently installed has caused problems with your PC, you can restore Windows back to an earlier point in time, called a restore point. System Restore doesn’t change your personal files, but it might remove recently installed apps and drivers.

Note:

• System Restore isn't available for Windows RT 8.1.

• Windows automatically creates a restore point when you install desktop apps and new Windows updates, if the last restore point is older than 7 days. You can also create a restore point manually at any time.

To restore your PC to an earlier point in time

1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap / click Search.

(If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and then click Search.)

2. Enter Control Panel in the search box, and tap /click Control Panel.

3. Enter Recovery in the Control Panel search box, and then tap /click Recovery.

4. Tap /click Open System Restore, and then follow the instructions.