Resetting Laptop to Factory Settings

[Autumn]

Is it possible to reset my Dell 1500 to factory settings without having to reinstall all the programs again?

What I am really asking, is can I save my programs on say a hare drive, reset my laptop and then copy my programs back to the laptop?

[StephenL]

Re: Resetting Laptop to Factory Settings

No. If you reset your PC back to it's virgin state, by using say the recovery disk, that will "zeroise" your registry. You will then have to individually reinstall each program so it writes the correct data into that virgin registry.

May I ask why you need to reset?

[Autumn]

Re: Resetting Laptop to Factory Settings

It's full and a bit sluggish. I thought it would be nice to have it running more speedily.

Perhaps it would help if I removed all my photos to an external drive, but I would like to get rid of the dross that has collected over the past 5 years.

I've got to do something as I've only 12.5 Gb on my C: drive and 298 Mb on the L: drive.

I'm open to suggestions.

Windows 7 Home Edition.


ATM running disk cleanup but it's hanging - seems like an ongoing problem according to Google.

[StephenL]

Re: Resetting Laptop to Factory Settings

With a hard disk that's five years old, I would look at cloning your system onto a new disk before it fails! At least, that way you shouldn't have to reinstall, just use a cloning program to copy everything onto a new drive.

[Autumn]

Re: Resetting Laptop to Factory Settings

Thanks that sounds a good idea to me and then I could get a larger harddrive.

[Autumn]

Re: Resetting Laptop to Factory Settings

I have looked at various sites for a hard drive but thought I would ask members opinions of where to buy a 1 Tb replacement from. I need the best value for money!

[StephenL]

Re: Resetting Laptop to Factory Settings

Have a look at CCL Computers or Dabs Direct. But there are dozens of reputable suppliers, maybe someone else can suggest their favourites?