How to Reset or Refresh your Windows 8 PC

I hope you know about the System Restore in earlier versions of Windows which resets the PC back to earlier restore point. It was a very difficult and time consuming process to restore the PC in case you face problems after installing an application from 3rd parties. Some times Windows gets corrupted due to changes made to system files. In this situation the general solution is normally to reinstall the Windows using the Windows DVD. In this article I will explain about the two system repair options : Refresh your PC and Reset your PC.

Windows 8 includes a one-click option for resetting the PC without having to follow the lengthy cleaning process like the System Restore in earlier versions of Windows 8. The Windows 8 also includes the Refresh your PC option which is useful when your PC frequently becomes unstable and behaves in erratic manner.

Windows 8 also includes Refresh your PC option for situations where your PC frequently becomes unstable and starts behaving in an erratic manner. In this post, we will shed some light on both Windows 8 system repair options; Refresh your PC and Reset your PC.

I suggest you to use the Windows 8 Refresh your PC option only when your Windows 8 system does not respond properly and shows unexpected errors. But you can use the Windows 8 Reset your PC option when you want to start freshly by removing everything except the core Windows 8 system files and utilities. The Reset utility resets all the changes that you made to the system and brings back the system back to original factory settings.

Both these system repair utilities can be accessible from General Window in Windows 8 control panel.

Refresh your PC

If your PC does not respond or throwing errors, then you can use Refresh PC option given in Windows 8. Refresh PC will reload your Windows 8 without modifying or effecting your files like photos, videos or songs and any other documents. None of your personal files will be modified by using Refresh PC. All the Metro apps installed from Windows Store will also be retained but if any 3rd party installations will be removed. To refresh your PC you need to follow the step by step instructions given below.

Open the Control Panel from the Start Screen and navigate to General Settings.
On the right panel, you need to scroll down to see the Refresh PC option. Please see the screen shot below.
Now you can see the link "Get Started" under "Refresh your PC without affecting your files". Click on that link "Get Started". Once you click on that link, you will be shown what will happen when you refresh your PC. Your files will not be changed but your PC settings will be restored back to defaults. All he Metro style apps will be retained and all other 3rd party applications will be removed when you Refresh your PC. See the screen shot below.
Now click on "Next" button which you can see at the bottom of above screen shot.
Now Windows will start preparing your PC for a complete Refresh. You can see the boot screen with Refresh process progress at the bottom when Windows 8 restarts.
Once the Refresh process is complete, you will be taken back to the Windows Start menu, here you can only see the default Windows 8 default utilities and widgets.

Reset your PC

The Reset your PC is another option in Windows 8 which is equivalent to restoring to factory default settings. The Windows 8 Reset your PC works similar to Windows Restore Disk on previous versions of Windows. The main difference is that Reset your PC provides an automated method to perform complete Windows 8 Reset. This option will be useful for those people who want to sell their Windows 8 PC without leaving any chances of recovering personal information. The Windows 8 Reset your PC utility ensures that all the personal data along with user-installed applications will be removed completely. All the PC settings will be reset back to default after removing all the user-data. Please follow the step by step instructions given below for Resetting your PC.

Open the Control Panel from the Start Screen and navigate to General Settings.
On the right panel, you need to scroll down to see the Reset You PC option. Please see the screen shot below.
Now you can see the link "Get Started" under "Reset your PC and start over". Click on that link "Get Started". Once you click on that link, you will be shown what will happen when you reset your PC. Like the Windows 8 Refresh utility, it will reboot your PC and start the process of Resetting your Windows 8 system to default settings. The time taken depends on the number of changes made to your PC and the total size of your data. Once the system reboots, it will start preparing the PC for complete Reset. See the screen shots below.
Once the Resetting of your PC is completed, it will reboot the system and will start updating Windows 8 Registry settings
In this step, it will find all the devices and then make identified devices ready for Windows 8. Once the process is completed, you will be asked to enter he product key.
If you have the product key, you can enter the license key and click on Next. If you want to enter the license key later, click on Skip
Now accept the License terms and click Accept to proceed further.
Once you click on Accept, it will start loading Windows 8, and you will now see a personalization window. Please follow the on-screen instructions, and enter the details wherever required. Windows 8 will prepare a fresh desktop for you.

These two system repair utilities of Windows 8 are very useful for a normal PC user and it has made the Windows 8 re installation and repair process easy and there is no need to have any additional System CD/DVD.

How to Reset or Refresh your Windows 8 PC