Users Guide

Reset your computer to factory state
Prerequisites
Your computer must be connected to a power outlet.
About this task
You can use the Reset to factory settings option to reset your operating system and default applications to the state they
were in when your computer was shipped from the Dell factory.
Steps
1. On the SupportAssist OS Recovery home page, click START RESET on the RESET tile.
System reset options are displayed.
2. Select Reset to factory settings, and then click NEXT.
The option to back up your files is displayed.
● If you want to back up your files, select Yes, back up my files, click NEXT, and follow the instructions in Back up files
section to back up the required files.
● If you have already created a backup of your files or you do not want to back up your files, select No, do not back up
my files and click NEXT.
3. Read the warning message that is displayed, and click YES, CONTINUE.
4. On the Confirm your reset page, perform the following steps:
a. Optionally, from the Select reason list, select a reason for resetting your computer.
b. Select the I understand that the reset will delete all of my system data and personal files check box, and then
click NEXT.
The factory reset process begins and may take several minutes to complete.
5. After the process is complete, click RESTART to restart your computer.
Next steps
Reinstall all the applications (including third-party applications) that were not originally installed on your computer. You can
restore your files after resetting your computer to factory state. See Restore data after resetting your computer to factory
state.
Restore data after resetting your computer to factory
state
Prerequisites
● Your computer must be connected to a power outlet.
● You must have the external storage device handy in which you backed up your data.
● You must be able to log in to the operating system.
About this task
After you reset the operating system on your computer, perform the following steps to restore data:
NOTE:
The following instructions are applicable if you want to restore data after resetting your computer to factory
state. If you chose to reset your computer using the Reset and update option, you can restore the files by using the
SupportAssist Recovery Assistant. See Restore data by using SupportAssist Recovery Assistant.
Steps
1. Connect the external storage device on which you created a backup of your files.
2. In the SupportAssist_Backups folder on the external storage device, double-click the File_Restore.exe file.
The restore application is displayed.
3. Click Browse beside Select archive.
4. Go to the external storage device folder, and then select archive.zip file.
Using SupportAssist OS Recovery
15