Hey everyone! I'm planning to give my brother my PC but I want to do a factory reset first to make it run better. However, I'm hitting a roadblock. I keep getting this message: 'There was a problem resetting your PC. No changes were made.' I've done some digging, and from what I gather, it might be due to corrupt system or recovery files. To be honest, I used to be pretty good with this stuff back in high school, but now I feel lost.
I don't really care about the files on it—they're mostly just clips from games like Valorant and Fortnite, plus some old YouTube videos. The reset keeps failing at around 59%.
On a side note, I've also been dealing with a warning every time I start my computer that says, 'WARNING: Please back-up your data and replace your hard disk drive. A failure may be imminent and cause unpredictable fail. Press F1 to Run SETUP.' I managed to bypass it but should I have been worried this whole time?
I'm in the process of upgrading to Windows 11 and hoping a factory reset will work after that. If it doesn't, I'm not sure what I'll do—maybe just delete stuff manually? I'm really hoping someone can provide some insights or guidance because I'm totally confused right now!
4 Answers
You definitely need to replace that failing hard drive before trying anything else. It's the root of your issues. Check out this guide for steps on transferring your system to a new drive and getting everything set up: [Ask Leo's Guide](https://askleo.com/how_do_i_transfer_my_system_to_a_replacement_drive/).
Just wipe your current OS and do a fresh install of Windows 11. It's the quickest solution if you don't have any critical data you need to save. Make sure you know how to boot from the installation media, and you should be good to go!
You can format the drive during the installation process. Just choose 'Custom Install' and select the drive to delete!
Don't forget to back up any data you have left before replacing the drive! Just a reminder, those failure warnings mean the drive is unreliable.
It sounds like your hard drive is on its last legs since you're getting that warning at startup. I'd recommend replacing the drive first before trying to reset or reinstall Windows. Once you have a new drive, you can do a clean install of Windows without issues. This will ensure your new setup has a fresh start!
Wait, so replacing the hard drive will fix all these problems? How do I even start with that?
Yes, a new drive should sort things out! After replacing it, you can install Windows fresh from USB or a installation disk.
Got it! I’m actually working on the install right now. Is there a special way to wipe before I do that?