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Question

Please Help Me Reset My Windows 8.1 PC

Feb 22, 2015 3:00AM PST

I used a "PC Mover"-type software to copy from my old desktop to my new Windows 8.1 PC. It didn't work well and left the new PC a mess, almost unusable. So I want to restore back to the way the PC was when it arrived. I have both the Windows 8.1 disk that came with my PC as well as a USB flash drive on which I created (I think) an image copy. But nothing I've tried to do the restore is working. Here's what's happening.

I hit Shift-Restart to bring up a screen that allows me to "Troubleshoot". If I choose that option I get a screen with an option to "Reset Your PC". But when I select that my screen just goes black and the computer just appears to sit there. If I select the option that says "Use a Device" it shows me a few options including the Sandisk USB flash drive on which I created my image copy. But when I select that option the same thing happens as when I do the "Troubleshooting" option - the screen turns black and the computer just sits there. Finally, when I put the Windows 8.1 disk in the disk drive and start my PC it ignores the disk and just boots normally.

Also, I wanted to get into BIOS to change the boot order so it would boot from the flash drive but it appears that the old F2 doesn't work in Windows 8.1. I've got my OS on an SSD and the PC boots from screen off to the startup screen in about 10 seconds. There's no intermediate screen where I know it's time to hit F2.

I might add I'm no techie, obviously, so if you offer advice can you spell it out so a relative beginner can follow your advice. Thanks. Oh, and I might add that I'm perfectly OK deleting all files I've added since the PC arrived and just going back to how it was when I unboxed it.

Discussion is locked

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Clarification Request
Need details
Feb 22, 2015 3:17AM PST

Before you post anything, the following appears at the bottom of the window.

"Please read before posting


If you're asking for technical help, please be sure to include all your system info, including operating system, model number, and any other specifics related to the problem. Also please exercise your best judgment when posting in the forums--revealing personal information such as your e-mail address, telephone number, and address is not recommended."

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Answer
About the ignore DVD issue.
Feb 22, 2015 3:15AM PST

That varies with the make and model of the PC. I don't see that information so why not make this a warranty issue with the maker? The factory reset and the boot DVD failed. You have fine reasons for them to fix it.
Bob

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Answer
Clarification
Feb 22, 2015 3:56AM PST

To clarify my question - I'm using Windows 8.1 on a new Cyberpower PC that has a Gigabyte Z97X SLI motherboard.

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That's good to know. Clearly a warranty issue.
Feb 22, 2015 3:59AM PST

It's not as if you built it so there's a flaw there and they need to correct it.

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Answer
Here's What Was Wrong
Feb 25, 2015 2:19AM PST

For those who offered to help I thought I owed you an explanation of what the problem was. I tried four different ways to restore my computer and they all resulted in the screen going blank and the PC just sitting there. I finally received and HDMI cable to connect my monitor to the nVidia GPU instead of using VGA to the motherboard. It turns out that the recovery WAS working it just wasn't communicating to the monitor through VGA. As soon as I started up the computer with the HDMI cable in place I saw the Windows 8.1 screens for setting up 8.1. I went through them all and - voila, I'm back to how it was when it arrived.

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Thanks.
Feb 25, 2015 2:45AM PST

Still a fine warranty issue. They delivered a system that wasn't fully functional. Why they don't fix this is not a mystery.

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Answer
Refresh your PC without affecting your files
Mar 2, 2015 5:32AM PST

Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, tap Settings, and then tap Change PC settings. ...
Tap or click Update and recovery, and then tap or click Recovery.
Under Refresh your PC without affecting your files, tap or click Get started.
Follow the instructions on the screen.