Purchased an open-box laptop, how do I do a fresh install?

budmonster said:

Just purchased a Dell laptop from BB (open-boxed) for my son, he's 6, first laptop. He's going to love Santa.
Anyways, I assume that Geek Squad wipes everything before selling it again? However, is their a way to do a fresh install, a reset or whatever you want to call it? I want it back to factory settings.
Windows 10 was preinstalled. Will I need to purchase a Win10 CD to start over? I want the hdd wiped clean, nothing left over, especially any Dell bloatware. I'm not tech savvy with laptops but their is only around 800GB of space left on a 1TB hdd. I know Win10 takes up space but this seems a little much. I have to do this tonight before I wrap it up.

Another dumb question. After I do the reset how do I properly back up Windows in case of a crash, etc.? I have a PC that needs a safety net as well. I have no idea how to back up my PC and now his laptop. Yes, I know it's sad. I just remember back in the day, I had to burn like 10 DVD's do to a backup. I have no idea what method is most highly recommended today & how to do it.


Thanks guys...

Welcome to tenforums budmonster! :)

To be honest with ya, I would wait. If something goes wrong at this 11th hour, you'll be up the creek!
You could start though, by posting a whack of info about the machine.

budmonster said:

Just purchased a Dell laptop from BB (open-boxed) for my son, he's 6, first laptop. He's going to love Santa.
Anyways, I assume that Geek Squad wipes everything before selling it again? However, is their a way to do a fresh install, a reset or whatever you want to call it? I want it back to factory settings.
Windows 10 was preinstalled. Will I need to purchase a Win10 CD to start over? I want the hdd wiped clean, nothing left over, especially any Dell bloatware. I'm not tech savvy with laptops but their is only around 800GB of space left on a 1TB hdd. I know Win10 takes up space but this seems a little much. I have to do this tonight before I wrap it up.

Another dumb question. After I do the reset how do I properly back up Windows in case of a crash, etc.? I have a PC that needs a safety net as well. I have no idea how to back up my PC and now his laptop. Yes, I know it's sad. I just remember back in the day, I had to burn like 10 DVD's do to a backup. I have no idea what method is most highly recommended today & how to do it.


Thanks guys...

Are you sure it's not factory set already? There should be a program installed already to make a factory restore disk of the laptop.

Winuser said:

Are you sure it's not factory set already? There should be a program installed already to make a factory restore disk of the laptop.

The laptop has a 1TB hdd but it only shows like some 800GB available? Is that normal? I was showed this link, is this what I should do?

Edwin said:

Welcome to tenforums budmonster! :)

To be honest with ya, I would wait. If something goes wrong at this 11th hour, you'll be up the creek!
You could start though, by posting a whack of info about the machine.

Dell Inspiron 15 i5559-1347SLV
5000 Series
Model 5559 "Silver"

I got it from Best Buy as open-box for $400. The link shows the incorrect laptop, it's suppose to be silver but the specs are correct I believe. Here are some other spec sheets on the machine: 1 2

I haven't been able to find this on Dells website, or an official spec sheet, except what is on the side of the box.

The Dell reset may include all of the crapware that Dell was paid to install.

A 1 TB drive would typically show about 931 GB in Windows. (No scam. To an HD manufacturer, a GB is 1E9 bytes. In Windows, it's 2^30 = 1.074E9 bytes.) Even if the Dell came with 131 GB consumed rather than 200, that's ridiculous.

I wouldn't recommend fooling with it on Christmas Eve.

It's easy enough to download an .iso of Win 10 for a new install (Windows 10 ISO Download - Windows 10 Forums), but I'm not familiar with the details of activation on a laptop with a bulk license.

The main practical device that's large enough to backup a 1TB drive is an external hard drive. The good news is that they are fairly inexpensive. The bad news is that they are hard disks. (Drop one a foot or two while it's spun up, and it may not survive the experience.) I have also used large (64 or 128 GB) flash drives to back up an OS partition, but they aren't large enough to back up hundreds of gigabytes of data, even with data compression.

Word Man said:

Not sure why it would have 200GB taken already. My new Dell laptop purchased in June had no more than 40 GB or so taken up on its 500GB HDD. Was it packaged with a load of extra software?

That page does give instructions for a factory reset through option 4. You should keep the laptop plugged into a power source, not just on battery, while doing a factory reset. I myself would want to do this for an open box purchase, regardless of where it came from. If would really be prudent, however, to make factory recovery media using Dell Backup and Recovery as soon as possible.

Best you look up that specific laptop at Dell support online - give it the service tag from the bottom of the laptop (which should match that on the side of the factory box).

Wouldn't Option 3: Reset Windows 10 using Push Button Reset be my best option as it says:

This is not a Dell factory image reset, this process will install the basic Windows 10 operating system on your computer without any Dell factory-installed apps. This process formats the hard drive and removes all data. Be sure you have backed up your files prior to beginning this task. Some Dell tablets may be configured to add Dell factory-installed software during this process.

Option 4 says

If you would like to reset your computer to the Dell factory image as it was originally shipped, including Dell factory-installed apps and software, follow these steps:

I thought the whole point was to put clean Win 10 on the laptop without any Dell apps/software (bloatware)? So 3, 4? Also, I was told to try a program called Decrap My Computer. I don't know anything about it, however a user posted it over at the TechSupport subreddit.

By the way, thanks for all the help. Much appreciated.

bobkn said:

The Dell reset may include all of the crapware that Dell was paid to install.

A 1 TB drive would typically show about 931 GB in Windows. (No scam. To an HD manufacturer, a GB is 1E9 bytes. In Windows, it's 2^30 = 1.074E9 bytes.) Even if the Dell came with 131 GB consumed rather than 200, that's ridiculous.

I wouldn't recommend fooling with it on Christmas Eve.

It's easy enough to download an .iso of Win 10 for a new install (Windows 10 ISO Download - Windows 10 Forums), but I'm not familiar with the details of activation on a laptop with a bulk license.

The main practical device that's large enough to backup a 1TB drive is an external hard drive. The good news is that they are fairly inexpensive. The bad news is that they are hard disks. (Drop one a foot or two while it's spun up, and it may not survive the experience.) I have also used large (64 or 128 GB) flash drives to back up an OS partition, but they aren't large enough to back up hundreds of gigabytes of data, even with data compression.

I'm not tech savvy, I was thinking of putting a faster hdd in, 7200rpm or even a ssd if either are possible. Do I contact Dell about this or is their a website detailing what I can upgrade my laptop to. For example the laptop currently has 6GB or memory but could go up to 16GB, however what type or RAM would I need to buy, brand, etc.? I don't very much about that stuff. I would like to upgraded his hdd to a faster hdd or an ssd, then some more ram down the line.

budmonster said:

I'm not tech savvy, I was thinking of putting a faster hdd in, 7200rpm or even a ssd if either are possible. Do I contact Dell about this or is their a website detailing what I can upgrade my laptop to. For example the laptop currently has 6GB or memory but could go up to 16GB, however what type or RAM would I need to buy, brand, etc.? I don't very much about that stuff. I would like to upgraded his hdd to a faster hdd or an ssd, then some more ram down the line.

If this laptop is for a 6 year old I wouldn't worry about upgrading the ram or HDD.