Resetting Windows 10

smalltown · 28 Feb 2024

I've read a lot of posts on resetting windows, but my thick skull, and walking wounded (shoulder issue) at the moment has me second guessing myself. I'm thinking I can reset without any ISO or USB memory stick.

My old system has been acting sluggish for some time, and my old MS Office has some issues (Corrupted files) that the repair disc cannot fix. I thought about just reinstalling my MS Office program, but now thinking (correct me if I am wrong) that resetting Win 10, using the save my files option, and choosing cloud download option will remove all the programs (photoshop elements etc.) I have added.

Will I lose my E-mail address/password for my E-mail account?
As many years I have had this old beast I do not ever recall resetting my system so maybe it's a good thing to do.

Advice. Please.

Windows 22H2 Build 19045.4046

Hearsepilot · 28 Feb 2024

Try the usual SFC /SCANNOW and dism repairs.

spunk · 28 Feb 2024

There are two kinds of Windows Reset.
The first is to keep your files and apps. You should try this option first. Microsoft Office and your Emails will not be affected and all of your User files will be saved. You may have to reinstall some apps.
The second option is to wipe everything out and do a Clean Install. The Nuclear option is great to get a good clean install. You would have to reinstall all apps and lose your personal files. Both these options can be accessed by going to Settings/Update & Security/Recovery/Reset PC.

Of course there are other things you should try first. First, download Crystal Disk Info and or DiskGenius both available in my signature. View the SMART information about your drive. If it is anything less than Good, it needs to be replaced. If your disk is beginning to fail, it would cause corruption that you may be experiencing now.

If the drive is healthy, as stated, try these Bold Commands which replace missing system files.
Open a Command Prompt as Admin and copy and paste or type the following Bold command pressing Enter afterwards.
DISM /Online /CLEANUP-IMAGE /RestoreHealth after that finishes, then type
SFC /scannow See how that goes.

smalltown · 28 Feb 2024

Yes I have done the SFC and DISM especially after MS updates. Both are clean.

Running Crucial SSD with the Crucial Storage Executive showing everything is good.
Here is a screen grab of the memory. I'm running only 8GB ram using about 6GB, but my Virtual Memory looks like it's getting low.

not sure if Virtual memory is the source of my problems.

Leaning more and more toward the resetting. Just trying to go slow here.

dalchina · 29 Feb 2024

nd my old MS Office has some issues (Corrupted files) that the repair disc cannot fix.

etc

Start with absolute basics, especially as it's an 'old system'. So, once again....
a. Check your disks - both - Crystal Diskinfo - free.. just launch it and look.
b. If ok, then for each drive letter run
chkdsk X: /scan
from an admin command prompt, replacing X with each drive letter in turn.
This scans only, result right on screen - check at the bottom this passes.

Sluggishness:
- how much free space do you have on C: ?

Wiztree (free) is an excellent way to see how space is used- after a scan there's a very handy 3d cushion map view.

Once again: boot normally, log in, wait 3 mins, then capture and post a screenshot of your task manager, Process tab.
You're hoping to see minimal resource usage.

You might also consider an in-place upgrade repair install which keeps all progs and data

Will I lose my E-mail address/password for my E-mail account?

Not if you have those securely stored - and if you do do a reset so you have to reinstall progs, you will need any license keys you use, you will lose any giveaway progs installed, and you will need to have data backed up including browser-related data. email client-related data.

Hopefully you've been using disk imaging, so much of that will be backed up and accessible. Be careful about the last two.