How to format a laptop

You've been wandering the web for days looking for a solution to the slowness and malfunctions that plague your laptop , but so far you haven't been able to find valid results. But before you completely throw in the towel and before giving up your computer for good, you can try a "healthy" formatting.

Formatting a portable PC can in fact be an excellent way to bring your trusted computer back to its old glories and to get around most of the problems that you inevitably face over time. Generally, as a result of formatting the computer, all the data on its disk are deleted and you have to install the operating system, programs and drivers for devices such as printers, scanners, webcams, etc. from scratch. In this way, net of wear and slowness due to the age of the components, if there is no particular hardware damage, the computer should return to functioning as it was when it was just purchased.

Do you want to try it? Yup? Very good. So I suggest you get comfortable and carefully read the instructions I am about to give you, in order to put them into practice. I am sure that, in the end, you will be more than satisfied with the result. Let it bet?

How to format a Windows laptop

If the notebook to be formatted is animated by the Windows operating system , this is the chapter of the tutorial that is right for you: in the sections to come, I am going to explain to you how to restore the device safely.

Preliminary operations

Before even formatting the laptop PC, my advice is to make a preliminary backup of the data : although Windows 10 also allows you to proceed with the recovery of the operating system only, leaving your personal files unaltered, it is always a good idea to create a copy of safety of the same, to be kept and restored in case of problems.

To quickly create a backup of your data on an external disk , you can take advantage of the "standard" features built into Microsoft operating systems: on Windows 10 , the system utility is called File History and can be called up from the Start menu > Settings> Update and security> Backup ; on Windows 8.x and Windows 7 the program resides in the Start menu > Control Panel> System and security> Backup and restore .

For precise information about the backup features included in Windows 10 and Windows 7 , please also consult the tutorials available on my site; if, on the other hand, you need to copy only a few files or you think it appropriate to use a special backup program , I suggest you read my general guide on how to backup your computer , in which I told you about similar solutions.

After creating a backup of your data, make sure you have the specific drivers available for your notebook; although most of the same, especially on Windows 10, is installed in an automatic with the operating system, it may happen that for some devices (for example, the dedicated video card , the sound card , some Wi-Fi network cards and components " external ”connected to the computer) specific drivers are required, which are not available with the operating system.

So, even before getting to the point, connected to the website of the notebook manufacturer and download all the drivers you may need. If you need it, below you will find links to some of my specific guides, in which I explained how to download hardware drivers produced by some of the most famous brands in the world.

How to format a laptop: Windows 10

Formatting a laptop with Windows 10 is really easy! In fact, if the computer is able to boot correctly, you can start the system recovery directly from the Windows settings, without using external media.

To do this, open the Windows 10 Start menu , by clicking on the flag symbol residing in the lower left corner of the screen, presses on the Settings item and, later, on the Update and security icon , visible in the new window opened.

Now, click on the Restore item (located on the left) and press the Start button , under the heading Reset the PC : now, if you want to reinstall the operating system by deleting only the programs (and, in some cases, even the drivers), without tap on your personal files, click on Keep my files ; if, on the other hand, you want to completely format your computer and reinstall Windows 10, erasing the entire contents of the disk (personal files included), click on the Remove all button .

Now, wait a few moments for Windows to carry out some preliminary checks and, when prompted, specify whether to download a copy of the operating system from the cloud (it will be downloaded from the Internet and then installed the latest version of Windows), or perform the local reinstallation (it will be restored the same version of Windows currently on your computer).

Once you have made your choice, click on the Next button , wait for further checks to be carried out and, when you are ready, click on the Reset button to restore Windows or format the entire disk. If you have previously opted for cloud installation, the whole process may take a few hours, depending on the speed of your internet connection.

Once the installation is complete, you will need to reconfigure Windows all over again, indicating the language, keyboard layout and time zone specific to your location, access options, Cortana settings and privacy parameters. If you want to resell the notebook, turn off the notebook instead and let the new owner set it up. For more details, you can check out my specific guide on how to format Windows 10 .

Note : If you are no longer able to log into Windows, you can try to format your computer using its diagnostic console, using installation media, or using the laptop's built-in recovery system, if available. Later I will explain how.

How to format a laptop: Windows 7

If it is your interest to format a notebook with Windows 7 , you must first create a USB key or a DVD from which to install the operating system; furthermore, it is not possible to keep files, programs or drivers previously installed: all the data on the disk, following formatting, will be deleted .

Having clarified this aspect, let's see together how to proceed: get the Windows installation disc together with its product key . Generally, the latter is imprinted on the label stuck on the bottom of the notebook, or on the sales package; if you don't have it, you can buy one from a site like Mr Key Shop , which allows you to buy legal license keys at great prices.

If you no longer have the operating system installation disc, you can create it yourself: get a blank DVD or a USB stick of at least 4 GB and the ISO image of the Windows 7 edition for which you are properly licensed.

If you purchased the latter in a store or on a virtual store (and it was not provided with your computer), visit the Microsoft website , type your Product Key in the appropriate box and click on the Verify button , to start the download of the operating system.

If you are unable to download Windows this way, you can cope with the problem using the Windows and Office ISO Download Tool , a free (but unofficial) program that allows you to download a copy of Windows 7 directly from Microsoft's servers. Obviously, during the installation phase, the operating system thus obtained must be activated with a regular Product Key.

To download the utility in question, visit this web page and click on the Windows ISO Downloader .exe link ; when the download is complete, open the file obtained and, when the main screen of the program appears, put the check mark next to the entry Windows 7 (2018) and use the drop-down menu Select the edition , visible on the left, to choose the version Windows 7 of your interest.

Once this is done, select the language of the product using the appropriate menu (if it is not available, use English as well, since you can change the language of the operating system at a later time, following the instructions in this tutorial), click on the button Download and wait for the Windows ISO file to download completely.

After this step too, burn the image obtained on a blank DVD, or copy it to a USB stick using a specific program such as Rufus : if you don't know how to do it, follow the instructions I gave you in this guide .

You're finally ready to start: insert the newly created DVD or USB stick into the notebook to be formatted, restart the notebook and, when prompted, press any key to boot from DVD / USB . If the computer continues to boot from the copy of Windows already present, you may need to access the BIOS / UEFI of the notebook and change the boot sequence , setting the DVD or USB key as the primary boot device: for more precise information on what to do, take a looks at my tutorial on how to get into the PC BIOS .

In any case, when you see the Windows 7 installation screen, set all the drop-down menus to Italian , press the Next and Install buttons and, if applicable, indicate the edition of Windows 7 you want to install, using the appropriate menu. Subsequently, click on Next again , accept the operating system license by checking the appropriate box, press the Next button and click on the Custom item .

Now, indicate the partition or disk on which you want to install Windows 7, by clicking on the relative "bar", presses the Drive Options item visible at the bottom right and press the Format button ; aware that this operation will irreversibly delete all the data on the disk , confirm by clicking on the OK button .

The big thing is done: now click on the Next button twice in a row and wait for the installation of Windows 7 to be completed automatically. During the procedure, which could take up to tens of minutes, the computer will restart several times.

Once the Windows setup is complete, complete the initial configuration: indicate the username to use for your personal account, specify a password to use for access and, when necessary, enter the Product Key in the appropriate text box . Finally, finish configuring the network settings and wait a few minutes for the desktop to be made accessible. For more information, see my specific tutorial dedicated to installing Windows 7 .

How to format a laptop that won't boot

Need to format a laptop that won't boot ? In this case, you have several ways to go: if your computer is equipped with the Windows 10 operating system , turn on the computer and wait for the operating system to try to boot and fail, at least two consecutive times . At the third restart, Windows should initialize the automatic recovery: therefore wait for the operating system to carry out the necessary checks and, following the same, it will show you the computer recovery options options screen .

Now, click on the Advanced Options> Troubleshooting> Reset the PC items and finish everything by performing the same procedure seen in the previous section of this guide.

If this procedure fails, create a bootable USB stick or a Windows 10 DVD starting from its ISO file , following the instructions I gave you in this tutorial ; once the installation media has been created, connect it to the notebook to be formatted, turn it on and wait for the message Press a key to boot from USB / DVD to appear .

When this wording appears, press any key on the keyboard to start the Windows 10 installation program, specify the language , time format and keyboard layout to be used later, click on the Next button and then on the Restore the computer .

Now, if you prefer to keep the data unchanged and reinstall the operating system only, follow the same procedure I told you a little while ago ; if, on the other hand, you want to completely format the disk and reinstall Windows, click on the Custom installation option , then on the disk / partition on which to install Windows and, subsequently, on the Format and OK buttons , in order to start the installation of the operating system .

If the notebook does not boot from the USB stick or the Windows installation DVD (if it crashes or tries to boot the operating system already installed), you must enter the UEFI system or BIOS of the computer and configure it to boot from USB : you I explained how to proceed in this tutorial .

Alternatively, regardless of the operating system installed on the notebook, you can try to access the recovery tools preloaded "standard" on a hidden partition of the disk: they allow, in fact, to perform emergency operations on the computer (including formatting and restore it) even without accessing the copy of Windows already installed. Once formatting is complete, the computer is restored to its factory state and the same programs and drivers that were present at the very first start-up are reinstalled.

To access these tools, it is necessary to press a precise combination of keys when starting the computer but, alas, each manufacturer adopts a different procedure: to get precise information on the model in your possession, try to search on Google for phrases such as recovery tools [notebook brand and model] , or follow the specific directions available below, relating to the most popular laptop manufacturers.

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