Recovery of Windows systems

No matter how advanced our modern computers are, there can always be problems. If there is an issue with your system you can either reset, restore or recover, but which option is the best in which context?

Reset

If you can’t find the reason why your system is feeling more sluggish than when you first bought it, you may want to use the reset function. This function can be used in two ways, either keeping all settings and user data, or restoring the system to its default factory settings.

To reset the computer, go to ‘Settings’ in the start menu. In the new window, click on ‘Update & Security’ and then go to ‘Recovery’. From here you can choose to ‘Reset this PC’ by clicking on ‘Getting started’. Now you can choose to ‘Keep my Files’. This will reinstall Windows, deleting all programs. Your data and settings, however, will be restored afterwards, so you don’t need a backup. If you choose ‘Remove everything’, the system will be reinstalled while deleting all of your data, settings, and programs. This means that you will have to back up your files so you can recover them manually. Incidentally, the second option can be used to clean your system if you want to sell it or give it away.

Restore point

If recently installed updates or programs may be causing problems, going back to a restore point is the right solution. This resets Windows to a previous state before the problems first appeared. Personal data will not be deleted, but all programs, updates and drivers which have been installed since the selected restore point will be uninstlaled from the system. To go back to a restore point, open the start menu and search for and open ‘Control Panel’. In the new window, search for ‘Recovery’ and open the result of the same name. In the recovery menu, you can choose the ‘Open System Restore’ option. From here you can simply follow the instructions to restore your system to a previous state.

Recovery drive

If your system will not start up anymore - and a hardware problem can be excluded - you can use a recovery drive to restore it to a previous functional state, even if it’s currently completely unresponsive. You can create a recovery drive at any time while your system is in a working state. To get started, open the start menu, search for ‘Create a recovery drive’ and open the result. Follow the instructions in the new window and make sure to check the box ‘Back up system files to the recovery drive’. You’ll need a USB drive or an external hard disk to act as a recovery drive.

In case you need to recover your PC, but you haven’t created a recovery drive, you can use the Media Creation Tool by Microsoft to create installation media. Simply download the Media Creation Tool and execute it. After accepting the license agreement, choose to ‘Create installation media for another PC’. Afterwards, you can choose the language, edition, and architecture (32bit or 64bit) of your target system and create the installation media. Subsequently, you need to connect the newly created media to the non-functional computer. After booting from it, you can choose your language. On the following page, choose ‘Repair your computer’. From there you can click on ‘Troubleshoot’ and then on ‘System Restore’. From here you can simply follow the instructions to restore your system to a previous state.  All programs, updates and drivers which have been installed since the selected restore point will be uninstalled.

Notes on the different manufacturers

If you bought your Lenovo device in autumn 2015 or this year, you can make your recovery media via Lenovo DDRS.

Lenovo customers can generally order a recovery DVD or USB drive by phone (0800 55 54 54), but they have to pay for handling and shipping themselves. Additionally, Windows recovery media for th different models can be downloaded from the Neptun Software Service. Side note: We recommend to all users that you create frequent backups, at least of your personal files. Projekt Neptun offers a commercial backup software, Langmeier Backup, for free which can be downloaded under the above link.
HP customers can order their Windows recovery media by contacting HP via the support chat or via phone under +41 44 200 41 21.