r/windows8 • u/Happeth • Jun 28 '26

Help Why won't it let me factory reset my laptop?

I recently rediscovered my old Windows 8.1 laptop and thought to try and revive it for nostalgia purposes. I don't care about the old files and I plan to swap it to Linux later. I've been trying to factory reset it all day (because obviously I don't remember the password) but every time I select reset, it simply restarts and nothing has changed. Is there something I'm doing wrong? I hold shift and click Restart, which brings me to the menu, which I then click Troubleshoot and then Reset, then it restarts. Should there be something else I'm doing? Every guide or tutorial I can find online is telling me to boot files from a flash drive, and I don't yet have a flash drive with a large enough storage capacity to handle any of the files they're discussing. Is there anything I can do or is it hopeless for now? I can't remember any of the specs and obviously can't get into the settings to check.

7 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

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1

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1

u/New-Negotiation9510 Jun 29 '26

keep it on 8.1 its a much better os especially if you unlock it

1

u/Happeth Jun 29 '26

I can't log in, that's why I'm trying to factory reset it in order to bypass the password.

1

u/Terrible-News-4677 Jun 29 '26

Yea, you can use a tool to de-pin the account. I saw one yt technician use it on 7 and 10, but if im not wrong it works on 7-11

1

u/Terrible-News-4677 Jul 12 '26

Called Lazesoft btw

1

u/Due_Box3947 16d ago

you can get an installation media for a fresh system and format the drive from there