It happens to the best of us. One fine day, we knowingly (or unknowingly) install some bad software and it causes our PC to act up.

It could be plain badly coded software (Yes, this is still an issue today). Or sometimes, if unlucky, some virus or malware lurking around in our system that causes our computer to go wonky.

As a tech expert, I can say There are many ways and means to solve such issues. Removal of the bad software (or virus) may solve the problem – But not always. Often, there are remnants of the bad code left behind that could cause your computer to lag alot more than it used to, or worse, Crash and Hang up randomly

When all else fails, often, computer experts will recommend a factory reset.

Here’s why you shouldn’t be afraid of it. Simply because:

Reason 1: It’s the best cure.

And before you take out your pitchforks, well…Here’s the explanation! 😀

Even with the best technical knowledge, sometimes it’s impossible to fully revert the computer back to it’s original state, when it was not harmed by the software. This is especially true  when it comes to viruses – If you feel the computer hasn’t been acting normally even after a virus scan and removal, and you often do Online shopping (Yes, Lazada and Qoo10 deals can be damn good so it’s a trend), i’d highly advise you to reset your PC if you have the time. Remnants of the virus could be left behind in your system. At best, they only cause stability issues. At worst, these little bits left behind may be rootkits, waiting to attack your PC again (and thus causing your private banking information to be available to hackers).

But Aaron, Doing a factory reset is Crazy! It’ll take lots of work…

Yes. And i speak from experience. As a (at times crazy) tech expert, I had a laptop which i decided to go crazy on and installed a spanking new driver from unsupported, but official OEM sources for my internal SSD drive. By the way, This is NOT and NEVER recommended if you want a stable laptop. But being the tech expert, in the name of higher speed, i did it.

And obviously, it didn’t go so well.

Laptop: “Aaron, I don’t feel so good…” *Disappears into smithereens. No actually it just hung up”. XD

But it bugged me. Uninstalling the driver didn’t solve my issue. The random hangs would appear randomly. Sometimes, i’m just playing games. Well. That’s okay. But if i’m doing work, this instability concerns me as it means my project work could be at risk.

I tried many ways. Clean the registry, look for remnants of files, and they did not completely solve my issue. Yes the computer worked with more stability after, but it just never felt quite the same as before.

In the end, this week, i pulled the trigger and did the factory reset. Windows 10 makes it easy (More on that in another post).

Yes. It took alot of time. And effort. For one sick mistake from a crazy tech guy (Me. Woops).

But lesson learnt. And Now my laptop works as stable and fast as it did when i just unboxed it. (I am now using that PC to type this post).

So don’t be afraid. If you have the time, Factory reset can be your best friend.

Reason 2: It’s a good excuse to get your lazy A** to backup your data. XD

This one affects all of us. Sometimes we get so carried away storing our photos and files that we forget that

…That fancy computer stores all that in a revolutionary temporal media called…A storage drive. Like humans, they have a lifespan. And much shorter ones. Hard drives? Gone in about 3-5 years. Solid state drive? Maybe longer but if you don’t use it, they get unstable and can lose your data over time. (If you need an explanation…I’ll be willing to explain in another post)

So when you factory reset your pc, you’ll be FORCED to backup your data. Which is actually a good thing because you can keep that copy as a backup after your factory reset. So when your PC decides to die on you, you don’t lose all your files.

So, Considering those 2 reasons, don’t be afraid to reset your PC if you need to. Sure, it’s a LOT of work (I’m not even kidding. If your pc has like 2TB of files, Good luck!

But sometimes, it is the only surefire way to get your computer back in shape. And if done well, congratulations, You’d get a PC which works just like it did when it first came out of the box. With all your files and programs working like they should.

But with all that said, doing a factory reset is Almost NEVER your first option to solving your computer issues. Too many IT helpdesk (Especially educational institutions) have exploited this factory reset as a “Whack-It-All Hammer” and cause needless work on the students end to go thru the whole ordeal. Well. I’ll explain that in another #TechWithAaron Post.

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I hope this article has been useful! Bookmark this site and stay Tech Savvy with the latest #TechWithAaron 🙂

Writer:
Aaron (Chief Editor)

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