Page 827 - Windows 10 May 2019 Update The Missing Manual: The Book That Should Have Been in the Box

For years, the most miserable moments of a PC owner’s existence have

been spent troubleshooting mysterious glitches. You have no idea what
went wrong, but something isn’t behaving right. And off you go to a
weekend of Googling, troubleshooting, and head-scratching. By the end of
it, you may just be inclined to do a “nuke and pave”—erasing your hard

drive completely and reinstalling everything from scratch.

In Windows 10, none of that is necessary. You have two incredibly
powerful troubleshooting techniques that perform much the same purpose

as a nuke and pave—that is, resetting everything to its original, virginal
condition—but require far less effort. Both functions are part of a feature

called Reset PC.

Reinstall Windows, Leave Your Files

This procedure gives your computer a fresh, clean copy of Windows 10 and
all the programs that came with it. It leaves your files and your Microsoft

Store apps in place, which is a huge improvement over the nuke-and-pave
tradition. It’s a powerful trick to remember when your computer just isn’t

behaving right.

But it erases all your drivers, Windows settings, and programs you’ve
installed (the ones that didn’t come with Windows itself). Any programs

and drivers you’ve installed since getting Windows 10, you’ll have to
reinstall after the procedure.

(For your reconstructing convenience, Windows displays a thoughtful list of
all the programs that are about to be deleted. You’ll find this same list on a

text file on your desktop after the reset is over.)

1. Open → → Update & Security → Recovery. Under “Reset
this PC,” choose “Get started” (Figure 15-7, top).

Now you see the intriguing options shown in Figure 15-7.

2. Choose “Keep my files” (Figure 15-7, middle).