Reset your Windows 10 system with the Remove Everything option

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In last week's post, Reset your Windows 10 system with the Keep My Files option, I showed you how to reset your Windows 10 system to a new installation state while keeping all your data files intact. This option is a great way to revive a Windows 10 system that has become unstable due to a virus infection or some other unfortunate circumstance. However, Windows 10 also provides you with the Reset This PC with the Remove Everything option. Unlike its counterpart, this option removes all your data and settings and then reinstalls a fresh copy of Windows 10. This approach comes in handy if you want to scrap everything and start over from scratch or you're getting ready to decommission your PC and want to pass it on.

Let's see how the Reset This PC with the Remove Everything option works.

What you need

To run Reset This PC with the Remove Everything option as I'll describe in this article, you'll need to have created a Recovery Drive. (See Be prepared: Create a Windows 10 Recovery Drive for a description of that process.) If you're using an optical disc Recovery Drive—or for some reason you couldn't use the Back Up System Files To The Recovery Drive option—you can still use Reset This PC with the Remove Everything option. You'll just need to have some form of Windows 10 installation media on either USB or DVD.

If you find yourself in this situation, you'll be glad to know that you can create your own Windows 10 installation media using the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool from Microsoft.

Running Reset This PC with the Remove Everything option

Using Reset This PC with the Remove Everything option will take some time to complete, but in the end, you'll find that it is a straightforward operation. To begin, boot your system using your Recovery Drive. Next, select the Troubleshoot | Reset This PC option and choose Remove Everything, as shown in Figure A.

Figure A

After you select the Reset This PC tile, choose the Remove Everything option.

Now you'll be prompted to choose the target operating system, as shown inFigure B. Just select the Windows 10 tile. The Reset This PC tool will then perform some preliminary work and will momentarily display a message telling you that it is getting things ready.

Figure B

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You'll select the Windows 10 tile to continue.

Choosing a cleaning method

After you choose a target operating system, you'll see the screen shown inFigure C, which prompts you to choose how thoroughly you want to clean your drive. You can remove just your files or fully clean your drive. The option you choose will depend on the reason you're resetting your PC. For example, if you are resetting it to give yourself a completely new start, you'll probably want to select Just Remove My Files. On the other hand, if you're going to be passing your PC on to someone else, you may want to choose Fully Clean The Drive. Let's take a closer look at these two options.

Figure C

You can choose how thoroughly you want to clean the drive.

If you choose the Just Remove My Files option, the Reset This PC tool will perform a Quick Format operation on the hard disk and then reinstall Windows 10. This procedure deletes the file table that contains pointers to the data files. It doesn't actually delete the data or modify the disk sectors containing the data in any way. As such, you could recover some or all of the data files using an appropriate data recovery tool if you were so inclined.

If you choose the Fully Clean The Drive option, the Reset This PC tool will perform a full format of the hard disk that will involve a much more methodical and secure erasure of your data. This includes several passes over the hard disk writing 0's and then other random numbers to every sector on the hard disk. This almost ensures that you'll never be able to recover any of the data files. As you'd expect, this option will take a long time to complete.

Resetting

Once you've made your choice, you'll see the screen shown in Figure D.

Figure D

After you select an option, click Reset to begin.

When you're ready, click the Reset button and the reset operation will commence immediately. Regardless of which option you selected, you'll see a screen like the one shown in Figure E. As the format portion of the reset operation chugs along, a counter indicates the percentage of the operation that is complete. The Just Remove My Files option will take somewhere in the neighborhood of two hours, while the Fully Clean The Drive option can take as long as four hours. Of course, your mileage may vary.

Figure E

The percentage counter tells you how the reset operation is progressing.

When the percentage counter hits 100%, the system will reboot and display a series of screens, like the one shown in Figure F, indicating that Setup is installing device drivers and configuring settings. The system will restart a couple of time during this phase of the reset operation. Once this step runs its course, the system will restart again.

Figure F

During the second stage of the procedure, the Reset option reinstalls Windows 10.

When it boots back up, you'll go through all the steps in the first-time set up procedure. You'll need to accept the license, choose a network connection, check for updates, set up a Microsoft account, and so on. Your system will restart a couple of times during this part of the installation.

When it is complete, you'll have a new installation of Windows 10.

How to use Windows 10's System Restore as a recovery tool

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In my latest series, I've shown you how to use the tools found on the Windows 10 Recovery Drive to get your system back up and running in the event of a disaster:

• Get familiar with the Windows 10 Recovery Drive... before you need it
• Be prepared: Create a Windows 10 Recovery Drive
• Rescue an ailing system: Launch Windows 10 Startup Repair from the Recovery Drive
• Reset your Windows 10 system with the Keep My Files option
• Reset your Windows 10 system with the Remove Everything option
• How to revive your Windows 10 installation with System Image Recovery

The last tool to cover is System Restore, which has been around since Windows XP. Now, while you can run System Restore from the Recovery Drive, you can also run and configure it from within Windows 10. In this article, I'll show you how. As I do, I'll show you how to manually create a restore point, how to restore your system to an earlier point in time, and how to undo a restore operation.

Overview

System Restore works by automatically taking snapshots of your system's state before any operation that makes significant changes to the operating system. These snapshots are called restore points and include crucial operating system files and certain parts of the registry that could be altered by the pending change operation.

For example, System Restore will automatically create a restore point when you install a new application or perform a major Windows Update operation. If something goes awry during such an operation and your system begins behaving oddly, you can use System Restore to bring your system back to the state it was in right before the change was implemented.

System Restore does a good job of automatically creating restore points, but what if you need to make changes to the operating system? For example, maybe you want to implement a technique that involves editing the registry. Fortunately, you can manually create a restore point before you perform those types of operations.

Getting started

There are several ways to launch System Restore in Windows 10, but the easiest way is to use the Quick Link menu. To bring up this menu, use the [Windows] + X shortcut. Then select System, as shown in Figure A.

Figure A

The Quick Link menu includes several commands, including System.

The System window offers a plethora of information and commands. To continue, select System Protection on the left side of the screen, as shown inFigure B.

Figure B

From the System window, select System Protection.

You'll then see the System Protection tab of the System Properties dialog box (Figure C). Here, you can launch a restore operation, configure System Restore's settings, and manually create restore points.

Figure C

System Restore lives on the System Protection tab of the System Properties dialog box.

Configuring System Restore

System Restore is automatically configured when you install Windows 10, but you may want to change its settings. Fortunately, doing so is easy.

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From the System Protection tab, select the Configure button to open the Configuration dialog box, shown in Figure D. The first thing you will notice is that you can disable System Restore. It's not recommended, but you can do so if you wish.

Figure D

You can change System Restore's default settings.

By default, System Restore is configured to use between 1% and 3% of the space on your hard disk. The amount it uses will vary depending on the total size of your hard disk. As the allotted space fills up with restore points, System Restore deletes older restore points to make room for new ones. This system works well, but if you want to have more restore points available, you can increase the size by adjusting the position of the Max Usage slider.

Deleting restore points

If you decide that you want to start with a clean slate, you can click the Delete button to delete all the current restore points. When you do, you will be prompted to confirm the operation. Figure E shows the Delete operation.

Figure E

If you want to start fresh, you can delete all the current restore points.

Creating a restore point

As I mentioned, you may sometimes need to manually create a restore point before you make changes to your system, such as editing the registry. To manually create a restore point, click the Create button on the System Protection tab and you'll be prompted to name the restore point. After you initiate the operation, it will take a few minutes to complete. Figure F shows the creation process.

Figure F

Manually creating a restore point is a straightforward process.

Restoring your system

When a change causes your system to act strangely, you can undo that change by performing a System Restore operation. If Windows will not start, you can use the Recovery Drive to launch System Restore. If Windows does start, you can launch System Restore from within Windows.

To do so, access the System Protection tab and click the System Restore button. In a moment, System Restore will begin an initialization process and you'll see the introductory screen in the wizard interface, shown in Figure G.

Figure G

After System Restore starts, it will display an introductory screen.

Click Next, and System Restore will display a table listing the most recent restore points, as shown in Figure H. If you select the Show More Restore Points check box, you will see any older restore points that are still available.

Figure H

The second screen lists the available restore points.

Once you choose a restore point, the Scan For Affected Programs button is activated. Click this button to see a list of any programs or drivers that have been added to the system since the last restore point; they'll be lost by restoring your system to an earlier point in time. You can also see what programs or drivers were uninstalled since the last restore point; they'll be revived by restoring your system to an earlier point in time.

On my example system, the list is blank (Figure I). However, I can't stress enough how important it is to run this check before you perform a system restore. Knowing ahead of time about any side effects caused by restoring can save you time and frustration later.

Figure I

Be sure you run the scan for affected programs.

When you click Next, you'll be prompted to confirm the restore operation. Clicking Finish will bring up the warning shown in Figure J.

Figure J

Before the restore operation commences, you'll be prompted twice to confirm it.

Click Yes, and System Restore will prepare the restore operation and restart your system, as shown in Figure K. This part of the operation runs rather quickly.

Figure K

As the restore operation gets underway, your system will restart.

After your system restarts, the restore operation will begin. A screen will appear showing the progress of the operation as it cycles through initializing, restoring the registry, and finally removing temporary files (Figure L). This process will take some time.

Figure L

The restore operation goes through several steps.

When the temporary files have been removed, System Restore will again restart your system. After you log in to your system, you'll see a dialog box in the center of the screen informing you that the restore operation was successfully completed (Figure M).

Figure M

System Restore lets you know the outcome of the operation.

Undoing a restore operation

Once you perform a restore operation, if you determine that the problem still exists or new problems are occurring, you can undo the operation. However, keep in mind that if you plan to undo a restore operation, you should do so before you make any major changes to the operating system.

When you run System Restore soon after you have performed a restore operation, you'll see that the System Restore screen now contains an Undo System Restore option, as shown in Figure N. The screen shows you the exact time and date that the restore operation was performed. You'll also have the option to check whether any programs will be affected by undoing the restore operation.

Figure N

The System Restore screen offers an Undo option.

When you click Next, the undo process will begin. From this point forward it will function exactly the same as running a restore operation. Your system will restart, the registry will be restored, temporary files will be deleted, and your system will restart again.

Report: Windows 10 Adoption in Businesses Double That of Windows 8

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A report from the industry analysts at Spiceworks claims that Windows 10 adoption in businesses is proceeding at a pace that is double that of Windows 8 from three years ago. I’m most curious why the adoption rate is even faster, however, given how reviled Windows 8 was, especially with businesses.

“Spiceworks’ Windows 10 report shows the current Windows 10 penetration rate in the business environment stands at 18 percent after 6 months of availability,” a representative of the firm told me. “And the software industry is way ahead of the curve with a penetration rate of 28 percent.”

Looking at the report, a few things stand out.

22 million business PCs are now running Windows 10. That data comes from Microsoft, which had also announced that 200 million devices, overall, are running Windows 10. Since Windows 10 is in fact in use on about 178 million Windows 10 PCs(as opposed to other device types), that is strong adoption: About 12 percent of all Windows 10 PCs in the world are in businesses right now.

40 percent of businesses will adopt Windows 10 within one year. In a previous report, Spiceworks predicted that Windows 10 adoption within businesses would hit 40 percent within one year.

18 percent of businesses have deployed Windows 10. Six months into its first year, Windows 10 has been deployed to about 18 million businesses. Note that this figure doesn’t (and shouldn’t) mesh with the 12 percent figure above because no business would swap out all of its PCs and/or existing Windows installs for Windows 10. (For example, Spiceworks notes that approximately 40 percent of the businesses that have adopted Windows 10 “have three or more Windows 10 devices.”)

Windows 10 adoption rate is about double that of Windows 8. OK, it’s a low bar. But 9.3 percent of businesses had adopted Windows 8 within 6 months, compared to 18 percent for Windows 10. I think the delta is bigger, and can be explained by the fact that many businesses actually rolled back Windows 8 deployments and gave up on the OS.

Windows 10 is much more successful than Windows 7 or Windows 8. As Spiceworks notes, it took approximately 1 year for Windows 7 and more than 15 months for Windows 8 to pass the 200 million device usage mark. Microsoft hit this mark with Windows 10 in just 6 months.

Some other interesting facts. As you might expect, Windows 10 adoption varies by region, company size, and industry. For example, the software industry is well ahead of industries like manufacturing, energy, construction, government, and others when it comes to adopting Windows 10.

Key takeaway. According to Spiceworks, the key takeaway here is that “Windows 10 is living up to the lofty pre-launch adoption predictions IT pros made last year. Microsoft is also still on track to have a billion devices running Windows 10 within a few years of launch—they’re already 20% of the way there according to their own data, and 11% of those 200 million devices are being used by businesses.”

Microsoft Needs a Store That’s as Good as Windows 10

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This week, Microsoft provided some real numbers to bolster its claims of success with Windows Store. But it’s not clear they’ve made their point, or that the central issues with the Store have ever been addressed.

Take for example this interesting little tidbit:

“Windows 8.x still accounts for the majority of Store downloads.”

That makes no sense at all, does it?

Actually it does. To understand why, consider the following. I noted in Windows 10 Usages Pushes Past That of Windows XP that Windows 10 usage still trails that of Windows 8.x. So you might argue that Windows 8.x achieving more Store downloads makes sense. But it doesn’t. Microsoft has in the past touted the fact that Windows Store engagement has gone up dramatically with Windows 10. If that were true, Windows 10 downloads should already exceed those of Windows 8.x, given how close the two systems are in usage.

It is in this area—engagement—where I see the big weakness with Windows Store. There’s just no there … there. It is the most lackluster of the big app stores (including Apple’s and Google’s), with the fewest apps and games, the fewest high-quality apps and games, and the most woeful presentation to the user. And while we’re all sort of pretending that something has changed between Windows 8.1 and 10, with regards to the Store, it really hasn’t. Not materially.

Despite the chicken and egg nature of this thing—user drive developers, developers’ apps drive users—it’s not all bad news, however. For example,over 3 billion visits have been made to the Store since the Windows 10 launch. (Caveats noted. That is some mix of Windows 8.x and 10 users. And visits are not downloads or purchases.) And Windows 10 users are the fastest growing download segment, growing both in volume and total percentage of downloads, Microsoft says.

Likewise, this this nugget is clear cut and clearly positive: Windows 10 customer generate 4.5x more revenue per device when compared to Windows 8. (Is that “Windows 8.0 or 8x? Not clear.) And over the past holiday season [Microsoft] saw double the number of paid transactions for PC and tablet customers over the previous holiday season. This is less assailable.

There’s other data—Games are the only major category of app downloads, as was the case with Windows 8.x—and of course this post is aimed at developers, so there is some guidance about which app categories they might focus on.

“Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps are growing in popularity,” Microsoft notes, which of course makes sense since Windows 10, too, which UWP requires, is also growing in popularity. It’s just not clear how well things are really going relative to Windows 8.x. Or, as important, relative to Android and iOS.

Microsoft Finally Offers Windows 10 Update Information

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After months of complaints, Microsoft has finally opened a Windows 10 Update History web site that will document the changes it makes to its flagship OS.

“After listening to feedback regarding the level of disclosure for Windows 10 updates, we decided to implement a new system for communicating updates to the operating system,” a Microsoft representative told me. “Today we are rolling out the Windows 10 update history site, a hub for the release notes that will accompany each update and serve as a historical record of prior release notes.”

Microsoft promised last October to become more transparent about the updates it provides for Windows 10. And as you might expect, Windows 10 Update History is similar to the way that Microsoft documents its Surface firmware updates.

As an example, here’s what’s provided for KB3135173, which Windows Update would have in the past unhelpfully described as “Updates for Windows 10 1511”. Yes, this is new (and hasn’t even shipped yet):

February 9, 2016 — KB3135173 (brings system to 10586.104)

This update includes quality improvements and security fixes. No new operating system features are being introduced this month. Key changes in this update include:

• Fixed issues with authentication, update installation, and operating system installation.
• Fixed issue with Microsoft Edge browser caching visited URLs while using InPrivate browsing.
• Fixed issue that didn’t allow simultaneous install of apps from the Windows Store and updates from Windows Update.
• Fixed issue that delayed the availability of songs added to the Groove Music app in Windows 10 Mobile.
• Improved security in the Windows kernel.
• Fixed security issues that could allow remote code execution when malware is run on a target system.
• Fixed security issues in Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer 11 that could allow code from a malicious website to be installed and run on a device.
• Fixed additional issues with the Windows UX, Windows 10 Mobile, Internet Explorer 11, Microsoft Edge, and taskbar.
• Fixed additional security issues with .NET Framework, Windows Journal, Active Directory Federation Services, NPS Radius Server, kernel-mode drivers, and WebDAV.

For more info about the security fixes in this update and a complete list of affected files, see KB3135173.

This is exactly the kind of transparency that I, other Windows watchers, and Microsoft’s customers have been asking for. It’s too bad it took so long, but I’m quite happy with the results.

Microsoft Has Released Windows 10 Build 14267 Sporting New Features

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Another week, another build, Microsoft has pushed out a new version of Windows 10 to Insiders who are in the Fast ring and you can download it now by going to Windows Update and searching for the release. This time around it is build 14267 and it comes with a few new features.

In this release, Microsoft has made it easier to search for music with Cortana. If you open Cortana and click the music icon in the top right corner, Cortana will listen and then be able to identify the song that is playing.

In Edge, you can now right click and have it only show the favicon and add new folders to the favorites bar. Additionally, you can now have Edge clear browsing data when you exit the application; you are able to define what is cleared upon close. There is also an improved download prompt in the browser, when you start a download, you can select where to save the file.

In the Messaging app, you can now attach photos to your Skype messages or you can have the camera app take a photo too.

Bug Fixes in the release:

• Choosing “Reset This PC” under Settings > Update & Security > Recovery should now work as expected.
• You should no longer see a WSClient.dll error dialog after logging in.
• The front-facing camera should be usable again on PCs with Intel RealSense cameras and you should be able to use Windows Hello again.
• We fixed an issue where incorrect storage capacity was provided for the system volume (the hard drive in which Windows is installed on) under Settings > System > Storage.

Known Issues:

• Remove all the virtual network adapters connected to the vswitch, delete the vswitch and recreate it, then reconnect their virtual NIC to the new vswitch.
• Admin command prompt, do “netcfg -d” will wipe-out all the vswitch settings so that you can start from scratch.

Let us know if you run into any new issues with this release or if you happen to find any secrets that could unveil upcoming features to the platform. You can read the announcement post for this release, here.

Microsoft Announces February Updates to Sway on the Web and Windows 10

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Microsoft this week announced the February 2016 updates to Sway on the web and on Windows 10. The web-based Sway updates are available immediately, and the updates to the Sway app for Windows 10 will be “available soon.”

Here’s what’s new.

Sway on the web

Sway on the web has already been updated with the following changes.

Recent documents view. Sway now offers a view of recently-accessed documents when you choose Insert -> OneDrive. The idea here is that users often work on a document elsewhere and then want to import or insert it into a sway.

Import more web content types. Sway can now import Power BI reports and PollEverywhere.com live polls, two nice additions to the app’s support for third party web content types. You can find a complete list of the content types Sway supports here.

Easier Sway embeds. Microsoft has made it easier for those who wish to embed a sway elsewhere on the web: Sway is now supported by Embed.ly and oEmbed, so you can on supported services (including WordPress) embed a sway by inserting just a URL.

Better text formatting. Sway now offers improved text formatting, with access to the full text editing features in Preview mode, the ability to emphasize an entire text card (instead of just a word), and global text size customization with a single slider.

Sway app for Windows 10

A coming update to the Sway app for Windows 10 will include the following changes.

Recycle Bin. Added last month to Sway on the web, Sway for Windows 10 is getting a Recycle Bin so you can recover deleted content for up to 30 days.

Improvements to the full-screen experience. Emulating PowerPoint, Sway will prevent your Windows PC or tablet from going to sleep while you are presenting or viewing a sway in full-screen mode.

Better text formatting. As with Sway on the web, Sway for Windows 10 is picking up improved text formatting, with access to the full text editing features in Preview mode, the ability to emphasize an entire text card (instead of just a word), and global text size customization with a single slider.