How to Reimage a Computer

This wikiHow teaches you how to remove and reinstall the operating system on a Windows or Mac computer. Doing so is typically a response to a corrupt or infected operating system. Before re-imaging your computer, you should back up your...

Method 1 of 2:

On Windows

  1. Picture 1 of How to Reimage a Computer
    Open Start
    Picture 2 of How to Reimage a Computer
    . Click the Windows logo in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
  2. Picture 3 of How to Reimage a Computer
    Open Settings
    Picture 4 of How to Reimage a Computer
    . Click the gear-shaped icon in the lower-left side of the Start window.
  3. Picture 5 of How to Reimage a Computer
    Click
    Picture 6 of How to Reimage a Computer
    Update & Security. This icon is near the bottom of the Settings window.
  4. Picture 7 of How to Reimage a Computer
    Click the Recovery tab. It's on the left side of the window.
  5. Picture 8 of How to Reimage a Computer
    Click Get started. You'll find this option below the "Reset this PC" heading near the top of the page.
  6. Picture 9 of How to Reimage a Computer
    Click Remove everything when prompted. It's at the top of the pop-up window.
  7. Picture 10 of How to Reimage a Computer
    Click Remove files and clean the drive. This option will completely erase your computer's hard drive and then reinstall Windows 10 on it.[1]
    1. You may see a warning about not being able to roll back to a previous version of Windows here. If so, click Next before continuing.
  8. Picture 11 of How to Reimage a Computer
    Click Reset when prompted. Your computer will begin resetting itself.
  9. Picture 12 of How to Reimage a Computer
    Wait for Windows to finish resetting. The reset process can take several hours to complete, so just make sure that the computer is plugged into a reliable power source to ensure that it doesn't shut down.
  10. Picture 13 of How to Reimage a Computer
    Click Continue when prompted. Once your computer finishes resetting, you'll see this at the top of the page. Clicking it will take you to the setup page.
  11. Picture 14 of How to Reimage a Computer
    Follow the on-screen prompts. You'll select a language, connect to a Wi-Fi network, and perform other setup tasks to complete the Windows 10 reinstallation.
Method 2 of 2:

On Mac

  1. Picture 15 of How to Reimage a Computer
    Open the Apple menu
    Picture 16 of How to Reimage a Computer
    . Click the Apple logo in the top-left corner of the screen. A drop-down menu will appear.
  2. Picture 17 of How to Reimage a Computer
    Click Restart…. It's near the bottom of the drop-down menu.
  3. Picture 18 of How to Reimage a Computer
    Click Restart when prompted. Your Mac will begin to restart.
  4. Picture 19 of How to Reimage a Computer
    Place your Mac in recovery mode. Immediately after clicking Restart, press and hold the ⌘ Command key and the R key simultaneously until greeted by the "Utilities" window.
  5. Picture 20 of How to Reimage a Computer
    Select Disk Utility. It's the grey hard drive-shaped icon in the main window.
  6. Picture 21 of How to Reimage a Computer
    Click Continue. This is in the bottom-right corner of the window.
  7. Picture 22 of How to Reimage a Computer
    Select your Mac's hard drive. On the left side of the window, click the hard drive on which your Mac's operating system is installed.
  8. Picture 23 of How to Reimage a Computer
    Click Erase. It's a tab at the top of the window. A pop-up window will appear.
  9. Picture 24 of How to Reimage a Computer
    Click the "Format" drop-down box. You'll find this on the right side of the page. Doing so prompts a drop-down menu.
  10. Picture 25 of How to Reimage a Computer
    Click Mac OS Extended. It's in the drop-down menu.
  11. Picture 26 of How to Reimage a Computer
    Click Erase. This is in the bottom-right corner of the window.
  12. Picture 27 of How to Reimage a Computer
    Wait for your Mac's hard drive to finish erasing. The erasing process will take some time, so just make sure that your Mac is plugged in and charging to prevent it from accidentally dying.
  13. Picture 28 of How to Reimage a Computer
    Click Done when prompted. Doing so completes the erasing process.
  14. Picture 29 of How to Reimage a Computer
    Click Disk Utility. This menu item is in the top-left side of the screen.
  15. Picture 30 of How to Reimage a Computer
    Click Quit Disk Utility. It's at the bottom of the Disk Utility drop-down menu. Doing so returns you to the main Recovery window.
  16. Picture 31 of How to Reimage a Computer
    Select Reinstall macOS, then click Continue. MacOS Sierra will begin reinstalling itself on your hard drive.
  17. Follow the on-screen prompts. Once MacOS Sierra has been reinstalled, you can proceed with setting up your Mac (e.g., choosing a language and connecting to Wi-Fi).[2]
Update 24 March 2020
clickwindowmacmenu

You should read it

Maybe you are interested

Category

System

Mac OS X

Hardware

Game

Tech info

Technology

Science

Life

Application

Electric

Program

Mobile