{"id":4850,"date":"2020-04-28T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-28T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=4850"},"modified":"2020-04-25T14:04:32","modified_gmt":"2020-04-25T18:04:32","slug":"can-you-factory-reset-a-computer-from-bios","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/28\/can-you-factory-reset-a-computer-from-bios\/","title":{"rendered":"“Can you factory reset a computer from BIOS?”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

(Answer requested by Ram Binay Yadav)<\/small><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a word, no.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even for systems using UEFI<\/strong> instead of a BIOS<\/strong> — and that’s almost all current PCs (see below) — the answer’s still no.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BIOS:<\/strong> Old-school PCs used a BIOS<\/strong><\/a> (Basic Input\/Output System) to handle the power-on startup sequence of a PC’s hardware, before<\/em> the operating system woke up and took over. The BIOS contained semi-permanent code and data that “knew” about the PC’s hardware — what disks were installed; how much memory was present; how the parts should talk to each other; and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resetting a BIOS<\/strong> wiped out its data and forced a PC to re-learn its own hardware upon restart — it would probe itself to relearn what disks and memory were present, etc. But that was all: The factory-supplied software and user-related contents of the drives — the OS, drivers, apps, and data — weren’t involved at all in a BIOS reset. It was very hardware oriented<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UEFI:<\/strong> Instead of a BIOS, most current PCs have a UEFI<\/strong><\/a> (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) that splits startup duties between old-style firmware (something like an old-school BIOS), and active, on-from-the-get-go, low-level start-up services provided by the OS — especially (but not only) startup security checks. This portion of the UEFI is stored on the hard drive, rather than in firmware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resetting a UEFI<\/strong> can re-write the firmware code, much like resetting a BIOS, and can refresh or replace the OS-controlled portion of the low-level startup software. But again, the factory-supplied software and end-user contents of the drives — the familiar portions of the OS, plus apps and user files — aren’t touched. So, even though there’s some low-level software involved, you can still think of a UEFI reset as mostly<\/em> hardware-oriented<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A factory reset<\/strong>, in contrast, is all about the software<\/em>. A factory reset returns a PC’s hard drive to its original, as-delivered, fresh from the factory, condition. It usually wipes out the total contents of a system drive, and puts back original copies of the software and apps that came with the PC (the original OS, drivers, OEM-supplied software, etc.) in their original, raw, unmodified condition (e.g. no user accounts yet; no data at all). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An OS reset<\/strong> (e.g. Windows Reset<\/a><\/strong>) replaces the OS and drivers, and may also wipe out user apps and data. It’s different from a factory reset in that no OEM drivers or software are included in the new setup: you add what you want later. (Windows’ default drivers are usually enough to get a PC going; and often are fine for full-time use; reducing the need for true factory resets.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, the only thing that performs a factory rest is an actual factory reset.<\/strong> (Check your PC maker’s support site for how-to relating to your specific brand and model.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resetting the BIOS or UEFI is not at all<\/strong> the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Permalink: https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=4850<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"[seperator]\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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(Answer requested by Ram Binay Yadav) In a word, no. Even for systems using UEFI instead of a BIOS — and that’s almost all current PCs (see below) — the answer’s still no. BIOS: Old-school PCs used a BIOS (Basic Input\/Output System) to handle the power-on startup sequence of a PC’s hardware, before the operating…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4862,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7,30,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-a-reader-asks","category-hardware","category-windows"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/bios-chip-rf-e1587748394415.jpg?fit=350%2C233&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paaiox-1ge","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3209,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/06\/how-is-it-done-to-format-multiple-pcs-same-model-at-the-same-time-does-a-disk-cloner-work-does-it-handle-everything-drivers-bios\/","url_meta":{"origin":4850,"position":0},"title":"“How is it done to format multiple PCs (same model) at the same time? Does a disk cloner work? Does it handle everything — drivers? BIOS?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-08-06","format":false,"excerpt":"Your question touches on two separate things. First, yes: Cloning can perfectly replicate everything that's on a PC's disk. If the PCs are truly identical (as in a managed corporate setting), and the OS is licensed for it, then you only need one Master disk image, which can then be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2402,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/03\/25\/how-to-solve-uefi-boot-and-startup-problems\/","url_meta":{"origin":4850,"position":1},"title":"How to solve UEFI boot and startup problems","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-03-25","format":false,"excerpt":"The column reprinted below was originally published in the December 11, 2014, Windows Secrets newsletter. Today, it supplements a new LangaList column scheduled for the March 25, 2019, AskWoody Plus Newsletter. Click on over for a look! (I\u2019m reprinting selected Windows Secrets columns here to help ensure readers can find\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AskWoody Plus"","block_context":{"text":"AskWoody Plus","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/askwoody-plus\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/W20141211-TS-UseDevice.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3003,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/06\/28\/if-a-power-outage-occurred-while-my-asus-pc-is-updating-firmware-will-i-be-able-to-recover-it-afterwards\/","url_meta":{"origin":4850,"position":2},"title":"“If a power outage occurred while my ASUS PC is updating firmware, will I be able to recover it afterwards?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-06-28","format":false,"excerpt":"(Answer requested by Hong Shen) I have bad news, and not-as-bad news. The bad news is ASUS' official BIOS update guide, which says in part: \"READ THIS BEFORE YOU BRICK YOUR MACHINE!... A failed or interrupted BIOS update process almost always means death for the computer. For this reason,\u00a0never ever\u00a0interrupt\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5780,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2021\/07\/26\/untrustworthy-oem-updaters-cause-trouble\/","url_meta":{"origin":4850,"position":3},"title":"Untrustworthy OEM updaters cause trouble","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2021-07-26","format":false,"excerpt":"Keeping a PC up to date gets harder as the system ages, especially when OEM and vendor update tools start missing things entirely \u2014 or actively making bad suggestions! 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This week\u2019s topics include: using a command-line trick to reveal a PC\u2019s digital license, preserving system data through a UEFI\/BIOS reset, managing a PC with dual SSD\/HDD drives, and calculating\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AskWoody Plus"","block_context":{"text":"AskWoody Plus","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/askwoody-plus\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fred Langa","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Langa-2-100.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":472,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/09\/24\/a-reader-asks-how-do-i-fix-an-operating-system-not-found-message\/","url_meta":{"origin":4850,"position":5},"title":"A reader asks: How do I fix an ‘operating system not found’ message?","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-09-24","format":false,"excerpt":"Q: How do I fix the \"an operating system wasn't found\" screen, with all the words are mixed up and the screen is white and twitching?\u00a0 (via Quora) A: An \"Operating System Not Found\" or \"Missing Operating System\" or similar message will occur when you boot\/start\/restart a PC, but something\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4850"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4889,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4850\/revisions\/4889"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}