Reset Windows 11 after a crash or virus attack

System recovery and cleaning Step by step: Reset Windows 11 after a crash or virus attack

If Windows 11 does not run after installation or cannot be used by malware, you can restore the operating system using on-board tools. The article shows the process.

There are several ways to reset Windows 11 if the operating system does not work as expected. If Windows 11 does not start again, you can perform a recovery with System Repair Options. These will start automatically if the operating system cannot be started properly three or four times.

But you can reset the system in Windows 11. It is also possible to delete the generated data. After the reset, Windows 11 is in the delivery state. The required installation files can be downloaded directly from the cloud. All the steps for this process can be found in the gallery for this post:

Start the system reset from Windows 11

To reset it while running Windows 11, the Settings utility is called. The “Reset” menu item can be found through the “System” menu item. You can switch from Windows 11 to Windows 10 with “Back” if you still have uninstall files on your computer.

The “Reset PC” button is available to reset the PC. This will start the assistant to help reset. In the next step, users can choose whether to reset to Windows 11 delivery status (“Remove all”) or to retain installed programs, data and settings (“Keep my files”). If Windows 11 is not working properly, selecting “Remove All” will be more comprehensive and successful.

As part of the restore, Windows 11 requires installation files. It can be downloaded directly from the Internet from Microsoft using the “Cloud Download” button. Alternatively, local data can be used. It has a “Local Reinstall” option. Make sure you have at least 4GB of data required when downloading. This storage must be on the computer.

Then change the settings or go back to Windows 10

Before the wizard starts the reset, an abstract will reappear and users can change whether to completely restore the PC or retain the files at this point. In the next step of the wizard, Windows informs you that the installation of updates cannot be undone. That is, if the system has been upgraded from Windows 10 to Windows 11, after resetting Windows 11, it can no longer return to Windows 10. So it makes more sense to go back to Windows 10 than to reset Windows 11, thus blocking the way back to Windows 10. We have described this process in the article below.

Complete reset is not selected, but you can see in the settings which applications still need to be reinstalled if files and applications need to be retained. Once all the questions in the wizard are answered, the wizard will start its work and reset Windows 11. To do this, click on the “Reset” button. From this point on, the process cannot be stopped. If a restart is required, the wizard will automatically restart Windows. During the process, Windows 11 can reset itself.

Reset Windows 11 with System Repair Options

If Windows 11 does not start again, you can start the reset via system repair options. After the third to fourth incorrect boot process, Windows 11 starts the automatic repair. There are various tools to reset with “Advanced Options”.

Available “buggy” in advanced options. Behind it are various tools for resetting Windows 11. To reset Windows 11, select the “Reset this system” option under “Error”. There are additional functions to reset with “Advanced Options”. You can switch from Windows 11 to Windows 10 with “Uninstall Updates”. We have covered these processes in a separate article – see below.

If system restore points are created, they can be activated via the “Restore System” and used for reset. When you select “Reset this system” you will get the same options as resetting Windows 11 directly from the operating system. Here too there is the facility to download directly from the cloud. To do this, the computer must be connected to the Internet.

When resetting via system repair options, you can choose whether you want to keep the PC at your own disposal (remove only my files) or give the PC to other users (clean the drive thoroughly). In the second process, Windows 11 deletes the files very reliably. After successfully downloading Windows 11 and resetting the operating system, Windows 11 will restart to its original state. If the computer has viruses or ransomware, these files will also be deleted.

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