Windows 10 factory reset not finishing

Hi equiinoxYEE

That reset operation is not going to complete, it has stalled . . .

Press and hold the Power Button on your PC for 5 - 10 seconds to perform a hard shut down . . .

Start your PC again to see if it boots successfully

1

If that does boot up, run the reset again using this method:

Press the Shift Key and click Restart

Your PC will boot into the Windows Recovery Environment

Go to Troubleshoot - Advanced Options - Reset this PC

Choose to keep your files and apps, just your files or to keep nothing

Then start the Reset

2

If your PC does not boot correctly, try these options:

Start your PC, just as Windows attempts to load (spinning dots), press and hold Power Button for 5 - 10 seconds to perform a Hard Shut Down

Do this twice

On the third start Windows will boot into the Recovery Environment and from there you can access System Repair, Safe Mode, Command Prompt . . . etc.

Please try each option one at a time, then see of Windows will boot . . .

Go to Troubleshoot - Advanced Option - Startup Repair

See if Windows startup can repair itself

Go to Troubleshoot - Advanced Option - System Restore

Check to see if you have a restore point you can go back to

If you do not have a Restore Point, go to Troubleshoot - Advanced Option - Startup Settings and click Restart

Upon restart, press 4 to enter Safe Mode

Once in Safe Mode, backup your data if you do not already have a backup

Open Device Manager and check to make sure all your Drivers are up to date

Reboot to see if Windows will start Normally

3

If none of the above works for you, your only option will be a clean install of Windows 10:

You can reinstall Windows 10 at any time and it will not cost you anything !

Since you previously had Windows 10 installed and activated on that PC during the installation process skip the steps which ask for a product key and select the option 'I am Reinstalling Windows 10 on this PC', and activation will not be an issue, your PC will have a digital entitlement stored on the Microsoft Activation Servers

Make sure you install the same Edition of Windows 10 (Home, Pro . . . etc.) you previously had installed to avoid Activation issues

Click this link:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-downlo...

to download the Media Creation Tool (Click on Download Tool Now), with that you can download the latest Windows 10 ISO (Select Create Installation Media for Another PC), you can create a bootable USB flash drive (min 8GB) using that tool

Then, Boot your PC from the Installation Media you just created (change Boot Order in your BIOS) to begin installing Windows 10

Hi equiinoxYEE

My name is Andre Da Costa; an Independent Consultant, Windows Insider MVP and Windows & Devices for IT MVP. I'm here to help you with your problem.

I would try making a bootable copy on another working computer, boot from it then perform clean install.

Go to a working computer, download, create a bootable copy, then perform a clean install.

	Step 1: How to download official Windows 10 ISO files 

	[http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wiki...](http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wiki/windows_10-windows_install/how-to-download-official-windows-10-iso-files/35cde7ec-5b6f-481c-a02d-dadf465df326)



	Step 2: How to: Perform a clean install of Windows 10

	[http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/wiki...](http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/wiki/insider_wintp-insider_install/how-to-do-a-clean-install-of-windows-10/aef0ae63-2117-41ee-a8ea-4a3181625b08)



If there are files on the drive you want to recover, see -  How to: Perform a Custom install of Windows 10

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/wiki...

Step 4: how to recover your files from Windows.old:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/for...

Whoa ...

In the first place, a disorganized collection of your personal music, pictures and videos has no effect at all on your computer, and Windows organizes all your programs for you.

And in any case, if you store your music, pictures and videos in a separate partition, they won't clutter your C: drive. 

Also, the term factory reset means restoring your computer to the way it was when it left the factory, hence the name. That's a procedure that comes from the computer manufacturer, not from Microsoft. A factory reset takes about 10 minutes, and your computer looks exactly like it did when you first got it. Then you have to add any additional software you installed subsequently and update everything. That could easily take a few hours. Updating Windows 10 alone will use up about 2 hours.

Why you would want to go through all that twice a year just because your personal files are disorganized is a real head-scratcher, quite frankly.