How to reset Windows Server 2016 Standard

Question

I can't reset my server (Windows Server 2016 Standard):

1. I can't find the “reset” option in the "Recovery" tag;
2. When i running “systemreset” instructions in the CMD window，prompts that "the computer is missing FVEAPI.DLL"

Answer 1

Hello,

Thank you for posting in Q&A forum.

To reset Windows Server 2016 Standard, you can try the following methods:

Reset using installation media:

If you have Windows Server 2016 installation media (such as an installation CD or USB installation drive), you can use it to perform a system reset.

Insert the installation media, start the server, and start from the installation media.

Select "Install" in the installation interface, then select "Custom: Install Windows Only (Advanced)".

On the partition page, select your operating system drive and then select "Format" to clear its contents.

Complete the installation wizard and restart the server.

Use the command line to reset:

Open the command prompt (run as administrator).

Run the following command: systemireset

If the prompt "the computer is missing FVEAPI.DLL" is displayed, it may indicate that your system is missing the encryption API library file.

Attempt to copy FVEAPI from another Windows Server 2016 system DLL file and paste it into the System32 directory in the system where the file is missing.

Then run the system reset command again to try resetting the system.

Please note that before resetting the system, it is important to backup important data to prevent data loss.

Hope this answer can help you well.

Best regards，

Jill Zhou