Windows 11 Restore Issue
 

Somebody dropped off a decent Dell laptop in the electronics recycle bin here at work. They left their account there though, so I'm attempting to delete it and reinstall windows 10, when I get to the "reset this PC" screen, it gives me the option of "cloud download" or "local install" however, when I choose either one I'm cycled back he the "choose an option" screen and this just goes on over and over. Do any of you have an advise on how to resolve this?

Thanks!

I'll have to look up the actual procedure but there's a way that you can hack the accessibility options and make it call CMD, from there you can create a new user and nuke Windows back to default.

EDIT:

https://www.technibble.com/bypass-wi...ogons-utilman/

You are the man thanks!

That page is 10 yrs old. While that capability still technically exists, those instructions won't work for Win10/11 without additional steps. Because Windows Defender in Win10/11 now blocks that. You can likely still make it work with Win10/11, but you'd have to do some Safe Mode stuff to make it work.

An easier solution would likely be to use Rufus to create a bootable USB Windows installer flash drive. All you need is a USB flash drive that's at least 8GB or greater. The Rufus app will reformat the USB drive, download your choice of Windows 8/10/11 automatically, and make the USB drive bootable.

https://i.imgur.com/T95a0TJ.png

You then insert the USB drive into the system, and boot up tapping the F12 key. Select boot from USB device. Which will launch the normal Windows installer.

That allows the hard drive to be completely separate from the Windows installer, so you'll have no issues reformatting and reinstalling.

Interesting. I just used that hack like three months ago.

Admittedly, I don't use Windows myself. I just support my family members so I really only deal with it when something blows up.

Thanks, but I'm not getting an option to choose windows anywhere? The field that says "download" on your screen only gives me the "select from file" option. Also for device it only shows the flash drive. Seriously thanks for the help from both of you!

Wait...do I need to download the Windows exe file first? Sorry I was thinking Rufus installed that on the flash drive, but it makes senses if I need to get it on my computer first and then Rufus pulls it form there?

You need to click the button that says "Select" and choose the Download option.

If you already had your own .iso Windows installer file, you could select the actual installer file with that option. But you haven't downloaded Windows yet. So, choose download and see if that works for you. Once you actually start the process, it will then prompt you for which version of Windows you would like to install.

That's what's giving me the issue...there is no download option for me..it will only let me choose from a local folder.

Oh never mind! Looks like I had the wrong version.

Starting in Win10 20H2 and later they implemented Windows Defender to block that. I'm pretty sure you can boot into Safe Mode with Networking and still make it work probably. Or remove the drive and connect it to another machine. As long as there are no managed group policies to block it. Like any reasonable IT managed outfit would. We bitlocker all our mobile devices so that isn't an issue. Bitlocker can be a bitch though. Dumb users can trigger it just being dumb.

Did you get it working?

Just bought a mini PC to replace my desktop.

Very small form factor.

Win11 pro, 8gb ram, 256 ssd, 4k video 60fps

4 usb 3.0. 2 hdmi.

$139 out the door with Amazon.

Ridiculously cheap right now.

Will arrive on Friday.

I'll post an update once installed.

Only part I doubt, unless the onboard GPU is juiced.

I watched 4 or 5 reviews on YouTube before my purchase and they all ran 4k video OK. It definitely pushes the limit because it will drop frames if you do something as simple as bring up the play bar.

BTW, this is the Beelink mini S. Beelinks least expensive option. This is for my office, so no gaming or anything that demanding. I just need a decent amount of power and 2 hdmi outputs for my monitors.

It will also clear up space on my desk when I get rid of the big HP desktop that's 9 years old. The mini S will basically fit in your hand. Pretty cool.