How to format Windows 10 and 111, what you should know before formatting

There are many reasons why we want to format a PC. It can be good to eliminate files and programs that we do not use if we have many installed on a work computer and we have made backup copies of crucial files, make a system tune-up, eliminate a virus that cannot be eliminated by antivirus or empty it to sell it or give it away to someone. But... How is Windows 10 formatted? Here we explain it to you

How do I format my Windows 10 PC?

Open the Windows menu, access Settings, and the Recovery option. There you can give the option of “reset this computer" on the menu. By clicking on the option you will be offered if you want to do a format in which your personal files are kept, and another in which it is completely restored from the factory.

The first option is ideal if you know you have a problem related to an installed program, which will remove all programs but will keep your images, music, video and any file that is not an essential part of a program. On the other hand, the erase everything option removes absolutely everything on the device.

When you have accepted it, Windows 10 itself will be in charge of formatting the storage, not the PC. It will do it to the factory settings, which is the storage device with the original parameters of the version you are using of Windows 10, without any software unrelated to the operating system license. Once the Windows 10 format starts, just wait.

How long does a PC format take?

The waiting time for the process of formatting a PC depends on several factors. One is the write and read speed of the storage being formatted, which is usually much higher when we are talking about an SSD, being one that uses the stinksrM2 SSD the fastest, followed by SATA SSDs and then hard drives.

It also depends on the capacity it has, since it has to be indicated that all the space there is free. Since you are installing an operating system, it depends on several additional factors such as the transfer speed of the storage that the image of the operating system you are installing has, the RAM, the bandwidth of the motherboard, the connector itself in which it is installed. connected to PC if you are installing from BIOS.

What does it mean to format a PC?

Formatting a PC is a process in which an operating system, in this case Windows 10, but it could be any other version of Windows, a version of Linux, a MacOs or a program. Formatting does not completely delete a program from a storage, since in reality the beginning of the storage dedicated to indicating the free memory blocks is modified, so that it indicates that these storage blocks are available to be written over, but that are not necessarily empty.

How do I format my PC?

To format your PC, access the control panel, and go to the formatting options. It will give you different options to have a clean installation of Windows and format your PC.

How to format my PC without losing Windows 10 license?

To format a PC without losing the Windows 10 license, the easiest thing to do is go to the Windows 10 option to restore the factory system. You are not actually restoring the system to the way the computer came from the factory, but removes all software and files you installed on the drive you told to format that don't match the version of Windows that you have installed The programs that will stay will depend on the Windows 10 license you have.

If it is an OEM license, which are those cheap keys that you find, you may find that they put you from the factory as soon as you finish the formatting, various software such as games such as Candy Crush, because they are part of the license. This is bloatware, or software that is installed in a bundle without the user's consent.

But using the factory restore option, you can format Windows 10 without losing the license. In this case, it only deletes programs and files, but the installation of the operating system is maintained. The license is usually attached to a piece of hardware, usually a storage that will serve as the indicium storage from which the operating system is loaded.

How to format a Windows 10 PC from BIOS?

First, you must download the version of Windows 10 from the Microsoft website, and designate a USB image, as if you were going to install it. Once done, you connect it to a USB connector on your PC and start the BIOS interface as indicated by your motherboard. Once done, go to the boot option, and select the option to boot from the USB drive that you have connected, with which you can format Windows 10 or any other device from the BIOs.

This is used when you notice that the operating system is not working properly and the problem cannot be eliminated. It is a very drastic solution, since it requires removing all content.

What happens to my Windows license if I format my PC?

If you factory format from the native option of Windows 10, the license will not be affected, since the license is not formatted. If you format by reinstalling a Windows 10 image USB, you will need to purchase another license.

How to format a computer without erasing the programs?

It is not possible to format Windows 10 without deleting programs. When doing a native factory reset in Windows 10, it will give you the option to choose what to keep, but it does not give you the option to keep the programs. Stand-alone non-program files, such as images and videos, are retained.

How to format the PC from the BIOS?

You have to run a storage with the image of Windows 10 downloaded from the Microsoft website so that it is installed on the device that you indicate.

Can I safely sell or give away a PC that I have formatted?

If you want to get rid of a PC and make sure it won't see the files you had before, you need to make sure you format all storage devices. You can easily format additional storage devices on your PC, other than the boot storage, from the This Computer section, right-clicking on the storage you want to format, looking for the Format option, and starting the formatting process.

If you simply format Windows 10, you will leave the files private from other storages, since the native Windows format only formats the file system in which it has been installed. If you don't, you are going to sell or give away a computer that still has your personal files, and you could even incur a data protection crime if you have images or videos or data of other people that could be considered personal data.

Can data be recovered from a formatted PC?

You can recover data from a formatted PC with certain software programs dedicated to recovering data and files from hard drives. When you delete a file, you are telling the storage system interface that the blocks of information in which the files you deleted were are free to be used. This means that if you use file recovery software, you can recover a part of the files. But this is only possible if the part they were in has not been overwritten.

How to restore the system from the BIOS?

To do a factory reset from the BIOS, get a Windows 10 image, put it on a USB drive, connect it to your PC, access the BIOS menu, and follow the instructions to reinstall the operating system from the BIOS. This allows you to reinstall Windows on a PC if Windows has problems booting up.