It may seem odd for an article to be telling you
how to "refresh" your Windows 8 PC before the operating system is even
publicly available in its final release form. But if you think about it,
when you buy a new Windows PC, you'll often find a slew of programs
you didn't really want – game trials, utilities, and more. So it's a
boon to PC users of the new OS that the latter offers a way to clean out
everything non-essential.
There are actually two new Windows 8
capabilities that perform different kinds of cleanup: One refreshes the
system while keeping all of your photos, music, and personal files. The
other actually starts you over, returning your computer or tablet to
its mint condition. The latter – resetting – is also an excellent choice
for when you're selling, recycling, or gifting your PC (something
friends have often asked me about).
Resetting a Windows PC prior to Windows 8 had been a bit of a chore, so
these new Windows 8 tools offer long-term benefits. And if you're not
giving away your PC, the refresh tool is a much simpler alternative to
reinstalling the operating system in the traditional way.
Refresh
Both of the new Windows 8 options clean out the operating system
itself, but the "Refresh" choice leaves intact your data – photos,
music, videos, documents, your new-style Windows 8 apps, and your system
settings. You'll find this choice by clicking or touching the Settings
charm (you bring up the charms with a swipe in from the left on a
touchscreen, or by moving the mouse pointer to either of the right-hand
corners and moving it down or up). Then choose "Change PC Settings" at
the bottom.
When you're on the new-style "PC settings" page (see the screenshot
below), choose the General section, and scroll through the right-side
choices down to the eighth choice, "Refresh your PC without affecting
your files."
To get started with the refreshing process, click or tap the "Get
started" button below the Refresh description. You'll then see a screen
like this:
This provides more detail concerning what the operation does. A key
thing to know is that the process will remove any desktop apps – only
apps obtained from the Windows Store will remain. This message states
that you'll be presented with a list of the removed apps on your desktop
after the process. This removal makes sense, since desktop programs
are the likeliest suspects for clogging your system, and they haven't
passed through the Windows Store vetting process. For a (somewhat geeky
and time-consuming) way to perform the refresh without losing desktop
applications, see our guide entitled "Reinstalling Windows 8 without losing files and programs" (bear in mind that you need to be comfortable with command lines).
Preparing
Hitting Next launches a process that displays a "Please wait" message
and a spinning timer below the word "Preparing." After getting to this
point, I next received an "Insert media" message, requesting that I
insert Windows installation or recovery media. This is a little bit of a
drag, since it would be nice for the refresh to be a self-contained
process. I plugged in a USB stick with the Windows 8 installer, and
received the message "Please wait…Verifying."
Now my tablet was ready to be refreshed. I knew this because the bar
across the screen read "Ready to refresh your PC." And the more detailed
text below that told me that it would take a few minutes, and that I
should keep the PC plugged into a power outlet. The button to press now
simply read "Refresh." So I pressed it.
The computer restarted, and acted like it was installing updates. (I
had just previously installed actual Windows Updates). I then saw the
new Windows logo and the words (again) "Preparing to refresh your PC."
After this it said "Refreshing your PC" with a per cent amount
displayed. (This stayed on 5 per cent for quite a while). The process
took 8 minutes, after which I saw another timer: Getting devices ready.
Then my lock screen appeared and I had to sign in with my Microsoft
Account password – even though I'd set up a quicker four-digit PIN
sign-in. So that's one setting that apparently isn't saved. The process
then showed the same mini-tutorials on how to use Windows 8 – swipe in
from the sides on tablets, and move the mouse pointer to the corners
– as I'd seen on first installing Windows 8.
Shutting down and starting up again, I could switch sign-in options
back to my PIN, which actually was remembered. Also my mail, Wi-Fi, and
location settings were stored and remembered, so right away I could see
how many new emails awaited me, the local weather, and Wi-Fi bars all on
the lock screen. And sure enough, all my Metro apps were still on the
Start screen. Moving to the desktop, there was a new icon called
"Removed Apps." As it turns out, I only had Firefox installed, and that
was on this "Apps removed while refreshing your PC" list.
Resetting your PC
This is the option to use when you're giving away or otherwise
disposing of the PC. As with Refresh, you get started by choosing the
Settings charm, then "Change PC Settings" at the bottom, then you select
General, and scroll down to "Remove everything and reinstall Windows."
Click on or touch "Get started." You'll see a band across the screen
entitled "Reset your PC."
Hit Next. You'll see "Please Wait… Preparing." As with the Refresh
process, I was then asked to insert Windows 8 installation media. And
again, I think this should not be a prerequisite for the Reset option.
This time, a different pair of choices presented themselves: "Just
remove my files," and "Fully clean the drive." The first just takes a
few moments, while the latter takes "much more time," according to the
info on the button.
First I tried the "Just remove my files" option. The resulting note
told me that all apps and files would be removed, and that settings
would be restored to default. There was also a note about making sure
your File History drive is up to date; this is Windows 8's new backup
solution which will be the subject of a future article.
Next, hit the Reset button. A restart is triggered. The same
Preparing message appears with the new Windows logo. This time, after
just over eight minutes, I was presented with the Windows license terms to accept. Then the first-run setup began – choosing colour
themes, naming the computer, connecting to Wi-Fi, and Microsoft account
login (a Hotmail account works). It was exactly what you get when you
first set up a Windows 8 system. Next, you see the tips on how to
navigate Windows 8. After a psychedelic colour-rotating "We're Getting Your PC Ready" screen, the Start screen pops up.
There was nothing on my desktop this time, save the Recycle Bin,
Internet Explorer's icon, and the Windows Explorer folder icon. But
since I signed in with my Hotmail account, my new-style apps and email
notifications were all restored. The takeaway from that is, even if you
completely wipe your PC, you can still save yourself from having to set
everything up, by signing into a Microsoft Account.
Finally, I tried the full reset. Since my system had just been cleaned, I didn't expect it to take a whole lot longer or reduce the disk
footprint significantly. The initial resetting process did take much
longer, at just under 38 minutes, and I arrived at the initial Windows 8
setup screen (the license agreement) after
one more minute. This is because, unlike Refresh, resetting actually
erases and formats the hard drive partitions and writes random data to
erase yours before reinstalling.
Powerful, with caveats
I applaud Microsoft for giving users these new ways to refresh and reset PCs: It's something that's long overdue, considering the experience of Windows users dealing with clogged machines for years. The processes work as advertised, but my only concern is that, in my case, installation media was required to complete them. Whether or not
Microsoft can eliminate this requirement, at least we'll now have some recourse when a PC becomes sluggish and cluttered with unneeded apps, or we want to pass the machine on.
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