2 answers by real people - how to restore a panasonic toughbook CF-18 notebook to factory settings?
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It depends on your Operating System (so next time let us know what OS you are using.)
As part of my job I restore laptops to their factory settings every once in a while, and since manufacturers all have a different ways of restoring to factory settings (mostly), every laptop/desktop is different. Most manufacturers include paper instructions or a OEM disk to do this when you first buy your computer, however, most people throw these instructions away or lose the disk over time.
So here’s what we can do.
Firstly, do you have the recovery or Operation System disk that came with your computer? If you weren’t given a recovery disk or Operation System disk you’ll have to make you’re own recovery disk. If you do plan on using an Operation System disk make sure you save your drivers.
Search your menu for something that says recovery center, etc. This should provide the proper instructions and data on how to restore to factory settings. If found, this recovery data will usually be converted to ISO form. If you know how to burn an ISO proceed to burn it and then restart your computer with the CD in the CD/DVD drive. If you don’t know how to burn an ISO use this burning software http://infrarecorder.org/
(You should be able to do this if you have a recovery partition – that is, two separate drives, your primary drive, which is C:, and one that says recovery, D:, or something of the sort.)
If you don’t want to make your own recovery disk or can’t, request one from your manufacturer or get one from http://restoredisks.com/
Secondly, if you’ve backed up everything. Try pressing F8 as your computer boots up (on Vista) or Ctrl+F11 (on XP). From here you should be able to follow a Restore to Factory Settings Wizard.
Finally, if all of this is over your head, or these options are not available to you, then contact your manufacturer’s support (i.e. Dell, Gateway, HP, etc.). Make sure you include your model number when contacting them.
Good Luck!
(PS PLEASE VOTE FOR A BEST ANSWER! OTHERWISE PEOPLE WHO PROVIDE GOOD ANSWERS WILL BE LESS LIKELY TO ANSWERS IN THE FUTURE, AND YOU’LL END UP GETTING STUCK WITH NOOB ANSWERS!)
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