returning PC to previous condition after factory reset

[jalesefm]

Hello,

I will give some background, even if it may be orrelevant, because it may bring ideas of what I could have done best.

a few weeks ago I had a problem - the PC just froze a few seconds after windows came up, then restarted, again and again, untill I just gave up and turned it off. a few days later I tried again and it started normally.

this issue came and went a few times, and it also came last friday (25/10/2024), so I tried using HP recovery system. the screen showed that the recovery manager copies windows files, and then restarted to install windows, but it failed (i saved the logs that it suggested and uploaded it), so I couldn't boot at all.

so i saw someone suggesting factory reset. I did it and now everything is gone (I thought it would keep the installations I had with the PC). is there anyway to bring back at least some of the files and settings I had before the reset? and are the original problems I had known issues?

thanks

[Bill_To]

Greetings @jalesefm 

Welcome back to the Forum.

A clean Windows install or a HP factory reset overwrites all data stored in any disk sector affected by this action.

There might be some previous data located in disk sectors which were reformatted. Meaning the Windows installation has not copied data to these sectors.

You would have to try data recovery software to see if anything can be recovered.

Previously installed programs and prior user settings are gone. You would have to reinstall software and redo user settings.

You could check your PC's hardware using HP Diagnostics as follows:

Start the PC. Repeatedly tap the "ESC" key.

Select "F2". Run extensive system and component tests to confirm: a drive problem, a memory problem, or other component problem.

Regards

[jalesefm]

this is horrible... I had everything there... I literally put my life into this PC. But thank you for your response.

Also, I started working on reinstalling everything, but things are still buggy. examples:

1. netflix don't connect (I have internet connection and every other site I tried works fine)

2. PC doesn't recognize my home wifi. It finds all the neighbors and also my phone when I open a hotspot, so it works, but not the home wifi. all other devices are connected without a problem, so the wifi is good.

I may find more as I go on. Any way to fix these?

thanks a lot

[Bill_To]

Greetings @jalesefm 

My pleasure.

Very sorry to see you have lost data.

Try Recuva free and other options at the data recovery link in my first response. You could do a search for data recovery specialists. They will be expensive and there is no guarantee of success.

I would guess your PC's hardware is okay if you successfully ran the hardware tests suggested in my previous response. 

I would not know why you can't connect to Netflix over Ethernet if you can connect to all other sites.

Try a different browser. Is the PC's time zone set correctly? Are you using a VPN?

It is also a mystery why the PC can't see your WIFI network if it sees surrounding WIFI networks. Is your router set to hide your WIFI network SSID?

Regards