Laptop won't reset due to storage

[chanelle1]

My laptop now struggles to run properly and often closes apps due to storage etc. I have purchased a 2TB external hardrive to help with the problem. I have no files on the laptop as i save everything onto One Drive and Drop Box so I dont understand the storage issue. However, now that I have the external hard drive I now want to completely reset the laptop and start fresh however it is saying I dont have enough storage to do so. 

Model: HP Laptop 12-cm0981na

[itsmyname]

Have you launched the "Disk Cleanup" app within Windows 10?  It removes some files.

If you are using some other web-browser (Firefox? Google Chrome?) you can tell it to "delete temporary files", to free-up some disk-space.

[WAWood]

@chanelle1 

According to the HP specs, your model is a Stream and those have nowhere near enough storage for you to be able to do a reset.  You will have to use external media to do this.

The ways to do an external factory reset are the following:
- Factory reset using external HP image you make
- Factory reset using external HP image you buy

Each of these is discussed in some detail below ...

---------- Factory reset using external HP image you make ----------
HP provides a Cloud Recovery tool that you can use, together with a 32GB USB stick, to create your on HP reset media.

Here is the link: https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c06162205

This works the same as the factory reset described above.

---------- Factory reset using external HP image you buy ----------
For those PCs not supported by the Cloud Recovery, in some cases, HP offers Recover Media for sale. This can not be downloaded; instead, it must be ordered from HP.

HP Recovery Media is a set of DVDs and a CD, or USB stick, that will erase the hard drive (removing all data, settings, and applications, reinstall the original OS, drivers, and some HP Utilities.

In some cases, you may be able to order a USB stick instead of disks.

You can look online for Recovery Media starting with the linked paged: http://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers

Once there, input your Product name or number. On your Software and Drivers Download page, select your Operating System and and Version. Click &quot;Update&quot;.<br><br>If HP Recovery Media is available for your machine, down near the bottom of the page, you will see an entry for Order Recovery Media-CD/DVD/USB. Click the &quot;+&quot; symbol to expand that entry and click on Order Media for details.

Or, if you prefer, you can do the same by contacting HP Customer Support.

HP contact info: https://support.hp.com/us-en/contact-hp?openCLC=true

If HP no longer carries the media you need, another site you should check for HP Recovery Media is: http://www.computersurgeons.com/

These work the same as the factory reset described above.

[chanelle1]

Hi,

I am trying to make my own as per instructions however the Cloud Recovery Tool app does not give me the option to select the USB and therefore automatically tries to use the computers own drive, any way around this?

[WAWood]

@chanelle1 

Sorry -- no.  Have you confirmed that the USB stick is 32GB in capacity?

[itsmyname]

Before you launch that HP Recovery Tool, is the USB memory-stick plugged-in? Can you use File Explorer to view any files/folders currently on it?  If so, that Tool should have an option to download the files (to your disk-drive), and then copy the files to the USB memory-stick.

[itsmyname]

> Have you launched the "Disk Cleanup" app within Windows 10?  It removes some files.

Also, it has an option to "clean up system files". If you have been running Windows 10 for a few years, the older versions of Windows (1903, 1909, 2004, etc.) plus many superseded Windows Updates might be occupying a significant percentage of your disk-space.

Since you have the external disk-drive, you could copy your Documents and Pictures and Music folders onto it, and then permanently-delete all the contents of the folders, but leave the folders existing, as "empty", to free-up some disk-space.

To "permanently-delete", select the files, hold-down the SHIFT key on your keyboard, and click "delete". This deletes the files -- it does not move them into the "Recycle Bin".