Would it be wise to factory reset my laptop that has a virus

[Jackk7]

Hello. A couple months back I pressed on a dodgy game pirating link and it caused my computer to receive a virus. After that my computer began getting weird pop up notifications and began running slow. I was black screened but it later came back and I installed AVG antivirus which hasn’t helped my computer. Just wondering would it be wise to factory reset the laptop and if so how do I do that (I no longer have any paper work nor the box for the laptop itself)

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

Yes, probably that would be a good idea.

You can use the HP cloud recovery tool and a 32 GB USB flash drive to create a bootable USB recovery drive that will reinstall Windows, the drivers and the software that originally came with the PC.

Here is an info link for how to use the utility.

HP Consumer PCs - Using the HP Cloud Recovery Tool in Windows 11 and 10 | HP® Customer Support

You can download the software from the Microsoft Store.

HP Cloud Recovery Tool - Microsoft Store Apps

[Jackk7]

So I just press that link and install the software and it’ll allow me to reinstall windows with a usb drive?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You have to create a bootable USB drive with the cloud recovery tool as indicated in the instructions to use the cloud recovery tool.

You can download the tool to make the recovery media by clicking on the second link I posted in my first reply.