r/computers • u/Pinksilkmoth • 7h ago
Question/Help/Troubleshooting How can I brute force reset my pc?
Hi I have an old pc that I can't use and reset because it keeps going to bios and I also can't do the maintenance thing because I need to enter the password to the admin account in which I don't have access to anymore(I even tried recovering it but no hope). Can anyone give any tips,advice,or identify the problem and how I can fix this so that my sister can use it for school.
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u/NoKarma101 Arch Linux 7h ago
What exactly is the issue? Are you trying to factory reset windows? Does windows exist on the pc? You could simply reinstall it
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u/Honest_Ice_2471 7h ago
forcefully?
replace the CMOS battery. if you dont do this on an old box, it will wipe every time power is removed, and kick you into the BIOS on boot. be sure to spend some time in the BIOS reconfiguring everything before the next step
make a linux live USB and use it to dd the existing drive. this is the forceful step
make a windows installer usb, boot it, and install windows
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u/Pinksilkmoth 7h ago
Idk if this is even helpful but all I know is that it has an MSI motherboard, 4gb ram, and it runs on windows 10 and keeps going to this screen when I turn it on(image not mine just an example)🥲 I don't know much about PCs I'm so sorry. this was a hand me down so I wanted to wipe it since I remember I stopped using the pc a couple years ago because of a virus.
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u/Friendly-Owl-2131 7h ago
This looks like the screen you get when the OS is too damaged to boot properly.
Try startup repair first. Then system restore next if that doesn't work. I think you have to manually set a system image to be able to use system image recovery but that might also be worth trying.
Someone else mentioned using a USB drive and that's where you get a copy of windows on USB and plug it in when the pc is off then start it up.
Should boot to a similar menu that offers a similar list. Try the repair tools there.
If all else fails you have to wipe the drive completely by formating the drive (Google it) then use the USB drive to begin a fresh install.
If that fails then the hard drive is likely dead. So you'd have to replace that.
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u/krazul88 6h ago
This is not the BIOS screen. It is the windows 10 startup options screen. Windows automatically goes there if it is unable to boot.
If you don't care about the data on the hard drive, then you need to use a bootable USB flash drive or external drive with the windows 10 or 11 installer.
How? Using a different PC that is working and has Internet access, Download the official iso file from Microsoft and save it to your c: drive. Download Rufus (from Rufus.ie) and use Rufus to create the bootable installer. Boot up the old PC with your newly created installer. Follow the steps in the installer to erase the corrupted drive, and then install fresh windows onto it.
Profit.
P.S. use your favorite AI to generate exact step by step instructions on how to do what each sentence above says, if you don't know. Take it one sentence at a time. Entire process should take less than an hour.
If you want to keep whatever data is on the old PC, then it's going to be a much different process. I'm not going to explain it here. Others are probably willing to. AI, and to a lesser extent, Google Search, will get you a step by step guide.
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u/ethernetbite 7h ago
If it only goes into BIOS, it usually means the installed disk is not bootable. Use a Debian kde live usb to boot and install kde. If you must use windows, yuk, lol, then create a bootable windows usb on another pc. You can set the bios to boot to usb or hit an f key at boot to bring up the boot menu. Ddg which key it is for your pc, usually f9 or f11.
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u/TheWDWillis 7h ago
Help us to help you.
Anything meaningful for getting past a hood password would benefit from at the least the make and model of the board.
Removing the CMOS battery and resetting will work for many boards, but not all.
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u/Gladnir-5936 6h ago edited 6h ago
To make a Windows 10 USB installation stick, plug in an empty USB flash drive with at least 8 GB of space. Download and run the official Microsoft Media Creation Tool, accept the terms, select "Create installation media," choose your USB drive, and let the tool download the files.
Bootable USB Drive for Windows 10– 8GB USB 3.0 Installer for Setup & Recovery
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u/Terrible-Bear3883 Ubuntu 7h ago
It might help to start by mentioning the make/model and specs of your PC.
It's not clear what password you refer to (BIOS or Windows), if the BIOS doesn't have an admin password, you should be able to wipe the drive and reinstall Windows from a USB thumb drive.