Not the same, but for your purposes it could work. Only thing is if you have a corrupt install it might not fix broken files, just make sure they are there (I’m not 100% sure though as I never bother with factory resets unless my laptop DVD drive is broke, which has happened once). Also windows runs on a algorithm that get’s bigger by one every cycle, so after years of it running it slows the computer down as the numbers got so bit it eats up resources just running it.

sec logging on msn

@Logue {the1log} 479518 wrote:

Is this the same as formating C: Factory reset Advent 7201? – Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers

No it isn’t. The idea behind that thread is that it starts the factory reset process – a hidden part of the hard drive that is devoted to zapping the whole machine back to how it was fresh out of the box.

Whether or not your particular machine has a hidden factory reset process does depend on the make and model BUT… there is also a ISO out there that will start the procedure on pretty much any machine with a hidden factory reset process. You have to download the ISO file, use it to burn a CD, and then boot from the CD. Fiddly but it does work. Less work (and legal) than getting a set of Windows disks. See here for how;-

Creating a Windows Vista Recovery CD | TechRepublic

Personally I’d just say “fuck it” and put Ubuntu on there. Or buy a 2nd hand hard disk, take out your current one, put in the replacement and stick Ubuntu on the replacement. That way you won’t lose data from the hard drive that won’t boot to Windows anymore.