Windows 8 recovery?

[Chuckt]

Does Windows 8 have recovery for restoring the computer back to its factory condition guaranteed when hit by a virus?

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Short answer: No.
It does have system restore, however any virus that works will usually store a launcher for itself in the recovery partition. So after you do a full restore. The virus is not gone.
This is one of the KEY weaknesses in Windows that other operating systems do not have.
The only way to REALLY take it back to day one is to take a Windows 8 DVD and do a full reformat of all partitions. But then of course you do not get a DVD with a new computer - so you are out of luck.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Longer answer, and actually correct, yes and no. There is a reset feature that will remove all non windows features from the OS and reset it to its original, out of the box condition before the manufacturer added in its features. If you want to return it to "Out of the Box" condition you need to use the recovery software provided by the PC manufacturer.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/restore-refresh-reset-pc

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Longer answer, and actually correct, yes and no. There is a reset feature that will remove all non windows features from the OS and reset it to its original, out of the box condition before the manufacturer added in its features. If you want to return it to "Out of the Box" condition you need to use the recovery software provided by the PC manufacturer.

How to refresh, reset, or restore your PC - Microsoft Windows Help

Just to be clear - many viruses will simply reappear by just doing a restore.

1) Boot sector, some viruses will plant a launcher in the boot sector, This is untouched even in a full blown reformat. Only way to fix this is to run FDISK /mbr
2) Recovery partition virus. System restore does not touch this partition, so within seconds of running recovery - oops - virus is back.

The ONLY way to truly clean a Windows PC is to...
1) Boot from a Windows 8 DVD...and get to the command prompt and run fdisk /mbr
2) Reboot (again off of the DVD) and choose format - do not choose "quick format" this does not format the drive. Choose full format. This will take 20-30 minutes.
3) Reinstall Win 8

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Longer answer, and actually correct, yes and no. There is a reset feature that will remove all non windows features from the OS and reset it to its original, out of the box condition before the manufacturer added in its features. If you want to return it to "Out of the Box" condition you need to use the recovery software provided by the PC manufacturer.

How to refresh, reset, or restore your PC - Microsoft Windows Help

Just to be clear - many viruses will simply reappear by just doing a restore.

1) Boot sector, some viruses will plant a launcher in the boot sector, This is untouched even in a full blown reformat. Only way to fix this is to run FDISK /mbr
2) Recovery partition virus. System restore does not touch this partition, so within seconds of running recovery - oops - virus is back.

The ONLY way to truly clean a Windows PC is to...
1) Boot from a Windows 8 DVD...and get to the command prompt and run fdisk /mbr
2) Reboot (again off of the DVD) and choose format - do not choose "quick format" this does not format the drive. Choose full format. This will take 20-30 minutes.
3) Reinstall Win 8

Just to be clear, Windows 8 reset/refresh is not a restore.

 

[XPostFacto]

Short answer: No.
It does have system restore, however any virus that works will usually store a launcher for itself in the recovery partition. So after you do a full restore. The virus is not gone.
This is one of the KEY weaknesses in Windows that other operating systems do not have.
The only way to REALLY take it back to day one is to take a Windows 8 DVD and do a full reformat of all partitions. But then of course you do not get a DVD with a new computer - so you are out of luck.

That may not be true, not if he created those recovery disks when prompted to do so. I did and locked them up for safe keeping. That would be his only hope because initially, he would not have contracted a virus when he was first setting up his laptop.