Windows 10: Unable to Reset This Win 11 PC using Cloud Install?

Shibu Varughese · Jan 7, 2025

My system was infected and now i am Unable to Reset This Win 11 PC using Cloud Install, what are other options available?

:)

Vineet_K · Jan 7, 2025

Reset your PC using cloud download fails

Hi,

Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.

I understand that you are facing issues in resetting PC using cloud download option

In order to get clarity and to assist you accordingly, please reply with the answers to the questions below:

What is the make and model number of your PC?

What happens when you select cloud download option for reset?

Do you get any error while trying to reset PC using cloud?

Do you use Wi-Fi or wired connection for internet?

Are you aware of any recent changes on the PC prior to this issue?

Please provide more information regarding the issue

Meanwhile, I would suggest you to perform a clean installation of Windows on PC, you can refer the section Clean install of Windows 10 using installation media from the article Reinstall Windows 10

Note: Performing a clean installation will remove all the applications/programs. Hence before doing that, please backup your important data at least on an external hard disk

If you are unsure about performing any steps, we do have videos for the same, you can watch the videos and perform the steps.

Refer: How to Clean Install Windows 10 on a PC Step-by-Step Guide

Additional information:

Optimize Windows 10 PC reset using the cloud

Optimize Windows 10 PC reset using the cloud - Windows Insider

Let us know how it goes, we would be glad to help you further

Vineet Kumar

Microsoft Community – Moderator

Anthony Cato · Jan 7, 2025

Unable to reset the pc

Hello,

If you are having that message while trying to reset your computer, We suggest you to create an installation media for Windows 10 using Media
Creation Tool and perform a Reset.

Once the installation media is created, follow the steps below:

Insert the installation media you created, and then restart your PC.

On the Install Windows screen, select Repair your computer.

On the Choose an option screen, select Troubleshoot. From there, you can use Safe Mode. Select
Advanced Options >Reset This PC>Remove everything.

After the reset is complete, check for status.

Give us an update on what happens.

Brink · Jan 7, 2025

Optimize Windows 10 PC reset using the cloud

EDITOR’S NOTE: I am publishing this article on behalf of Aaron Lower. Aaron is a Program Manager on the Core OS and Intelligent Edge (COSINE) Fundamentals team at Microsoft. His team focuses on the underlying technologies and platforms that are used to install and reinstall (or recover) Windows.

Today, I’m excited to share more detail on the ability to reset a Windows 10 PC by downloading a new image from the cloud instead of using the existing Windows files stored on the machine.

We’ve heard your feedback about some of the unsuccessful attempts to use Reset this PC and we’ve been working on new features to make this process more reliable and faster. First available in Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18970.

Windows recovery over the years

For the better part of 20 years, we have been adding features to make reinstalling Windows easier for everyone. As far back as Windows XP, many PC manufacturers included a recovery partition that made it possible to reinstall without needing to use media (CD/DVD then, USB today). This model of a recovery partition with a compressed copy of Windows (and also included specific device drivers and applications) continued through Windows Vista, Windows 7, and was the starting point for the improvements in Windows 8. In Windows 8, we standardized on the platform and user experience for recovery, which allowed PC manufacturers to seamlessly plug-in device recovery images without having to invest in a custom solution. We also made the process very easy to use and added the ability to recover Windows while retaining user data, reducing the steps and time to get back to using your device. The next major improvement came with Windows 10 and “imageless” recovery. This is done by constructing a new copy of Windows from the existing installation. Because this approach doesn’t use a recovery image it saves storage space on the disk and preserves the latest security updates. The trade-off of this approach is it can take more than 45 minutes and cannot always repair Windows if the installation is in a really bad state or is too corrupted. That is where this latest cloud download option in Reset this PC can help.

Cloud download

You can use the new cloud download option to get Windows from the cloud to reinstall instead of reusing the existing Windows files to construct a fresh copy. This can be a more reliable way to reinstall Windows and, depending on internet speed, can be a faster as well. To achieve a similar result previously you would have to download Windows and create a USB stick, but because this is built-in to Windows it doesn’t require the extra steps of creating a USB stick to do the installation.

How to use this feature

For Windows 10 builds 18970 and newer you can initiate Reset this PC and select the cloud download option through Settings:

Select the Start button, then select Settings > Update & Security > Recovery

After selecting Keep my files or Remove everything you will see Cloud download or Local reinstall. The Cloud download option will connect to Windows Update over your current network connection.

How this all works

While all of this looks easy there are quite a few phases and operations to get through, they can be summarized as the following (Keep my files performs 2 additional steps in the second phase):

Preparation phase

While you are selecting options in the interface, in the background we are preparing and checking requirements

Ensure the device is not on battery power

Check that Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE) is present and enabled

Scan to see what optional features and languages are installed

Check connectivity with the Windows Update and determine download size

When you click “Reset” (see Figure 1: Final confirmation) the download begins. After this everything will continue without any interaction. When the download completes the offline phase will begin by rebooting into Windows RE (if the reset was initiated from Windows RE the system will not reboot and just continue)

Offline phase

Boot to Windows RE

Apply image from the downloaded payload

(Keep my files) Gather user profile from the previous OS and apply to the new OS

Gather drivers from the previous OS

Apply optional features and languages to the new OS

Switch OS root folder from the previous OS to the new OS

Delete downloaded payload

Reboot into the new OS

Apply drivers to the new OS

Apply OEM customizations including preinstalled Windows apps

Reboot to the Out-Of-Box-Experience (OOBE)

(Keep my files) Skip OOBE and proceed to login screen

What you can do if you can’t boot into Windows

If the device isn’t able to boot into Windows you can initiate Reset this PC with the cloud download in the Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE). If Windows is unable to boot after two consecutive failed attempts the device should boot into Windows RE automatically.

Select Troubleshoot > Reset this PC, then select Keep my files or Remove everything, if you have a wired internet connection you can then select Cloud download (Connecting over wireless networking in Windows RE may be available depending on drivers loaded by the PC manufacturer)

This new cloud download option will continue to enable you to reinstall Windows and get your device back to a healthy state. Whether it is initiated through Windows 10 Settings or Windows RE troubleshooting the phases and operations are nearly identical.

As we continue to improve we are always interested in your ideas, please share them in Feedback Hub.
Click to expand...

Source: Optimize Windows 10 PC reset using the cloud - Windows Insider

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