Question Advice for resetting a gaming pc from PC Specialist

[KickYoBooty]

Hello !

I have inherited a gaming pc from PC Specialist from my dad, and i wanted to know whether i can reset the pc ? does it have any software that was already installed ? Would that be a problem? How do i reset my pc? I know near enough nothing about pc's, i just play games xD Help a fellow gamer !

Note : I don't wanna get into it, but i can no longer ask my dad anything.

[Mod edit: merged 2 posts.]

 

[COLGeek]

Can you log into Windows now?

 

[KickYoBooty]

Can you log into Windows now?

I have attempted to multiple times, and it asking me for the current password... I'm guessing the one my dad used but I don't have access to it..

 

[COLGeek]

We can't help you bypass a password.

You could wipe the system and perform a full clean installation of Windows and whatever games/applications you want.

From our sibling site:

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

forums.tomshardware.com

How To - Windows 11 clean install tutorial

Windows 11 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows 11, version 23H2 or newer but can be equally applied to earlier versions which may have some basic differences in the screens you see but will largely remain similar in...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[KickYoBooty]

Ok, But is it possible that there was already software install by pc specialist before handing it off to my dad ? If yes, where can i find out what software is installed in it before wiping the pc ?

i don't know what specs he had installed ?

 

[COLGeek]

Probably not. If anything, some trial versions.

How old, approximately, is the PC?

 

[BeardyHat]

Ok, But is it possible that there was already software install by pc specialist before handing it off to my dad ? If yes, where can i find out what software is installed in it before wiping the pc ?

i don't know what specs he had installed ?

You could pull the main drive and then use an adapter with another PC to read it and see what's installed. Note that it'll just mount as an additional drive and then you can browse through the Program Files directory and the User directory to see what it had on it.

Odds are, unless you're hoping for some licensed software to already be on there that you won't be able to access again, everything is fine to simply wipe and reinstall Windows. Windows will install most of the drivers you need and anything else you can look through the Device Manager to see what needs updating. As well, they may have a model number on it, which you could use on their website (assuming they have one) and grab all associated drivers.

 

[Rolfil]

Ok, But is it possible that there was already software install by pc specialist before handing it off to my dad ? If yes, where can i find out what software is installed in it before wiping the pc ?

i don't know what specs he had installed ?

As your using this PC for gaming you don't need any of the extra software that PC specialist might have installed.

Just doing a clean install of windows as suggested above will be the best option.

 

[Colif]

You can't do a reset on windows without the password anyway, so clean install is only choice.

 

[KickYoBooty]

okai... i dunno how to do anything ya'll said xD

 

[COLGeek]

okai... i dunno how to do anything ya'll said xD

Two tutorials were linked above. One for Windows 10, the other for Windows 11. Just follow one of those.

You never answered regarding the approximate age of the system.

 

[KickYoBooty]

pc is between 5 - 8 years old

 

[COLGeek]

pc is between 5 - 8 years old

Do you know what CPU is has? If you access the BIOS, you should be able to determine that, as well as how much memory you have. Both would be useful.

It will also help verify whether Windows 11 will run properly on it, or not.

 

[Colif]

my guess is its likely win 10 that needs to be installed.

starting PC and just going to logon screen and showing a photo of what you see would answer which they are on now.

Knowing what motherboard it is might help too. since we probably need to show them how to boot from it.

 

[KickYoBooty]

What’s the bios ? And how do I know where to look to see what the cpu is ? I think it’s windows 10

 

[COLGeek]

Usually when you power on a system, you'll see a "splash" screen. It will say something like "press DEL or F2 to enter the BIOS" or words to that effect. You'll also like see an option for pressing F11 to manually select a boot device.

In your situation, try DEL or F2.

 

[Colif]

There is one way to clean install win 10 without needing to go into BIOS at all.

Put USB with win 10 installer into USB drive (Make a new installer before doing this as it helps to be on latest version of windows, less updates after)
Start PC.
Get to logon screen
without entering anything, click on the power button in bottom right of screen
while holding shift, click the restart button

This loads you into a Blue screen at startup
there should be an option called Use device on this first screen.
Pick the USB drive from the list and PC will boot from this and start the installation process.

Follow the guide for installing win 10

 

[KickYoBooty]

I did it you guys ! brand new, running smooth ! Thank you for all your advice guys, real help ! cheers
bai bai

 

[COLGeek]

I did it you guys ! brand new, running smooth ! Thank you for all your advice guys, real help ! cheers
bai bai

Enjoy!