Note: If you have Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) or 10.6 (Snow Leopard), you will need to download OS X El Capitan before you can upgrade to the latest Mac OS. While insecure versions of Firefox will continue to work on OS X 10.8 and earlier, using an up-to-date version of Firefox on a supported version of Mac OS will provide you with the best and safest. Open Control Panel in Windows 10/8/7 and list all the items by large icons. Click the Programs and Features link to the app list. Right-click on the problematic program and choose Uninstall to remove it. Restart your PC, get the latest version of this program and install it on your computer again.

Summary :

Method 5: Change Your Group Policy. Sometimes, Windows Defender won't turn on in Windows 10/8/7 because it is turned off by your group policy. This can be a problem but you are able to fix it simply by changing the group policy. Roomba S9+ weird behaviour on version 3.10.8. Like many others I have been experiencing weird behaviour with my S9+ lately. I assume said behaviour was caused by the infamous 3.12.8 firmware update - but I didn't confirm the version at the time. I later checked and saw that my Roomba is on version 3.10.8, and I assume that it has been rolled.

When your laptop runs very slowly or your computer encounters some serious problems and fails to boot, you can choose to factory reset laptop. How to restore laptop to factory settings in Windows 10/8/7? Here are possible ways to reset your laptop like Toshiba, Acer, HP, etc. In addition, a suggestion will be told to you.

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'Hello, I'm trying to do a factory restore of my Toshiba M205-S4806, and it won't work...It has been loading very slowly from the 'Toshiba Leading Innovation' screen. When I try to do the '0' from restart to initiate the reboot, it'll take forever to get past that screen...'tomsguide

When you search “laptop factory reset” on the internet, you will find many searching results. Thereinto, the above example is the one question asked by many users.

As a matter of fact, to restore your computer to factory settings is an option to help you solve many issues on Windows 10/8/7. Let’s see some details.

About Factory Reset

When it comes to factory reset, you should know something about it.

To be specific, it can also be known as master reset, referring to a software restore of an electronic device to the original system state - manufacturer setting via deleting all information stored on the device. As for computer factory reset, it will delete all the user data.

To factory reset laptop is often done to fix many issues. Perhaps your laptop has some problems with performance, for instance, the computer is running slowly.

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Or your laptop is picking up a virus or you only want to remove all your files, passwords, programs and other sensitive information and then throw away the laptop.

All those things can be achieved by a factory reset. Then, you will ask: how do I restore my computer to factory settings?

How to Factory Reset a Laptop in Windows 10/8/7

Tip: Before factory reset, you had better first back up the important data stored on your laptop since restoring factory setting will delete all the user data and programs you have downloaded since you got your laptop. To back up your computer, we advise you to use MiniTool ShadowMaker. Here is a useful article: How to Backup Computer to External Hard Drive in Windows 10/8/7.

And then, you can take action to factory reset Windows 10/8/7. Now here we will show you some useful methods.

Way 1: Use Recovery Partition

How to factory reset Windows 7 without password? How to factory reset Windows 8 without CD? How to do Windows 10 factory reset from boot? These three questions may be asked by you. Actually, it is quite easy to factory reset laptop with a recovery partition.

As is well known, recovery partition refers to the special partition on your disk used to restore the system to its factory settings in case system failure happens.

If your system is installed on a GPT disk, there will be a built-in Windows recovery partition that is visible in Windows Disk Management. In addition, there is another kind of recovery partition called supplier’s recovery partition, including these manufacturers Dell, HP, Lenovo and more.

Both of these two kinds of recovery partition are available to restore laptop to factory settings.

To factory reset laptop in Windows 10/8/7, follow the steps below:

1. Restart your laptop.

2. During the startup, press the corresponding key(s) to boot your computer into the recovery environment. Perhaps you will ask: how to factory reset an HP laptop or Toshiba laptop? How to reset a Dell laptop?

In fact, as for different laptop manufacturers, the specific key is different. For instance, Dell (F8), Acer (Alt+ F10), HP (F11), Samsung(F4), Lenovo (F11), Asus (F9), Toshiba (0) and more. Suppose that you want to boot from a recovery disc, to change the boot order should be done.

3. After that, follow the corresponding instructions to factory reset laptop.

For more information, watch this video.

Way 2: Windows 10 Reset This PC Keep My Files

If there is no recovery partition on your laptop, what should you do to let your laptop restore to factory settings? The way is to reset your laptop.

Additionally, you may be wondering: how to factory reset Windows 10 without settings? How to factory reset Windows 8 without CD? Actually, Reset this PC can be used for this work.

To factory reset Windows 10/8, the steps are the same. Here take Windows 10 as an example.

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1. Select Settings after clicking Start.

2. Click Update & security.

3. Then navigate to Recovery tab, select Get Started to begin laptop factory reset.

4. Then two options will be displayed, including Keep my files or Remove everything. Select one.

5. Then you see some apps installed after getting the laptop will be removed. Click Next.

6. Click Reset to begin the operation now.

If your laptop fails to boot, you can enter WinPE to do this job. Go to Troubleshoot > Reset this PC > Keep my files > Choose an account > Enter the password > Reset.

Then, Windows 10 factory reset from boot will be performed.

Tip: Some of you may be wondering about how to factory reset Windows 10 without password. You should go to Troubleshoot > Reset this PC > Remove everything. Then, following the wizard to finish the factory reset laptop for Windows 10.

Windows 10 reset stuck at 1/12/66/99 percent? Here are 3 useful methods to fix Windows 10 reset stuck on spinning circle black screen.

Way 3: Use Windows Restore Point

If you are using Windows 7, you probably ask: how do I restore my computer to factory settings Windows 7? How to factory reset Windows 7 without CD?

In this case, you can use the system restore point you have created after you purchase the laptop to restore laptop to factory settings.

  1. When the system is unbootable, you can press F8 at startup to choose Safe Mode with Command Prompt.
  2. After Command Prompt logs in Administrator, type exe to bring up system restore window and perform the restoration following the instructions.
Tip: In addition to Windows 7, you can also perform command prompt factory reset Windows 10/8 via a restore point.

Restore Laptop to the Previous State with System Backup

When your laptop runs slowly or suffers from some serious problems, you can choose to factory reset laptop to fix these issues with the above three ways. However, you know all the user data and programs since you purchased the laptop will be deleted. And you need to reinstall these applications, which is time-consuming.

Under this circumstance, we advise you to create a system backup on a regular basis and then you can restore your laptop to an earlier date.

Here the free backup software – MiniTool ShadowMaker released by MiniTool Solution Ltd. is really very easy-to-use and reliable for system backup, partition backup, disk backup and the corresponding restoration in Windows 10/8/7.

As for an ideal backup solution, the scheduled backup, incremental backup, and differential backup are also supported in this program.

Here we strongly recommend you to download MiniTool ShadowMaker Trial Edition, install it on your laptop and back up the system in Windows 10/8/7 after you get the new laptop.Then in the event of system corruption, use the system backup to restore your laptop to an earlier date.

Related article:3 Ways to Create Automatic File Backup in Windows 10 Easily

Here we will show you how to back up the system and restore it to the earliest computer setting state.

Back up Windows 10/8/7

Step 1: After opening your laptop and installing MiniTool ShadowMaker, you can enter an interface to choose to manage the local computer or another computer on the same LAN.

Step 2: In Backup page, by default, you know MiniTool can choose the system drives used to boot the laptop to back up. (This program always selects the system partitions in the current OS).

Then, click the Destination to choose the storage location for the system image. You had better choose an external hard drive which can be connected to your laptop via USB cable.

Step 3: Please perform the system backup image operation by hitting Back up Now button. Then you need to wait for a few minutes until the backup operation is completed.

From the Backup interface, you can see Schedule option which enables you to perform backup task regularly. Four modes are here, including Daily, Weekly,Monthly and On Event. Just choose one.

Besides, this software offers you Scheme feature, helping create differential backups and incremental backups, as well as disk management when backing up.

System Restore for Laptop

In the case of system crash, you can use the system backup created before to restore your laptop to earlier settings.

How can you do this work with system image? Look at the steps as shown below.

In order to do a system restore, you are required to create MiniTool ShadowMaker Bootable Edition to do a system restore in WinPE. Here the Media Builder feature enables you to create a bootable CD/DVD or USB drive to boot your laptop.

Perhaps you are looking for:

After that, just begin the system restore in Windows 10/8/7.

Step 1: In the Restore tab, all backup versions are listed here. Just choose the newest system backup to restore your laptop to the previous date.

Note: Here you will find some drive letters of the partitions are different from they are in Windows. You can distinguish them according to the partition size, backup time and more.

Step 2: Select a backup version, and click Next.

Step 3: All partitions in the selected system backup image will be checked by default. From the following screenshot, you know MBR and Track 0 is selected. Don’t uncheck it. If not, after restoration, your system can’t boot.

Step 4: Then, you will see all hard drives connected to your laptop via USB cable will be listed. Please choose a target disk to restore the system image to. Usually, we recommend you to restore the image file to the original system disk.

After clicking Next, a warning will pop up to tell you which partition the image will be restored to and all partition data on the drive will be overwritten.

Step 5: Then the restoration process will be performed. Please wait for a few minutes.

Like that, your laptop can be restored to an earlier time by means of a system backup made in advance. Just free download MiniTool ShadowMaker to have a try now.

Hot article:2 Ways to Restore Computer to Earlier Date in Windows 10

Why Restore Laptop from System Backup Not Factory Reset Laptop

In the above sections, you know how to factory reset Windows 10/8/7 and how to restore the computer to an earlier date with MiniTool ShadowMaker.

By contrast, we strongly advise you to use MiniTool ShadowMaker to back up your laptop.

Why?

Actually, you know laptop factory reset can restore laptop to factory settings, namely, all user data and programs after purchase will be deleted. Then you need to download and install these programs again. This is not a good way to solve system issues.

But, with the help of MiniTool ShadowMaker, you can make a system image and set to perform backup task regularly. Once your laptop gets something wrong, the system image file can be available to restore the computer to an earlier date quickly and effectively.

In addition, this freeware enables you to back up the entire disk to protect data. Now, free download this program for a try!

Bottom Line

In this post, we tell you what factory reset is on a laptop, how to factory reset laptop Windows 7/8/10, how to use MiniTool ShadowMaker to back up and restore the system and the comparison of these two types of system issue solution. When the system can’t boot, just choose one way to restore it to a normal state.

If there is any question when using our software, please feel free to tell us. You can write an email and send it to our official mailbox [email protected] or leave your comment in the corresponding comment location. Besides, as for the suggestion to this post, we are also appreciated.

How to Reset a Laptop FAQ

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You can restore your laptop to the factory settings via Reset this PC if you are running Windows 10. Just go to Settings > Update & Security > Recovery and click Get started under the Reset this PC section. Then, choose to keep your files or remove everything and follow the on-screen instructions to finish the factory reset.

In addition, you can also use Recovery partition or a system restore point to restore the PC to factory settings.

What happens if I reset my computer to factory settings?
If you reset your PC in Windows 10 and choose to remove everything, the hard drive is completely erased and all of your financial, business and personal files will be deleted. Remember to back up your important data with MiniTool ShadowMaker before resetting. You cannot interrupt the resetting process once it starts.
You can do this from the BIOS page on most computers. In BIOS, you can access the recovery partition on your hard drive if the PC vendor included one. If you are locked out of the BIOS, just remove the CMOS battery from the PC’s motherboard, wait for 5 to 10 minutes and put the battery back to reset the BIOS.
How do I restore my computer to factory settings Windows 7 without CD?
  1. Choose Control Panel from the Start menu.
  2. Go to System and Security and click Backup and Restore.
  3. Click the Recover system settings or your computer.
  4. Click Advanced recovery methods.
  5. Choose Return your computer to factory condition.
  6. Click Skip and then start the factory reset.

Summary :

Is your Windows Defender not turning on? Are you looking for full solutions to get rid of this issue? This post will show you how to repair Windows Defender in Windows 10/8/7 so your PC can be protected from viruses. We will also introduce a professional backup software for PC protection.

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Windows Defender Will Not Turn on Windows 10/8/7

Windows Defender (also called Windows Defender Security Center in Windows 10 1703 or later), a fully integrated part of Windows, is an antivirus program. It can offer real-time protection from various threats like spyware, malware, and viruses to your PC. Once it scans and finds potential threats, this program will stop them.

However, many users have reported that their Windows Defender can't be turned on for virus defense in Windows 10/8/7 when they click on the Turn on button.

One Windows 10 user from tomsguide said:

'A few days back I turned it off completely using group edit policy, but now when I try to put on the real-time protection slider, it asks for permission but then nothing happens...'tomsguide

In addition to the case when Windows Defender could be turned off by group policy, some users said Windows Defender gets an unexpected error and cannot be opened or Windows Defender can't open after uninstalling Avast, Bitdefender, McAfee, AVG.

To put it simply, this issue is possibly caused by the installation of third-party antivirus software, a corrupted registry, software conflicts, and so on. For Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10 users, it is fairly common.

Well then, what to do if you are troubled by Windows Defender not working? How to turn on Windows Defender in Windows 8/10/7 successfully? Take it easy! Get the full solutions from the following part to help you out.

Further tip: If your Windows Defender can work normally, but you have a need to disable it, you can watch the following video.

How to Repair Windows Defender Windows 10/8/7

Method 1: Uninstall Third-party Antivirus Software

If you have installed any third-party software on your computer, Windows operating system will automatically detect it and turn itself down. Thus, the first thing you can try is to disable your other security programs.

How to disable (stop or close), remove (or uninstall) Avast antivirus in Windows and Mac? This post shows you multiple methods for this work.

If that is not working, the best way is to completely remove them. To do this, go to Control Panel > Programs and Features in Windows 7 or navigate to Control Panel > Programs > Uninstall a program in Windows 10/8.

Then find your third-party program, right-click on it and choose Uninstall or Uninstall/Change to remove it to get rid of Windows Defender not turning on issue.

Alternatively, you can use a professional removal tool to uninstall your security applications, remove all files (including undetected files) and registry entries associated with the application, which may also prevent you from running Windows Defender.

Finally, restart your PC and try launching Windows Defender again to see if it can be turned on for virus, spyware and other threats protection.

Method 2: Restart the Security Center Service

In order to let Windows Defender work properly, you need to enable certain services. If those services aren't running well, the issue of Windows Defender not turning on will happen on Windows 10/8/7. So, follow the instructions to restart necessary services, and here we will show you enabling Security Center service.

Step 1: Click Win and R keys on your keyboard to launch the Run box.

Step 2: Input services.msc in the box and press Enter.

Step 3: In the Services interface, search for Security Center service and right-click on it to choose the Restart option.

Once this service is restarted, you can check if the issue -Windows Defender not starting is solved.

Method 3: Run an SFC Scan

If Windows Defender will not turn on Windows 10/8/7 and runs into an unexpected error, perhaps there is something wrong with your system files. So, you can perform an SFC scan.

SFC, known as System File Checker, is a utility in Windows that allows you to scan for corruptions in Windows system files and restore them. How to scan your system files and repair missing or corrupted files? Here are the steps.

Step 1: Type cmd in the search box of Windows 7/8/10 and right-click on it to run this program as administrator.

Step 2: In the Command Prompt window, type sfc /scannow command line and press the Enter key.

Then, this utility will begin a system scan. This process will take some time, so please wait patiently until verification reaches 100%.

Step 3: Later, exit the CMD window to check whether Windows Defender unexpected error is resolved.

Tip: Sometimes, SFC scan will fail to work with an error message. Fortunately, you can find solutions from this post - Quickly Fix SFC Scannow Not Working (Focus on 2 Cases).

In order to fix the issue of Windows Defender Antivirus not turning on, you can try using DISM scan instead. To do that, follow the guide:

Step 1: Run Command Prompt as administrator.

Step 2: In the pop-up window, enter DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth and hit Enter to execute this command line. Similarly, this scan will take some time, just wait and don't interrupt it.

Method 4: Install the Latest Update

An outdated Windows operating system may cause the issue of Windows Defender not turning on. Some users reported that they had been able to fix the issue simply by installing the latest Windows update - latest signature updates are necessary for Windows Defender to keep your PC secure.

Note: Installing Windows update may give rise to data loss, thus, you had better back up your important files before an update so that you can restore the computer to a previous state in case of accidents.

You must be eager to know the way to recover lost files after Windows update if you find needed files disappear after the update is finished.

Back up Files or Windows OS before an Update

To back up crucial files, you can choose the professional backup software for Windows 10/8/7, MiniTool ShadowMaker since it allows you to back up files into an image and sync files or folders to other safe locations. Now, get MiniTool ShadowMaker Trial Edition on your computer and then install it for file backup.

Step 1: Run MiniTool ShadowMaker Trial.

Step 2: In the Backup page, go to Source > Folders and Files to choose important files that you want to back up.

Then go to Destination to choose the place where you need to save the backup. Here an external hard drive, USB drive, NAS, etc. can be available.

Step 3: After finishing all the selections, click Back up Now button to start the backup operation.

In addition, you can take full advantage of the Sync feature to synchronize your important files. This tutorial - How to Sync Folders Windows 10 to External Drive? 3 Tools Are Here shows you detailed operating steps.

Upgrade Windows OS

Now, it is time for you to install the latest Windows operating system. How to perform a Windows update? Here is the guide:

Step 1: In Windows 7, go to Control Panel and click Windows Update. In Windows 8, go to Control Panel > System and Security > Windows Update. In Windows 10, navigate to Settings > Update & security to enter the Windows Update interface.

Step 2: Click Check for updates. If there are available updates, install them and restart your PC.

After completing Windows updates, the problem of Windows Defender not turning on maybe disappeared.

Tip: Windows failed to check for updates? Read this article Windows Update Cannot Currently Check for Updates to look for solutions.

Method 5: Change Your Group Policy

Sometimes, Windows Defender won't turn on in Windows 10/8/7 because it is turned off by your group policy. This can be a problem but you are able to fix it simply by changing the group policy.

To do that, follow the step-by-step guide:

Step 1: Open the Run dialog by clicking Win + R keys on the keyboard.

Step 2: Type gpedit.msc and press the OK button.

Step 3: In the Local Group Policy Editor interface, go to the left pane and navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Template > Windows Components > Windows Defender Antivirus.

Step 4: In the right pane, double-click on Turn off Windows Defender Antivirus.

Step 5: In the pop-up window, choose Not Configured, click the Apply and OK button.

After these changes are brought into effect, the issue of Windows Defender not working due to the group policy being turned off should be solved, and you can run it to protect your PC.

Method 6: Modify Windows Registry

When you fail to enable Windows Defender in Windows 10/8/7, the problem may be related to your registry. Then, you can change it to fix this issue.

Note: We strongly recommend you to back up Windows registry before modifying it to avoid system accidents.

Step 1: Input regedit in the text box of the Run window.

Step 2: In the Registry Editor interface, go to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindows Defender

Step 3: Find DisableAntiSpyware key. If this key is not listed, please right-click the blank, choose New and DWORD (32-bit) Value to create it.

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Step 4: Right-click on it and set its Value data to 0.

After you have changed Windows Defender using Registry Editor, you can check if Windows Defender Antivirus not turning on is solved.

Method 7: Perform a Clean Boot

If you start the Windows system in normal start-up operation, there might be many third-party applications running in the background. These applications can cause software conflicts and interfere with Windows. As a result, you can't turn on Windows Defender in Windows 10/8/7.

To Repair Windows Defender issue, you can perform a Clean Boot. This method is quite simple and you can do by following these instructions:

Step 1: Launch the Run window, and enter msconfig in the textbox.

Step 2: In the System Configuration interface, go to the General tab, choose Selective startup and uncheck Load startup items.

Step 3: Under the Services tab, tick Hide all Microsoft services and click Disable all.

Step 4: Click the OK and Restart button to reboot your PC.

Note: After finishing your troubleshooting, go to System Configuration > General to change the startup setting to Normal startup. And enter the Services tab to enable all Microsoft services.

Now, all of the possible ways to fix Windows Defender not turning on have been shown to you. Just try them one by one to repair Windows Defender in Windows 10/8/7. If you think these ways are helpful, you can also share them on Twitter to let more people know.

Use MiniTool ShadowMaker to Protect Your PC from Viruses and Other Threats

In order to protect your computer against spyware, ransomware, adware, viruses and other threats, you can try another way that is to use MiniTool ShadowMaker to back up your computer.

MiniTool ShadowMaker, one of the best backup software for Windows 10/8/7 users, is really worth recommending. In addition to backing up your important files (as mentioned above), it can help you easily and effectively back up your Windows operating system, disk, and partition. If your system ever goes wrong, you can use the backup to restore it to a normal state.

Additionally, it supports disk cloning, which helps you transfer all the content on a disk to another for the entire disk data backup. For system disk cloning, the cloned drive can be used to boot the PC in case of a system crash.

Are you interested in this backup software? Now get MiniTool ShadowMaker Trial Edition (30 days trial) from the following button.

Step 1: Run this free backup software, continue to use the Trial Edition and choose the local backup mode.

Step 2: After entering the Backup page, you can see this program will back up your Windows system by default since the system partitions and destination path are chosen. Of course, you can click the Source and Destination module to decide what you want to back up and where you need to save the image.

Next, just click Back up Now button to execute the operation in Manage page.

Tip: In order to protect your PC well, you can take full advantage of its Schedule option to automatically back up your files or the Windows OS.

In addition, you can choose the entire system disk to create a hard drive image. Or go to Tools page to use its Clone Disk feature to perform a disk cloning for backup.

Related article:How to Clone a Hard Drive to SSD in Windows 10/8/7?

Bottom Line

Can't turn on Windows Defender Windows 10/8/7? How to turn on Windows Defender in Windows 10/8/7? We have shown you solutions to fix the issue of Windows Defender not turning on; just try them one by one.

To keep your PC safe, you should use the professional and reliable PC backup software, MiniTool ShadowMaker to back up the important files or Windows system automatically.

If you have any other solution to repair Windows Defender or any question related to MiniTool software, please contact us via [email protected] or leave your idea in the comment part below.

Windows Defender Not Turning on FAQ

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  1. Uninstall third-party antivirus software
  2. Restart the Security Center Service
  3. Run an SFC scan
  4. Install the latest update
  5. Change your group policy
  6. Modify Windows Registry
  7. Perform a clean boot
The causes for Windows Defender not updating are various, such as connectivity problems, Windows Defender services not running, corrupted system files, a Windows update problem, etc. The solutions should depend on the error message that you have received. Just search the specific error online for the fixes.
By default, Windows Defender automatically enables cloud-based protection, sample submission, and real-time protection. You can go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Defender > Open Windows Defender Security Center. Then, click Settings > Virus & threat protection settings to check these settings.
Although you have Windows Defender - the built-in antivirus software in Windows 10, you may also need a third-party antivirus program. This post- Is Windows Defender Enough? More Solutions to Protect PC shows you some things that Windows Defender cannot do, as well as some other methods for keeping PC safe.