Factory Reset For All Your Old Devices
Think about the technology in your life. If your phone is full of messages and pictures; your computer, limited workload and entertainment; game console, and half-played games that increase internal storage. Your technology has been put to good use, and that is a good thing. Now, remove it. Install your hard drives. Reset all your technologies in factory settings. Accept deletion.
No, I did not lose my mind. I do not recommend burning up your digital photos or deleting all your valuable chats. I’m not saying you need to delete your data permanently, not even your need to restore your devices to the state when you buy them.
Why reset your devices to factory settings
All technology — computers, phones, tablets, consoles, what you have — slows down over time. Software updates become more advanced on the hardware it operates, the hard disks, applications, and programs need more from your processor and RAM. Many of these features are true of digital life, and cannot be changed. However, some of the mitigation measures are inevitable.
Operating systems are faulty, and sometimes, we live with buggy software that does not filter itself. That can be seen as a recurring error, such as a regular keyboard error, an application that refuses to open, or your cell phone signal being released. Maybe your game console takes longer than it should exit the game when you press the “home” button, or you have trouble connecting to the controller. Turning off the device and turning it on also often fixes minor problems like these, but when there is a real software problem, it always comes back to haunt you.
Another issue that arises from large and small computers is empty files.
After downloading apps, documents, programs, etc. on your computer for months or years, you end up with a variety of files. Although you can always delete large, easily accessible files, there are tons of smaller ones that can be difficult to find and delete. While that is a minor problem for devices like smartphones and game consoles, all computers end up with program files, too, that you have nothing to do with. These file types can also delay the whole experience of using your technology, even if you have never met them at the top.
There are a lot of minor repairs, but there is no such thing as a replacement
There are various mitigation strategies you can take to solve these problems. You can use programs to help you remove unwanted files from your computers, such as those built into the Mac or Windows. Breaking your PC’s hard drive, or rebuilding a website on your PlayStation are two ways to clean up your internal storage, too, and help things go faster (more on that here). You can now reinstall the OS on other devices without deleting any data.
But, if you can’t handle it, the factory reset takes care of everything in one fall. When you restore a device, you erase all its data and install the new OS version to work with. Once you make a backup copy of your important data in advance, nothing really important is lost, and you can take the time to add only the files you want to your phone, rather than combining the things you have been dealing with for a long time.
These days, all my important data is backed up and tied to the clouds.
This is true even for Switch, as cloud storage ensures that my game files are not lost. Thus, erasing my devices is not a problem: when they start backing up, I simply log in to my accounts and select the data I would like to see on my system. Photos, videos, messages, and games, all exist, now only, running into something that sounds brand new.
Speaking of which, the original reset gives you the opportunity to make your device feel like you just bought it. In the world of technology, there is always something shiny and fresh in the corner, but when you reset your existing products, you may not feel the same temptation to improve. That’s a big part of why I try to update my devices regularly: I love when my technology feels new, even if it’s five years old.
How you can reset your device to factory settings
Factory reset may seem like a different option, depending on the device in question. On Mac, you will need to turn on your computer in Recovery Mode, then erase the hard drive and reinstall macOS. Windows makes things easier, as you can find all the required options in Settings> Update and Security> Restore.
For iOS, you can go to Settings> General> Transfer or Reset iPhone> Erase All Content and Settings, while most Android devices should be able to reset from Settings> System> Reset options> Erase all data (factory reset) ). Game systems often refer to factory reset as “startup.” In the change, for example, you will find this option in Settings> Application> Formatting> Launch Console.