How do I factory restore an Emachine w3609?

You might be able to purchase a set of factory image CDs from eMachines, but not all manufacturers make them available. You might also find sets for sale on eBay and from some other vendors.

Without the factory restore CDs, you can still reinstall Windows but you'll need to do a little more work. Download the drivers for your system (audio, video, etc.) from the eMachines website and save them on a flash drive. Find a copy of the XP installation CD for your version. You may be able to borrow one from someone. Do a regular installation of Windows, using the product key from the sticker on your computer. Install the drivers you downloaded as required for anything that Windows doesn't properly detect and support. Then activate your Windows installation.

This is sometimes a good thing to do. Some brands of computers come preloaded with so many "bloatware" applications and programs that try to be helpful that doing a clean install like this gives you a faster system when you're done.

The downside is that any preloaded applications that may be worth having, such as antivirus/antispyware applications, media players or CD/DVD burning software won't be there. You will need to do that yourself. There are plenty to choose from for downloading. My picks are avast! for antivirus use, InfraRecorder for disc burning, Winamp for media playing.

Hi there.
If there is no option to press F11 as the computer starts then you are going to have to purchase a recovery disk for that machine or purchase a Windows installation disk to fully reset it to factory


Regards

I had the same problem with my emachine. I purchased the recovery discs (cd) and they wouldn't load. The only format that would load was recovery discs on DVDs??? Seriously.

If it still has the hard disk that came in it f8 should get you to restore utility