going to do a windows 10 reset and looking for pitfalls

[terryZ]

we have a manager here at work who has quit. i've moved her data to a NAS and her email to another pc.

her pc is a mess so i think a clean pc is something her replacement would appreciate. i'm looking to do a reset. i have reset my pc at home so this is not totally unfamiliar territory.

i'm then going to change the name of her pc and re-install ms office along with some other software. any pitfalls i should watch out for.

she has a ms account from where i see i could re-install ms office. if i create a new ms account, though, could i use the same product key to re-install it?

would it be best to change the computer name before or after said reinstall?

any other things to watch out for would be appreciated.

thanks in advance,

terry

ps. she's running norton and i'll be reinstalling that too. any ideas how bad that will be on a reset machine? lol.

[jdc2000]

Does this computer log in to an Active Directory Domain? That may affect the advice you get.

If no, and you have saved all files on it that you may need later, I would change the computer name first, and then check afterwards to see if it stayed changed.

Links:

https://www.digitalcitizen.life/chan...r-name-windows

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...d-36d9153b06d0

https://www.pcworld.com/article/3017...indows-10.html

https://www.pcmag.com/feature/361614...-computer-name

If her version of Microsoft Office was tied to a Microsoft account, you will need that to re-install it, otherwise it will be a nightmare to try to get it properly registered.

Links:

https://support.office.com/en-us/art...2-23adc4716658

https://www.accountingweb.com/techno...sc-or-download

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/rein...ash-63310.html

https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/r...crosoft-office

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...a182a23?auth=1

On the Norton issue, you should probably use the Norton license manager to remove the computer, and then re-download, reinstall, and add the license back.

Links:

https://community.norton.com/en/foru...-factory-reset

https://norton-setup.org/how-to-rein...factory-reset/

https://www.symantec.com/connect/for...disk-formatted

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/rein...ton-55839.html

https://forums.xfinity.com/t5/Intern...e/ta-p/3058117

You will want an Local Admin account on the Windows installation, in case of any issues.

[terryZ]

thanks, jdc.

Does this computer log in to an Active Directory Domain? No.

I would change the computer name first, and then check afterwards to see if it stayed changed. Will do.

If her version of Microsoft Office was tied to a Microsoft account, you will need that to re-install it, otherwise it will be a nightmare to try to get it properly registered. It is registered to her account. Maybe I should just keep that account for that machine. It will be transparent to the new person on that machine anyway.

On the Norton issue, you should probably use the Norton license manager to remove the computer, and then re-download, reinstall, and add the license back. Thanks, no one wants to be in norton hell. lol.

[jdc2000]

Let us know if you have any issues during this process.