Is reseting to factory default settings a cheap way to get rid of a virus?

LOL no. I don’t get viruses very often at all.

I considered it for my “smart” phone, but the problem I was having wasn’t a virus but a stupid setting that got set somehow.

The last time one of my computers had a virus was about 7 years ago. I removed it using a battery of anti-virus software.

I do this, every year or so. It’s been a long time since I had to do it for virus, but I’ve done it to clear out accumulated stuff from un-used programs.

I keep keep my files on a separate volume from Windows and programs on the C:\ drive. My browsers all sync bookmarks and settings to the cloud.

So it’s pretty easy to reinstall everything and get back to where I was.

Windows 10 makes it really easy, it has a built-in refresh tool, that will save files settings. And if you use a Microsoft account as your login, it saves settings, too.

@Call_Me_Jay Some would say Windows 10 is a virus.