Factory Reset
Have you ever wanted a “do over”?
Remember when we were kids and we’d be out playing and something crazy would happen that totally messed up someone’s game? We’d more often than not give them a “do over”. We’d let them reset and try again. Wouldn’t that be nice to have in every aspect of life?
Well, speaking as a professional network geek, sometimes there is, at least on some network equipment. We call it a “factory refresh” or, as the title of this post implies, a “factory reset”. Basically, for you non-techs, the idea is that sometimes a configuration gets so wrong, so borked, so bad that it’s easier to just reset a device back to how it shipped from the factory and start the configuration process over again from scratch. I cannot tell you how often I’ve been happy to have this feature and be able to use it.
Of course, sometimes, we inherit these borked devices. Or we foolishly throw out the two-page manual that tells us how to reset the thing. Then, we have to go searching for the information on how to reset whatever it is we’re trying desperately to get configured before the weekend, so we don’t have to stay late, again, on a Friday.
Well, wouldn’t it be nice if that was all in one place? Well, now it is, mostly. There’s a handy site/wiki called Factory Reset that has most, if not all, of the reset instructions for the most popular and common computer appliances out there. They’ve got everything from routers to switches to network-attached storage.
So, if you’re wrestling with some device that has gotten out of control, again, why not pop over there and find out how to reset it so you can get out of the office and enjoy your weekend?
