It depends what you mean by factory settings. If you have been tinkering
with the bios then you would need to set the bios back to default settings
using the option in the bios. But i suspect you haven't been tinkering and
what you actually mean is you want your operating system to look exactly the
same as when you first bought your pc, without all the accumulated junk you
may have added over a period of time.
The simply answer to this, then, is reinstall the operating system. That is
assuming you have a retail version of xp cd. If it is a branded name pc then
you may have a set of 'recovery disks'. using these will return your pc to
its original state. If you don't have recovery disks the operating system
image file may be on a hidden partition. Either way you will need to check
with your pc's user manual before proceeding. If the image is on a hidden
partition then the pc manual will tell you what options to press to start
the installation.
You can find the basics of installing windows xp from a retail version cd on
my website:
http://freespace.virgin.net/john.freelanceit/index.htm
Click the Win XP Faq button and take a look at question 85
If you have a recovery disk(s) then, again, your pc user manual will tell
you how to use them.
Any difficulties you can ask for further help in this newsgroup.
Alternatively there are contact details on my site where you can send
queries.
