hard-reset

Verb

hard-reset (third-person singular simple present hard-resets, present participle hard-resetting, simple past and past participle hard-reset)

1. (transitive, uncommon) To perform a forceful restart or reinitialization of a device, system, or process, typically by cutting power, or using a dedicated button.
   • Do not hard reset the computer while you're using a disk caching program!1993, Ron Dippold, Windows Secrets, page 155
   • I have a Sony Clie S-360 with a broken power button (I managed to drop it, of course :-) So far, I didn't miss any functionality because I used a hack to remap the To Do button into a power button, but now I need to hard reset the unit and I'm not quite sure how to do it.2002 July 26, Dan, “Hard reset without using the power button - Is it possible?”, in alt.comp.sys.palmtops.pilot (Usenet)
2. (transitive, uncommon) To factory reset a device.
   • As soon as I pulled back onto the road I realized my one grave mistake: hard resetting the Zumo had erased everything that was stored in the system; gone was my tiny blue track that had followed me for months; gone were my trip statistics - all gone.2025, Ben Myburgh, The $500 Bet and How I Met My Father