Wiping Cleck PC

I’ve been trying to wipe an old clerk PC. My bishop asked me to make it like a standard Windows machine so it can be reassigned by the bishop to someone in need.

I was able to remove all data and attempted to reinstall Windows 11. However, after the installation completes, it automatically returns to what looks like a “new” clerk PC setup instead of a normal Windows setup.

I’m not sure how to fully reset it to a standard, unmanaged Windows installation. I’m also new in this calling, and the wiki links I found don’t seem to be working (maybe temporarily).

Is this something I’m able to do myself? Are there specific steps I should be following to completely remove the clerk configuration?

Any guidance would be appreciated.

jak127 wrote: Sat Apr 25, 2026 1:02 pm so it can be reassigned by the bishop to someone in need.

FM is going to want that back.

Furthermore, the computer is under the stake's jurisdiction, not the ward's, even if it's assigned exclusively to a ward.

38.8.11 - Computers

Computers and software used in Church meetinghouses are provided and managed by Church headquarters or the area office. Leaders and members use these resources to support Church purposes, including family history work.
...
The stake president oversees the placement and use of computers in the stake, including those in FamilySearch centers. The stake technology specialist ensures that they are properly updated and maintained as outlined in

From Computers Overview

FMG TASKS:

• Properly retire and dispose of computers

There's some concerns that if the computer is improperly disposed of in a area with strict eWaste laws, the church could be fined based on tracing the serial number back to the original purchase.

Actuallty, I don't know if this is just a area thing, but in my area (Europe) is actually possible to donate older Clerk PC, provided that a Donation modules is sign and the PC is Formatted beforend, my struggle is just formatting the thing..

Unless you see an option to remove it from church management, I'd download Windows 11 from Microsoft and load it from that. During the install, I'd nuke all the partitions and reformat. That would help prevent anything on the hard drive from carrying over.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/softwar ... /windows11

Or, you could go back to your area office and see if they have any suggestions since they seem to indicate that it's acceptable to dispose of machines by other means.

So… based on your deception of what’s happening, that machine is likely tied to Windows Autopilot.

The only way for that machine to not be considered a Church machine and require a church account upon setup would be for the church to remove that machine from Autopilot.

Best guess is to talk to the stake tech specialist as to how to go about getting it removed.

ahodacsek wrote: Fri May 01, 2026 11:25 pm Best guess is to talk to the stake tech specialist as to how to go about getting it removed.

Who is going to have to go to the area-level tech support to find out how to do that. If the area says the machines can be donated, then they need to figure out how to remove them from church control.

Agreed. My thought is that the request should be for the Area to provide a documented process for prepping a clerk computer for donation. I wouldn't be surprised if said documentation actually exists somewhere, but has been poorly communicated to local leadership.

I'd also agree that even if leadership is sure it's okay to donate the PC, I wouldn't just assume that local efforts to wipe the computer, completely satisfy possible unknown requirements without a formalized process. At the very least, if I was a ward clerk, I'd want the stake clerk to give his okay, so that I wasn't the one left holding the bag...