This works on the 2000 and 3000 series generally.

*The easy way is to just hold the mode button for 10+ seconds.

The full/proper way is below:

1.) Either power on the unit and hold the "mode" button or hold the "mode" button until you see the below:

00:04:08: %SYS-7-NV_BLOCK_INIT: Initalized the geometry of nvram
00:04:08: %EXPRESS_SETUP-6-CONFIG_IS_RESET: The configuration is reset and the system will now reboot
00:04:09: %SYS-5-RELOAD: Reload requested Reload Reason: power-on.
Base ethernet MAC Address: 00:1a:a2:4e:6a:00
Xmodem file system is available.
The password-recovery mechanism is enabled.
Initializing Flash...
flashfs[0]: filesystem check interrupted!
...done Initializing Flash.
Boot Sector Filesystem (bs) installed, fsid: 3

The system has been interrupted, or encountered an error
during initializion of the flash filesystem.  The following
commands will initialize the flash filesystem, and finish
loading the operating system software:

    flash_init
    load_helper
    boot

2.) Initialize the flash by typing "flash_init"

switch: flash_init
Initializing Flash...
flashfs[0]: 600 files, 19 directories
flashfs[0]: 0 orphaned files, 0 orphaned directories
flashfs[0]: Total bytes: 32514048
flashfs[0]: Bytes used: 7713280
flashfs[0]: Bytes available: 24800768
flashfs[0]: flashfs fsck took 10 seconds.
...done Initializing Flash.
Setting console baud rate to 9600...

3.) Delete config files

del flash:config.text
Are you sure you want to delete "flash:config.text" (y/n)?y
File "flash:config.text" deleted

del flash:vlan.dat
Are you sure you want to delete "flash:vlan.dat" (y/n)?y
File "flash:vlan.dat" deleted

4.) boot!

boot


Cisco IOS Software, C2960 Software (C2960-LANBASE-M), Version 12.2(25)SEE2, RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1)
Copyright (c) 1986-2006 by Cisco Systems, Inc.
Compiled Fri 28-Jul-06 04:33 by yenanh
Image text-base: 0x00003000, data-base: 0x00AA2F34

Initializing flashfs...

flashfs[1]: 600 files, 19 directories
flashfs[1]: 0 orphaned files, 0 orphaned directories
flashfs[1]: Total bytes: 32514048
flashfs[1]: Bytes used: 7713280
flashfs[1]: Bytes available: 24800768
flashfs[1]: flashfs fsck took 1 seconds.
flashfs[1]: Initialization complete....done Initializing flashfs.

POST: CPU MIC register Tests : Begin
POST: CPU MIC register Tests : End, Status Passed

POST: PortASIC Memory Tests : Begin
POST: PortASIC Memory Tests : End, Status Passed

POST: CPU MIC PortASIC interface Loopback Tests : Begin
POST: CPU MIC PortASIC interface Loopback Tests : End, Status Passed

POST: PortASIC RingLoopback Tests : Begin
POST: PortASIC RingLoopback Tests : End, Status Passed


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