Alienware 17 R4 Recovery Media creation

Go here, enter the service tag number to see if your system is eligible, if yes, create the Recovery Image

Thanks Chris! I see two options there:

Windows 10 Home - 64-Bit  Download

Windows 10 Home (64-Bit) for Dell  Download

On top the page says "customized Dell recovery image", so I guess I should pick option 2 for that, right?

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Edit:

After downloading the ISO from option 2 above, I followed the steps at http://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/19/SLN299044 

But following this procedure, some files cannot be copied to the flash drive.

So I tried using 7Zip to extract the ISO to the (formatted and pre-prepared) flash drive. This produces a slew of errors.

Any suggestions on how to proceed? Should I use Rufus (https://rufus.akeo.ie/

Also, the ISO image "looks" pretty much like a stock Windows ISO image. Is there anything Dell-specific to it?

Also, the ISO image "looks" pretty much like a stock Windows ISO image. Is there anything Dell-specific to it?

I've never used it, but I doubt it. Nothing important anyway (unless a Dell logo or similar is important to you).

I use this one ... it works (I tested it many times).

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

As for your problems with the Dell-ISO and that procedure ... I think 'll let Chris respond. However, it looks to me like a corrupt ISO. Did you see a published MD5 or SHA1 checksum ? ... even a file-size?

I was testing the Dell Windows 10 Recovery .isos a couple of weeks ago:

http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/download-dell-windows-10-th2-64-bit-oem-iso-for-a-uefi-bios/ 

1. I would say it is better to use Rufus to make the Bootable USB as its easier than the protocol described with the Dell documentation.

2. Unfortunately Dell are inconsistent with respect to Microsoft.... Dell do not state the Windows 10 Build Number in the file name. The ones that I tested were listed as "version 3" and were only TH2 build 10586 making them significantly out of date with respect to RS1 build 14393. I think the .iso you selected would either be an earlier 10586 TH2 .iso (without the major update) or a TH1 10240 .iso.

3, The .isos from Dell are direct download links and if your computer goes to sleep mid-download or something you will get an incomplete .iso. Dell unfortunately don't provide the .iso checksums to verify the downloads.

4. The .isos from Dell are multi-lingual but as a trade-off this makes them a larger file size and also mono-edition.

5. There appears to be nothing too special with the Dell customised images. They are .isos of a Recovery Drive opposed to full Windows 10 installation media.  A Windows 10 RS1 .iso direct from Microsoft is preferred. 

http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/download-windows-10-oem-and-retail-iso/ 

It appears from your results that our ISO may indeed be corrupt. I would follow the advice of our trusted users here.

Thanks Philip, Tesla and Chris!

So indeed, Rufus recognizes that the ISO image requires an NTFS partition, contrary to what is mentioned in the instructions from Dell.

Regarding the preference between Dell and Microsoft-provided images, I agree that the latter may be "cleaner".

But my question is which of the two ISOs provided on the Dell website would restore the system to its factory state which Dell shipped it in (yes, with logos from Dell and everything)?

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As of now, the system has the following volume and partition layout:

 Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info

 ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------

 Volume 0     C   OS           NTFS   Partition    918 GB  Healthy    Boot

 Volume 1         ESP          FAT32  Partition    500 MB  Healthy    System

 Volume 2         WINRETOOLS   NTFS   Partition    450 MB  Healthy    Hidden

 Volume 3         Image        NTFS   Partition     11 GB  Healthy    Hidden

 Partition ###  Type              Size     Offset

 -------------  ----------------  -------  -------

 Partition 1    System             500 MB  1024 KB

 Partition 2    Reserved           128 MB   501 MB

 Partition 3    Primary            918 GB   629 MB

 Partition 4    Recovery           450 MB   919 GB

 Partition 5    Recovery            11 GB   919 GB

It is clear that if I want to install Linux, I should shrink partition 3 (918 GB) and use the EFI partition for booting both Windows and Linux [I'm an experienced Arch Linux user, so this is alright.] The other partitions should be kept untouched (I have no intention of tampering with Dell's recovery partition).

But my question about the recovery image is prompted by my concern that if something should go wrong, I would like to get back to square 1 with not just a Windows OS installed, but also the Dell provided software, basic settings and everything. And amusing as might seem, I would like the Dell logos and wallpapers back too :)

So which of those two Dell images should I use? And do they depend on the existence of a recovery partition on my drive? What if the recovery partition were to get damaged?

But my question is which of the two ISOs provided on the Dell website would restore the system to its factory state which Dell shipped it in (yes, with logos from Dell and everything)?

Neither.

But to accomplish that, I would Macrium Image (Free) the Full System (with Verify ON) to a file on an external USB HDD. It will return you to today, and you can always use Windows-10's Reset feature (if you so choose).

I'll also note that a clean Windows install is pretty easy, and only takes an hour or so (on an SSD), maybe two hours with a spinning HDD. Most drivers will load with Win-10. Add to that any Dell certified drivers you feel you need or to clean-up the Device Manager. Finally, load things like OSD and Command Center. I always doc the steps, any settings along the way, and keep a set of the drivers I downloaded and used. This way, I can quickly and easily repeat the process.

I also keep Macrium Images, taken at key steps (as an emergency bail-out).

There is nothing particularly unique about your current factory software load. It's just what they happened to load at the time. Everything is usually working, but they might not even be the latest versions any more.

Are you saying that the backup images created using "SupportAssist" and the Dell website-provided ISO are effectively the same thing?

There used to be something called AlienRespawn (www.dell.com/.../). Does it exist anymore? Wouldn't that restore everything the way Dell provided it when the system was first switched on?

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EDIT: After an apparently successful creation of a USB recovery image (using Rufus), obtained from the Dell website Chris gave me a link to, I tried booting from the drive. Strangely enough, neither Advanced Boot Options in Windows 10, nor the BIOS give me the option to boot from this drive. I've tried all USB ports, needless to say.

The drive is a Kingston DT101 G2 16 GB USB flash drive (https://www.kingston.com/datasheets/dt101g2_us.pdf

To use Macrium Reflect see here:

http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/backing-up-your-windows-installation-using-macrium-reflect/ 

The problem with Dell Backup and Recovery/Alienware Respawn is that they create/depend on an assortment of partitions on your drive. With Windows 10 restoring to an older build e.g. TH2 and then subsequently upgrading to a newer build e.g. RS1 or RS2 or any later build will always result in a substantial lost of system performance. Relying on a recovery partition is something thats not advisable and its functionality often breaks after an OS upgrade or manual install, don't think it'll like a dual boot either.

In addition Microsoft are actually working directly with the major OEMs such as Intel, nVidia, AMD, Broadcom, etc. so that most of the system drivers are either inbuilt into Windows 10 installation media or automatically obtained via Windows Update. Chances are after the 1st year (once the hardware is established) that Microsoft will have newer drivers than Dell for most of the components... Of course the UEFI BIOS update and some Dell/Alienware utilities will need to be downloaded and installed via Dell. The point is however you will get a cleaner install with Microsoft's installation media, it will be more up to date and downloading the few drivers you need from Dell will be less time-consuming that the time it takes to upgrade to a newer build.

There used to be something called AlienRespawn (www.dell.com/.../). Does it exist anymore?

AlienRespawn is just a re-skinned version of Dell Backup and Recovery (DBaR). It is not supported on Windows-10.

http://www.dell.com/support/Article/us/en/4/SLN298526

Everything Natakuc4 said about it is true. That is why we are both trying to point you to solutions that work, not all the other ones that do not.

Thanks Tesla.

My immediate problem is that the image created on my Kingston flash drive through Rufus is not bootable for some reason. Moreover, in Advanced Startup Options in Windows 10 or even the BIOS, the flash drive is not recognized as an option to boot from.

I am going to try the SupportAssist-created image to see if that works.

As I am sure is obvious from my previous posts, my simple intention is to create a factory image for the Alienware laptop should my system crash in future. I know that the clean Windows ISO is a better option than possibly an older version that shipped with the laptop, but I really wanted the system to be restored as it came to me.

Sure no problem.

You are welcome to keep trying different Images. However, even if you do manage to get a checksum verified and good Image downloaded of the "Dell Windows-10 Recovery ISO" ... Natakuc4 has already explained what it is . In fact he said "There appears to be nothing too special with the Dell customized images. They are .isos of a Recovery Drive opposed to full Windows 10 installation media."

So, I take that to mean ... NOT a custom Image of an Alienware 17-R4 Laptop.

But who knows ... you appear to be very determined ... so maybe you can figure it out and let us all know how to do it. [:)]

Thanks for your words of encouragement Tesla :)

Anyway as I mentioned the immediate problem I am facing is that laptop does not boot from the USB drive containing the recovery image (created using the link provided by Chris, and also using SupportAssist).

The USB drive does not show up in the BIOS, or even in Advanced Boot options in Windows 10. Any ideas?

Thanks for your words of encouragement Tesla :)   Anyway as I mentioned the immediate problem I am facing is that laptop does not boot from the USB drive containing the recovery image (created using the link provided by Chris, and also using SupportAssist).   The USB drive does not show up in the BIOS, or even in Advanced Boot options in Windows 10. Any ideas?

So before I answer your questions, let me clarify that the two methods I used to create the USB drive are:

1. SupportAssist (software provided with the Alienware laptop)
2. Link provided by Chris in this thread

In either case, I did not check the checksums. 

To answer your specific questions Tesla,

1. I was not aware of the link you gave.
2. I did get past that file error when using method 2 (Chris's link) after pre-formatting the flash drive in NTFS format. When the drive was formatted in FAT32 format, 7Zip wasn't able to extract the ISO onto the drive.

In light of what you have told me, I will assume that all the ISOs I have downloaded so far are corrupted. But shouldn't the image created using the SupportAssist software work?

3. Yes, I've read this. I did disable Secure Boot and I did not see the flash drive in the BIOS. 

I should also state here that with Secure Boot disabled, and UEFI still enabled (not the Legacy mode), I am able to boot from a USB flash drive on another UEFI-enabled laptop, but not on this Alienware laptop.