Restore XP to Optiplex 360

Yes you should be able to if your partition is not damaged . And you had XP installed when you got the system.

This should work even though it mentions Vista. It i from the user manual for your system .

Using Dell Factory Image Restore

 NOTICE: Use Dell Factory Image Restore only if System Restore did not resolve

your operating system problem. Using Dell Factory Image Restore permanently

deletes all data (for example, documents,  spreadsheets, e-mail  messages, digital

photos, and music files) on the hard drive and removes any programs or drivers

installed after you received your compu ter. If possible, back up the data before

using Dell Factory Image Restore.

 NOTE:  Dell Factory Image Restore may not be  available in certain countries or on

certain computers.

1 Turn on the computer.

2 When the Dell logo appears, press several times to access the  Vista

Advanced Boot Options window.

3 Select  Repair Your Computer.

The  System Recovery Options  window appears.

4 Select a keyboard layout and click Next.

5 To access the recovery options, log on as a local user.

6 To access the command prompt, type  administrator  in the  User

name field, then click  OK.

7 Click Dell Factory Image Restore.

 NOTE:  Depending upon your configuration, you may need to select  Dell

Factory Tools, then  Dell Factory Image Restore .

8 On the Dell Factory Image Restore welcome screen, click  Next.

The  Confirm Data Deletion screen appears.

 NOTICE: If you do not want to  proceed with Factory Image Restore, click  Cancel.

9 Click the checkbox to confirm that you want to continue reformatting the

hard drive and restoring the system so ftware to the factory condition, then

click Next.

The restore process begins and may take 5 or more minutes to complete. A

message appears when the operating system and factory-installed

applications have been restored to factory condition.

10 Click Finish  to restart the computer.

Pressed F8, it just goes to a screen same as safe mode options like f10