always helpful to READ the documentation

http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dsn/en/document?docid=347576

BUT sometimes reading the documentation gives you no clues as to what to do if the Ctrl + F11 does not work!!

I have had an Inspiron where it took many attempts at trying to beat Windows startup by pressing Ctrl + F11 at the Dell splash before it would work, eventually!!

I now have another Dell Inspiron (complete with recovery partition) which I am trying to restore to factory status, but have tried many times to beat the Windows start up, and failed. I know the recovery partition is there, but......

I know that with Windows Vista and Windows 7 you can use the Windows Repair disk to access the Dell hidden partition to do a factory restore, much more simple than trying and failing with the Ctrl +  F11 attempts.

Anybody got any constructive advise in this (common) situation?

Many thanks.

If you've already tried a manual repair, the automatic restore is effectively gone.  You'll need to load Windows manually from a CD or DVD (you can contact Dell for a copy of it, though depending on where you're located, there may be a charge for this).

For Vista or 7, the trip sequence is F8 before Windows loads.

For XP it's CTRL-F11.

Both do the same thing - restore the C: partition to as-shipped.  Since XP never had a built in restore function, Symantec Ghost is used.  Vista and 7 have ImageX, so that is used.

If the system shipped with Vista or 7, and the restore partition is still there, it will be possible to restore it using a WindowPE boot disc and ImageX.  The process isn't trivial  but the tools are freely downloadable.  Start reading here:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd744531%28WS.10%29.aspx

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So rude -- instead of quoting the web page, you link to it, and now that Dell has removed it, your smartcomment is useless, might as well as not wasted everyone's time by no answering at all.

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