Vostro 1500 Windows XP? How I restore to factory OS using factory restore image?

Troubleshooting steps:

(1) Are you sure you have a DSR (PC Restore) partition? When you boot into XP, take a look in Disk Management (Start>Run>"diskmgmt.msc") and look at the schematic "map" of Disk 0. If you see an "unknown" partition of about 3-5 GB at the end of the disk with no drive letter, that suggests your DSR partition is still there.

(2) Do you have a Dell MBR? This is easily overwritten, so even if your system shipped with the Dell MBR, it might not necessarily still have it. The telltale sign of the Dell MBR is a black screen with a single blue line at the top, with "www.dell.com" in white-on-blue letters. This screen should appear for 2 seconds between the POST phase (Power-On Self Test, with the giant blue Dell logo) and the XP splash screen (when XP starts to boot).

(3) If the answer is yes to both, then make sure you're pressing Ctrl+F11 at the right time. When the POST phase starts, you'll see the blue Dell logo, there will be a brief delay, then the "F2" and "F12" prompts will appear in the corner of the screen. After POST completes, you'll see the 2-second pause with the blue-line, followed by the XP splash screen.

You must press Ctrl+F11 after the F2/F12 prompts appear, and before the end of the 2-second blue-line pause. Hold down the Ctrl key, press down the F11 key, then release both keys together. (Note: contrary to urban legend, it's okay to press the keys more than once.)


Dan Goodell
Inside the Dell PC Restore Partition

Too bad, Dell just told me that Vostro has no recovery partition, although their manual clearly says that there is factory restore image, but the whole manual is for Vista. What are these Dell guys doing? No wonder the Dell is going down in their business. The just cut the corners here and there.

From partition map, I only saw a unknown partition called MediaDirect, but no Factory image or recovery...etc.

Bummer. That means you have nothing to restore from.

But look at the bright side: some people don't like the PC Restore system and take pains to wipe it off their systems. You're already a step ahead of them! [g,d&r]

Your only option now is to clean install from a XP Reinstallation CD. Make sure you delete the MediaDirect partition along the way, as it's not going to work anyway.

(Funny, in a pathetic sort of way, that they saddled you with that useless MediaDirect but didn't give you the semi-useful PC Restore.)

If you want to keep MediaDirect, you'll have to wipe everything and reinstall in the prescribed sequence (start with MD CD, go to XP CD, then back to MD CD).