dell inspiron 1720 restore to factory settings with original disks that came with laptop ???

Hi johnanddonna,

Dell Inspiron 1720 comes with PC restore option wherein you can go back to factory state of the laptop. If you have not reinstalled the operating system on your computer before then PC restore option will be available. Please follow the steps mentioned below for performing the pc restore on the computer.

1. Back up all the data from the computer before proceeding to next steps.
2. Unplug all the devices including your printer, camera and memory stick.
3. Restart the computer.
4. Press the "F8" key repeatedly as soon as you see the Dell logo. Do not stop until you see the Advanced Boot Options screen.
5. Press the down arrow and choose "Repair your computer." Hit "Enter."
6. Select the keyboard layout "US" from the drop-down menu and click "OK."
7. Log into your account as an administrator. Type in your password. Click "OK."
8. Click "Dell Factory Image Restore" at the bottom of the options.
9. Click "Next" in the window that opens.
10. Click to check the box next to "Yes, reformat hard drive and restore system software to factory condition" to confirm and click "Next." This will generate an operation that will take about 45 minutes to complete. Click "Finish" when the process is complete to restart your computer.
11. If the "Dell Factory Image Restore" option is not available you will have to perform operating system reinstallation from the operating system discs.

Note: Please backup all data from the system to perform the above steps.

Please let me know if this helps.