Dell Backup and recovery premium after windows 8.1 upgrade on xps12

Let me see if I am reading you correctly... You are using your system recovery discs made "after" upgrading to Windows 8.1. If this is the case, then what you are getting are the files from your recovery partition, which are still Windows 8, not 8.1. What Dell Backup and Recovery Premium will give you is the ability to back up your system configuration to "right now" Example...you are running a fully functioning version of Windows 8.1. So you use Premium to backup your C drive to either DVD or external drive. It will create an image of your C drive, and associated partitions. The software functions much like Acronis or other softwares that give you the ability to recover from a disaster. Once made, say your machine or hard drive crashed...you boot into the recovery media, with the external HDD attached (or in the case of DVD backup, you boot to DVD)...then you choose the Dell Backup and Recovery option and then choose backup image. You then choose the external drive or DVD and follow instructions until done. This can only be done with the Backup and Recovery Premium. Unfortunately, your recovery partition only includes the original files your machine came with (Windows 8). All companies, not just Dell, give you the one image. Perhaps you can call Dell to see what it would take for them, to create a backup flash drive with Windows 8.1 on it. I hope this helps and that I understood you correctly...

I am not sure that it possible. Your recovery partition / recovery drive are both Windows 8. The only way to achieve Windows 8.1 is to go to Windows store after recovery and reinstall the 8.1 free upgrade...OR...you can simply purchase Windows 8.1. It is unfortunate...I have an HP Envy laptop with Windows 7. When I want Windows 8, I have to restore Win 7, then install 8 over it. My recovery partition is only Windows 7. Perhaps, you can reach out to Dell support and see if they can supply you with an 8.1 recovery flash drive.

Hello BOBMITMEN,
I 'll try to be clearer in my explanation because I 'm not English .

When I buy my xps12duo it came with Windows 8 pre-installed at the factory.
So if I do a restore, windows 8 is automatically reset to the original state.

From my side I acquired a license windows 8.1 when available .

Unless I want to restore my computer it returns to windows 8 on my side I would like the factory restoration become Windows 8.1 instead of Windows 8.

From what I understood , Dell backup and recovery could achieve this process.
Except that this day I have never managed to " rebuild " the factory image so that it becomes " in facto " Windows 8.1

I do not want to have to drag additional hard drive or DVD to restore Windows 8.1, I want it to automatically reinstalls when I choose to return the computer to its original state ( factory image ) .

Can you guide me in making this process?

What Dell Backup and Recovery Premium DOES give you the ability to do is restore your hard drive to it's present state. If you backed up today, and then crashed...you can restore from the backup you took and have the machine right back to where you are right now. No need to install anything. On my HP Envy, the only thing that gets updated in my recovery partition are the HP drivers that they release. When you install sound driver update...the drivers are updated in the recovery partition as well. Still...the OS is not touched. Use B & R Premium and backup your machine to an external HDD. Backup the machine every time you make a few major changes and you are not more than a few minutes of being totally up to date...

This is exactly the reason why i want to "update" my factory partition to have windows 8.1 with the newest drivers and apps.

On my side a complete reset of my laptop with downloading drivers and updates take approx 7 hours.
I really want to optimize this process.

Ideally the factory partition need to be updated by customers to have the newest version for recovery and i don't know why DELL and many others don't give this possibilities.

I've buy Dell Backup and Recovery Premium to have the hability to make that possible and unfortunately i was NOT possible...

I don't know why i have paid for this software when windows include this kind of tools inside the OS.

If an employee of DELL read this thread i really want a return about that :emotion-21:

Best regards,

Mario

The factory partition is and will always be vulnerable because it is on a single hard drive. If you get hard drive failure the factory restore partition will be useless...

You are best to make a backup on an external hard drive, 2 backups on 2 external hard drives would be better. I recommend using a program like Acronis:

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

Acronis works great as long as you have a normal UEFI bios. In my case, with the Venue Pro 11 (5130), it has a 32 bit UEFI, so Acronis doesn't work. As far as backing up a laptop or desktop...Acronis is great. However, with that said...he already has Dell B & R Premium...so he CAN do this without Acronis

Understand that the FACTORY restore partition was, and always will be, designed to restore the machine to its original FACTORY delivery state.  It is not easily possible for them to continually update that image to match the continued changes and updates you might make to the system due to space limitations and many other issues.

I have seven Dell computers back to Windows98 versions with all now running either Windows 7 or 8.1 (with one exception still running XP but being updated next week).  Imagine the problems if Dell was trying to continuously update the Factory partitions on all those machine to accommodate OS upgrades that they could never have anticipated when the computer was built. 

But, as several people have said here, having an up-to-the-minute backup on a separate media that is not affected by failure of your hard drive is indeed the best solution.  This is what they are now offering you with Premium.  

Getting premium to work seems to be a difficult task, I have just downloaded Acronis to test and find that it gives you an idea of how much space is needed  for the backup. Premium does not do this so you are in the dark as to the space required. If one was to go back to the starting point as you mention one has to accept updates etc will have to be installed.

However not sure if you agree to get the things into a position of recovery with updates, would it not be wiser to start from scratch add all updates of the basic system, drivers etc and then make a full backup on as you say a separate drive, the cost of these are relatively very cheap.

I have premium and as they do not seem to be very forthright with help or advise, I would like to try another backup provided I could incorporate some of the smaller backups that Dells provide like factory settings and the system settings etc, all gets a bit confusing.