How to reinstall Windows in laptop?

Hi dinpm,

Windows 8 system can be reset to factory settings by using the Reset feature of Windows 8 which does not require the disk. Resetting your PC reinstalls Windows but deletes your files, settings, and apps—except for the apps that came with your PC.

For more information, you may refer to the link mentioned below:

http://bit.ly/12GDNv0

Windows 8 OEM version cannot be downloaded from our support website.

You do not require the product key as the product key is digitally injected on the motherboard of the system.

If you are still looking for the disk, please send me the service tag and name listed on the account in a private message.

Thanks & Regards
Manshu S
#iworkfordell

You don't need a license key - it's embedded in the system board.

Use the quick restore:

en.community.dell.com/.../19473500.aspx

When I tried to do that it says there was a problem to reset your computer. Check for solutions. But there were no solutions available.

I cant reset the computer from Windows 8 settings, I cant even do so from advanced startup. I even tried using dell restore and backup, however no changes took place. What the hell is going on?

When attempting to reset in advanced startup it says:

"There was a problem

Restart your pc and try again

It looks like something didnt load correctly. Restarting might fix the problem. If this happens more than once, you might also be able to find help by searching online for the specific error code.

Error code: 80070490"

Additional information:

No Bitlocker enabled

No security softwares

Laptop is 3 months old.

This is the exact same problem I am having! What gives?

Can anyone please help us? What is the problem? I tried several other things.

Today, I tried to create a recovery media. I tried to use boot options in UEFI to put from the disk drive. Instead, Windows just started to load. I am even more clueless now how and what the problem is. Should I contact Dell for warranty returns? Any advice would be good.

Additional information:

- Latest drivers

 - Latest A09 bios

Screen shot: 

-

Disable both UEFI and secure boot then retry see:

• Restoring From Dell Recovery Media (Windows 8)

Thank you, I have done that. Now it I am able to restore ONLY using a recovery media. The method provided by the DELL representative still DOES NOT WORK.

Anyways, after restoring another problem arised. You see before I restored, I had two partitions. C: for system and M: for Media. 

When restoring I was sure to click Factory refresh, which clearly said restore system partition. However after formatting, my Media partition was GONE. Normally this can happen, and it will be resolved by assigning a drive letter. So I went to disk management to assign a drive letter, however the option was gone as well. And my Media partition changed to "OEM partition". The only option available through disk management is "Help"

How in the world did that happen??

So, I downloaded Partition Wizard by minitools, and assigned a drive letter through there. Now it works, and all my personal files was unaffected. However, Windows still recognizes this partition as a OEM partition. Is this a bug from Dell, or Windows? 

Here is a screen shot of the issue:

:

dinpm,

Please continue with Philip.

If memory serves me correctly, you can have up to 4 partitions. If you mess around with the partitions, it may corrupt the recovery partition and it may not work.

Rick

Something doesn't seem right.

Back up your data on an external hard drive and wipe your system with DBAN. This will completely wipe the drive.

See Windows Reinstallation Guide/Upgrading to Windows 8 Step 7a (page 80):

http://philipyip.wordpress.com/dell-community-forums/

Remove all peripherals otherwise connected external hard drives, USB sticks etc. will also be wiped.

After wiping your system with DBAN then try to use the Dell DataSafe media you should get the drive repartitions as the factory settings.

Before wiping with DBAN I would also suggest contacting Dell Technical Support and requesting a proper Windows 8 Reinstallation DVD just in case. Requesting media hasn't been the easiest process for customers outside the US however... see this poll here: http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/software-os/f/4677/t/19476992.aspx

Before I proceed with this, I would like to know how do I get back my original factory partitions. Since DBAN completely wipes all the partitions.

And also, I want to clarify on this matter posted by Rick before I do anything else:

If memory serves me correctly, you can have up to 4 partitions. If you mess around with the partitions, it may corrupt the recovery partition and it may not work.

1.) So this means that at anytime it is not good to have more than 4 partitions?

2.) Does the factory partitions account in this?

3.) Does this mean I should NOT create a separate partition for my Media? My media consists of:

- Games

- Videos

- Music

- Downloads

I have this habit of separating the system partitions from my personal partitions, so if any issues turn up I will not loose anything. I just never knew about this rule of not having more than 4 partitions.

I am also wondering if it would be better to format my Media partition and extend it to my system partition to get back the full hardisk size and then use Dell Backup and Restore to restore back to how it came. Will that still work? 

The Dell DataSafe should repartition your drive to the way it was at factory including partition setup.

The 4 partition limit includes everything even the hidden Dell recovery partitions.

If you change any of the partitions at all, the internal restore partition to factory settings won't work but the media created via Dell DataSafe media should still work. However it will likely revert the partitions to the factory settings. To do what you want a Reinstallation DVD and A Clean Install of Windows 8 is the best option for you.

Is there any negative impact on my laptop if I remove the factory partitions? If later I would decide to get it back, is it still possible?

Instead of using DBAN (Because I find the steps quite complicated), can I also use the Windows boot partitioning (The tool that shows up when booting into a Windows 8 Installer) and then, deleting all the partitions from there, create new partitions, and then installing Windows 8 from scratch. Is that possible?

I hope deleting the factory partitions would not be blocked, if DBAN is the only way, then I have no choice I will have to try my best.