Studio XPS 8000 Utility and Recovery partitions inaccessible.

Question

Hi!

After a Windows 7 re-installation the Dell Utility & Recovery Partitions are inaccessible at boot time through F8, Ctrl+F11 or whatever. (Windows boot OK though...)

The problem is definitely somewhere in the MBR (Master Boot Record) or the PBR (Partition Boot Record).

I can see these partitions in many ways, but I'm unable to boot from them in order to restore the factory configuration. I've tried quite a lot of proposed solutions, such as dsrfix ( http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/ ) but without result. It seems that they do not work, because new Dell systems have a different partition table and probably boot code than previous Vista or XP systems.

I just contacted the official Dell technical support via phone and they told me that there is no way to get back these partitions! They do not have some kind of system recovery DVDs that restore the whole disk (including MBR, OS and recovery partitions) in its factory condition. All I have is the OS re-installation DVD which does not seem to know how to fix DELL's specific boot records...

Does anyone have any idea how to overcome this?

(I am almost convinced that the best solution is to find someone with the same machine and make a complete disk image, and then restore it to my PC! However I know nobody with the same model!)

Thank you in advance!

mombodog · Answer

Here is what I would do, read this article on how to repair the restore partition, then restore the PC back to XP, then make a full disk image of the hard drive for restore purposes. No way to keep restore functionality with W7 installed. Repairing the restore function will cause W7 to not boot, repairing W7 to boot will break the restore function again.

You are correct installing W7 changed the proprietary Dell MBR

http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/fixes.htm

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amorgos · Answer

Thank you for your quick answer.

In fact, I have my desktop for less than a month. It was delivered to me with Windows 7 installed. So restoring back to XP is not an option (unless this would be an indispensable step to the complete solution).

I've tried every single option proposed in the http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/ site, but it seems that they do not apply to newer DELL systems with W7.

My question is: how can I come back to the factory hard disk configuration, including DELL partitions and proprietary MBR? This is for sure feasible as the system was originally running all of these functionalities+W7.

I think that obtaining the original MBR or/and a complete disk image from another XPS 8000 desktop is the only solution...

Any ideas how to get them?

mombodog · Answer

Sorry missed that, I don't have any info on restoring the W7 MBR, all I can suggest is to find another Dell like yours and backup the mbr from that system, then restore it on yours. I don't think a full disk image from another system is necessary if all the partitions are intact.

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amorgos · Answer

So, can anyone provide fresh disk (or partition) images for a Studio XPS 8000? Thank you in advance.

Dvynanjl · Answer

I have the same problem... wanting to get factory restore. :(

DELL-Jesse L · Answer

Dvynanjl.,

Thank you for using the Dell Community Forum.

This thread is over 2 years old. You may want to start a new thread explaining what you are needing along with your system type and OS installed.

Windows General

Studio XPS 8000 Utility and Recovery partitions inaccessible.

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