about Dell™ PC Restore

blueyan,

Do NOT format the drive. The Dell Factory image will also be gone. It's best to try using System Restore, FIRST, to see if your issues were fixed. It is also advisable to post in the proper DELL Community Forums about your issue(s) and get some advice from the many members here. They will be able to lead you in the proper direction to proceed trying to avoid losing valuable information.

I consider repairing the operating system, when possible. On XP it's simple and on Vista, I recently found out how to make a Vista Repair disk to repair my operating system(System Restore was NOT working) I have suceeded and have everything working great.

If you backup your files and folders and want to re-install the system, then follow the instructions located at

Restoring Your Computer´s Software to the Factory Settings

This will put everything back on the computer that was there when you first purchased the computer.

Rick

ok , I 'm going to use Dell Pc restore to restore back to its factory setting . But I cant see repair your computer under advanced menu after I  pressed F8  , all I saw was safe mode , last know configuration , etc .... then I tried to boot the Vista OS DVD , pressed F12 at the beginning to boot from CdRoom/DVDroom.... but it  straight away entered window without prompt anything.... i am desperate now =( ,  i have a lot of college assignment need to be done. I cant make it without my laptop...... hope i can find some help here ....

Blueyan,

Let me know if this makes sense to you. If you have any questions, let us know.

First, take the Vista DVD out of the drive and set it aside. If you do a reinstall using that disc then you will wipe out everything on the hard drive as your friend suggested. That would include the Dell Utility partition (which has the Diagnostics), the C drive/partition (which has all of your programs and data) and the D drive (this is the Dell Image Restore partition which has the image necessary to restore your C drive to the way that it was when you received your computer from Dell).

The Dell Image Restore option is accessed by using the F12  F8 key as you tried to do. However, since you had the Vista disc inserted it went to that first instead. You don't want to have any discs in your drives when you use the Image Restore. The Dell Image Restore will format your C drive/partition and replace it with the image that is located in the D partition. It will not alter either the hidden Utility partition or the D partition. However, any data that you have on the C drive (e.g. music, documents, spreadsheets, etc.) that you have not backed up onto something external, such as CD/DVD, flash drive, or external hard drive, will be lost. The only things that will be on C after the Image Restore will be the applications that were there when you received your computer.

Which method that you use will depend on what you are trying to do and if you have everything backed up. If you let us know what you are attempting to accomplish then we can suggest which way to go. :emotion-1:  (FYI: I'm not so sure about that 15 minute claim. I'm pretty sure that it took my XPS 720 around an hour to do an Image Restore. It is easier than doing the full format and reinstall using the Vista DVD though, IMHO.)

williamkidd,

thank god !! thank !!  now I have backup everything of my drives into extenal HDD .... since

reinstall using that disc then you will wipe out everything on the hard drive as your friend suggested. That would include the Dell Utility partition (which has the Diagnostics), the C drive/partition (which has all of your programs and data) and the D drive (this is the Dell Image Restore partition which has the image necessary to restore your C drive to the way that it was when you received your computer from Dell).

I want to maintain the Dell Utility partitionand D drive (this is the Dell Image Restore partition) , so that means i cant  re-install using Vista DVD. What i need to do right now in order to use The Dell Image Restore option to restore back to factory setting ? i pressed F8 but there is no  " Repair your computer" in Advanced Boot Options menu, what i see is safe mode , last known configuration etc...huh ? F12 can actually access the Dell Image Restore option ? how to do it ? i mean , isnt pressing F12 will lead you to Boot Menu? These are what i saw when i pressed F8

Boot menu

Internal HDD

USB Storage Device

CD?DVD?CD-RW Drive

Onboard NIC

BIOS setup

Diagonostics

i  can't find Dell pc restore option here.. what should i do ?

What i need to do right now in order to use The Dell Image Restore option to restore back to factory setting ? i pressed F8 but there is no  " Repair your computer" in Advanced Boot Options menu, what i see is safe mode , last known configuration etc...huh ? F12 can actually access the Dell Image Restore option ? how to do it ? i mean , isnt pressing F12 will lead you to Boot Menu?

You're right. It should be F8 instead of F12. I've gotten so used to suggesting the Diagnostics that F12 has become ingrained in my mind. :emotion-1:

When the Advanced Boot Options Menu is accessed via F8, you may find that you don't have to move the cursor at all. When I do it on my system Repair Your Computer is already highlighted so all I have to do is press Enter. It's easy to overlook because it may already be selected.

Restoring the Computer to the Default Factory Configuration The Dell Factory Image Restore option allows you to restore your hard drive back to its original factory configuration as when you first ordered it from Dell. This option appears on Dell computers that were originally pre-installed with Windows Vista® and does not include computers purchased through the Express Upgrade promotion or computers that were upgraded to Windows Vista from a previous version of the Windows® operating systems. NOTICE: When you restore the computer to the default factory configuration, all data on the hard drive is deleted. Before performing this procedure, back up personal files. If you do not back up personal files, the data is lost. Restart the computer. To do this, click Start ® ® Restart. As the computer restarts, press until the Advanced Boot Options menu appears on the screen. NOTE: You must press the key before the Windows logo appears on the screen. If you press after the Windows logo appears on the screen, the Advanced Boot Options menu will not appear on the screen. If you do not see the Advanced Boot Options menu, restart the computer, and then repeat this step until you see the menu on the screen. Press to select Repair Your Computer on the Advanced Boot Options menu, and then press . Specify the language settings that you want, and then click Next. Log in as a user who has administrative credentials, and then click OK. Click Dell Factory Image Restore. In the Dell Factory Image Restore window, click Next. Select the Yes, reformat hard drive and restore system software to factory condition checkbox. Click Next. The computer is restored to the default factory configuration. When the restore operation is completed, click Finish to restart the computer.

Source: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xpsm1530/en/OM/trouble.htm#wp1063103

Try it using the above steps and let us know what happens. Remember to keep the Vista disc out of the drive and don't do the Image Restore until you're sure that everything is backed up.

After you finish the Restore you will have to install the Windows Updates and any applications that weren't on the drive when you received it.

williamkidd:

i cant use the above steps you mentioned since i cant find "Repair your computer " on Advanced Boot options. What i did is , insert the Vista DVD , click the "Repair your computer " , use the command prompt to activate the PcRestore which in recovery D drive.....

but i found that it is very troublesome to use dell pc restore , because i have to download all the vista updates . Total updates = 80++ updates.... it took me 2 days to do it ... so what i want to do is , create the image of the partiion with updates ready , so next time i format , i will use this image instead of Dell pc restore... it'll saves my time to download those updates ... thank for your help =)

blueyan,

You are getting excellent advice here (from Rick and williamkidd).

I think there may be terminology used that is making it unclear exactly what it is you are trying to do.

The first question that will help the experienced users here (Not necessarily me) understand what it is that you want to do and more importantly why.

What caused you to decide to re-install the OS?

This will help others to recommend the best method to use, system restore, repair or clean install. System restore is ran from your current OS and can fix many issues and will leave your personal information intact. Repair is also ran from your existing OS and will re-write some of the OS files and leave your system setup and personal file intact. Clean install will re-write everything on your hard drive, all personal files and settings will be lost, backup everything you want to keep. Formatting your hard drive will erase everything, as far as I understand it, will make the Dell recovery partition and or disks not able to load new OS as they read the existing OS and license in order to continue. The 'restore' partition usually D: is used to give you the OS that was on your computer the day you recieved it. Hopefully the more experienced members will correct me if needed. This is my basic understanding of the options to re-install your OS. 

Format, from Wikipedia, "The format command must also be used in order to change a disk file system, as many operating systems will allow users to select the file system to format in." Basically it will re-write the hard disk, causing everything to be erased......everything. You will have a blank hard disk. The usual re-install method will basically overwrite (or take the information it needs then format) your previous OS, so formatting is not required.

Your question about image the OS "so what i want to do is , create the image of the partition with updates ready , so next time i format , i will use this image instead of Dell pc restore... it'll saves my time to download those updates" . This is considered a backup, and a lot of people use this method to restore their computer if they have a problem or it slows down. You must first have a fully functioning healthy OS with all your updates and programs installed, then you can backup (image) your OS drive and restore it when you feel it's needed. You should do periodic backups and/or images, this can lead to a large backup space being needed. I like to keep an early backup or image, and try to keep as many current (from today back as far as your backup space will allow) as possible. If your last backup is restored and your OS develops the same issues that caused you to do the backup you can use an older one until the problem is solved. Usually one or two of the newest backups should resolve your issues, if not you have your ‘original’ backup image.

I hope this helps to understand what your options are, 

Let everyone know what happened to make you want to re-install the OS.

Regards,

Dave

PS

When I did 'repair', current OS booted and running, I inserted the Dell DVD choose the 'repair' option. It took a about 1 1/2 hours and I had to download and install all the micrsoft updates, and a couple of the Dell drivers after it was finished. Other drivers seemed to be installed from before the 'repair'.

Also could be issues with installing SP2, from installing your OS from an 'Image'. I had to delete VLite program and remove it from the registry before SP2 would install. In my search I found issues different from mine that were reported to be from installing your OS from an image. Your mileage may vary......... 

i have a M1530 computer, if you hit f12 it should list a set of options one of them to boot from dvd, and one that says repair computer, if you did something like i did... dual booting with other os in another partition, or used any software to generate a boot menu of your own or something similar, then your f12 menu is gone, and if you plan on restoring to default settings you will have to do it manually like i did. there is reference on the net on how to do that, thats what i had to do to restore to factory settings, now... im searching for information on how to recreate that menu.

Cadillacs57,

It gets too confusing using someone elses thread. Please make a new thread at Dell Microsoft OS Forum and tell us what you're trying to do.

Thanks,

Rick