Unsolved
This post is more than 5 years old
2 Posts
0
3850
February 23rd, 2017 08:00
Alienware Aurora restore
I need to do a factory restore on my Alienware Aurora desktop. I downloaded the Dell OS Recovery Tool and the associated images for my service tag number which is . There were three iso images for some reason, so I picked the largest. I created the bootable USB with the recovery tool program, and followed the instructions to restore. The recovery tool created a new OS and bootable drive on the non-SSD. When I logged in the SSD wasn't recognized by the OS and I realized the OS was on the wrong drive. The OS was Win 10, but this was not a factory restore. I tried again. I picked the iso that had the latest date. This time the recovery tool did a restore, but still it did a restore from the non-SSD drive that it had originally created.
I am unable to boot from the SSD for normal operation, but I still have the recovery partition from the original factory configuration on the SSD. How do I get the Dell OS Recovery Tool to use it? Alternatively, if I have to forget about the a complete factory restore and just get the OS on the SSD, how do I get the recovery tool to recognize the SSD drive? I looked at AlienwareRespawn, but my understanding is that it is not for Win 10. Is there another way to get a factory restore?
Eimy_B
4 Operator
•
4.4K Posts
0
February 24th, 2017 08:00
Hi,
The recovery partition may be damaged, it will be better if you just download the Windows 10 iso from the Microsoft site, put it on an USB and install that.
rbanes
2 Posts
0
February 24th, 2017 13:00
I'm not sure that I can just go to the Microsoft website and download a Win 10 iso. This isn't an upgrade and without a product key, how would I activate it?
Anyway, I was able to use the iso image from the Dell site and use the Dell OS Recovery Tool. That tool was installing and recovering from the non-SSD drive which was drive 1 and I needed it to find the SSD which was drive 2. I ended up unplugging drive 1 to see if the SSD was found and it was. I am up and running. Since I couldn't restore to the "as shipped" configuration, where can I get the Alienware themes and specific software that came on the machine? I have already downloaded and installed the Alienware Command Center.
Eimy_B
4 Operator
•
4.4K Posts
0
February 27th, 2017 18:00
If you did the upgrade to Windows 10 when it was free, the system will recognized the product key.