Hello Ddarby1

Boot computer with the w7 restore disk and when you get to the tool menu,

use command prompt and type             NOTEPAD          a good tool to look

around with go to file click open then file type set to all files then click on computer.

Check and see if you can see the recovery partition with the dell tools and the factory.wim

file. If you can you can copy the imagex file from dell tools and paste it to     x:windows\system32

then run                         imagex /apply d:\dell\image\factory.wim 1 c:\

One quick note check drive letters as they sometime change. If recovery is C and OS is D drive

you will have to use those letters. C becomes D  and D becomes C hope you understand what I mean.

The X drive is in ram so if you reboot the imagex tool will have to be loaded again.

Hope this helps.

Tom

Unfortunately, there's no way to tell if it was corrupt from day 1, unless you successfully completed a recovery.  If you can't repair it, and can't figure out what is keeping it from booting, and can't do a restore, then the only thing you can do is do a fresh reinstall of Winows.  For that, you need the reinstall DVD, which you probably don't have.  You will need to contact Dell to order some replacement disks - it will cost you $15-20 - but you will need them to do a reinstall.

By the way, if it will boot to Safe Mode, there is a chance of fixing it - a long and tedious process, but it is possible.  You can start here:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310560

Thanks.  I've spent more hours and I'm still stuck.  It no longer boots in safe mode, since the failed system restore attempt.  I couldn't find a wayon the Dell site to order a restore CD, so I put in a customer service request.  No response yet.

Link to request "Backup Disc".

  http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dellcare/en/backupcd_form?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&redirect=1

Thanks, Tom.  I've spent a lot more more fruitless hours on this.  It was awkward looking around with Notepad, so I removed the drive, popped it into an external USB drive case, and searched.  There is no imagex file, although I did find ximage3b.dll and WLXImageTranscode.dll on the OS partition.  It appears that there was a partial restore of the OS partition, but for whatever reason it told me that the system restore failed and it was left  unbootable.  So I searched around the Internet and ended up downloading WAIK, a 1.7 GB iso file that is supposed to contain imagex -- but it does not, unless it is buried in a cab file or something.  Do I need to install WAIK on one of my other computers and then look for imagex?  One bit of good news is that I did find the factory.wim file.  

In case it's helpful:

The Recovery partition is 10 GB, with 4.58 GB used.

The OS partition is 441 GB, with 10 GB used.

This is Windows 7 on a Dell Inspiron 1545, Model PP41L  Again, I've done the most extensive diagnostics that are available in BIOS Setup and the memory diagnostics in the restore tool.

Thanks!

Don

Hello ddarby1

The Windows AIK when installed will have imagex.exe in three

different directories under tools. You must select the correct one

amd64

ia64

x86

all three are different so be sure to select the one for your computer.

Glad you found the factory.wim file. There should have been on that same

partition a folder  /tools  with PCRestore and Imagex.exe and other files.

That imagex.exe is the one Dell used to create the wim file and would work better

Manual Recovery of Dell Recovery Image - Step-by-Step

Click Here this step-by-step works for win 7 also.

but if it's not there you can get it from the WAIK.

Good luck

Tom

Thanks to all!

Dell came through and sent me the disk set, even though it was just out of warranty when the crash happened.

I received the disks just as I was getting ready to tackle it using WAIK and Imagex.

Thanks also to Dell!