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Alienware Factory Reinstall From Partition Help
Hello,
I recently suffered from an error on one of my hard drives (running in raid 0) which I managed to correct, but now that I have all my files backed up I would like to restore my computer to factory setting. I am running windows 7 home premium service pack 1 ME Firmware Version 7.1.21.1134, my bios version is A03. I am running two 1tb hard drives configured in Raid0. I have two current partitions, C which is the operating system, and D which claims RECOVERY. I have researched and found multiple videos online claiming that pressing F8 on boot will lead to a bios screen in which I can select "repair windows" and from there I can restore to factory settings from the recovery partition. My problem is that F8 does not bring up any menus and I am taken directly in to windows while pressing it. On Boot I initially have my hard drive information screen (Press Control-I to enter configuration) and then my regular Alienware screen in which I can press F2 to enter boot menu and F12 to enter bios. My F2 boot menu has the selectable boot options of 1. Windows Boot Manager 2. UEFI: Hard Drive 3. Enter Setup 4. Enter ePSA. My F12 Bios allows me to select boot priority but aside from that the only relevant option I see is under Power Management Setup, there is an option to turn AC RECOVERY on or off. So that is my issue, I apologize for the ridiculously long post but I wanted to include all relevant information to make my problem easier to solve. If there is any further information needed please let me know, I greatly appreciate any help on this topic. I know I could do the basic windows 7 reinstall but I would love to do the Factory Settings reinstall so I do not have to reload Raid 0 or any of the software that came with the computer. If any of you know how I can reinstall to factory settings using this partition please let me know, thank you for your time.
Natakuc41
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June 16th, 2015 00:00
If you cannot get the tapping of F8 to work then your best bet is to update to the latest version of Alienware Respawn and create media using a 16 GB USB flash drive. This USB flash drive can be used to restore to your factory settings:
http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/dell-backup-and-recovery-1-8-1-71/
Note you should attempt to make media anyway so you have a backup of your Operating System.
Making a system image as suggested will make a copy of your system as is and this won't be factory settings. Note that Windows 10 is out at the end of next month and you will be able to upgrade from it, preferably by a clean installation.
Anonymous
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June 16th, 2015 00:00
some computer have the function of One Key Recovery which can help you out. When the system is crashed for some reason, you can use this function to restore your computer to factory settings. However, this function can only restore the most basic utilities and applications, moreover, your previous software, files and programs which are installed in your laptop will be lost. Concerning this fatal weakness of One Key Recovery function, you are strongly suggested to use the second method to restore laptop to factory settings – use AOMEI Backupper.
Doctor-Spoofy
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June 16th, 2015 09:00
Sorry Dannilla, I did not quite follow your explanation. Natakuc4 I do not have Alienware Respawn installed on the computer, I suppose this could be a big part of the problem, none of the videos on restoring an Alienware computer to factory settings mentioned Alienware Respawn. I guess they assumed it was already on each viewers computer. I would rather not download the program just to make an image of the current state of my computert, it looks like at this point my best bet is to simply use the windows 7 disc and do a clean install of the operating system using their files. Factory settings would have been nice, but I can download all the software for my hardware after a clean windows 7 install. Though I do have one question regarding a fresh windows 7 install, after the install will I have to configure my hard drives to run in Raid 0 again? Or will my hard drives be unaffected and continue to run in Raid 0? Thanks for your replies.
Natakuc41
86 Posts
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June 16th, 2015 17:00
What do your partitions look like in Disk management?
Doctor-Spoofy
12 Posts
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June 16th, 2015 19:00
My Disk Mangement window, in order, lists
1. Volume - _______, Layout - Simple, Type - Basic, File System - ________, Status Healthy - (EFI System Partition)
2. Volume - DELLUTILITY, Layout - Simple, Type - Basic, File System - Fat 32, Status - Healthy (Primary Partition)
3. Volume - OS (C:), Layout - Simple, Type - Basic, File System - NTFS, Status - Healthy (Boot, Page File, Crash Dump, Primary Partition)
4. Volume - RECOVERY (D:), Layout - Simple, Type - Basic, File System - NTFS, Status - Healthy (Primary Partition)
The first Volume _________ stands for blank since there is nothing where the volume name should be.
Anonymous
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274.2K Posts
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June 16th, 2015 19:00
it's ok.i have some mistake.
Doctor-Spoofy
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June 16th, 2015 20:00
My Disk Mangement window, in order, lists
1. Volume - _______Layout - Simple, Type - Basic, File System - ________, Status Healthy - (EFI System Partition)
2. Volume - DELLUTILITY, Layout - Simple, Type - Basic, File System - Fat 32, Status - Healthy (Primary Partition)
3. Volume - OS (C:), Layout - Simple, Type - Basic, File System - NTFS, Status - Healthy (Boot, Page File, Crash Dump, Primary Partition)
4. Volume - RECOVERY (D:), Layout - Simple, Type - Basic, File System - NTFS, Status - Healthy (Primary Partition)
The ________ in the first partition is just blank, no name or anything.
Natakuc41
86 Posts
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June 17th, 2015 01:00
Sounds like factory settings to me, you have a recovery partition. You can attempt to install Alienware respawn to see if it fixes the links with the recovery partition. If not then you are going to clean install anyway.
Doctor-Spoofy
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June 17th, 2015 07:00
I believe I had Alienware Respawn on my computer at one point, that was while it was under warranty though, I wonder if the program removed itself when the warranty expired. I will definitely try to reinstall Alienware Respawn and go from there, if all else fails I can simply do a clean windows installation. I am now considering this thread closed, thank you again for all of your help!