Hello LucasvdM, It would be helpful to know your system model number and the OS installed on the system. On many Dell systems, you access the Dell Recovery Restore by pressing ctrl and the F11 key at the same time immediately when the Dell Logo appears on the screen. You mentioned that you already had partition issues, so it is possible that the partitions needed for the Dell Recovery Restore have been removed or damaged in some way that rendered them unusuable. Try the procedure above and see if you have any success.

See this for full instructions:

http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dsn/en/document?journalid=447A98F2640CFDCEE040A68F27286A4E&docid=3E48AE3870775D64E040A68F5B2877D4

Hi,

I had Windows Vista SP1 installed. I have an Inspirion 1525.

Pressing Ctrl+F11 on the Dell logo doesnt do anything.

My partition issues: I tried to install OpenSUSE, but it couldnt as there -wasnt enough free space- (100 GB Free!). Even after defragmentation it couldnt install. My PC totally crashed when trying to install Acronis Disc Director Suite; Memory Dump. After that I couldnt boot my PC anymore. System Recovery Options doesnt give me any OS to log on to; so it cannot restore anything. Startup Repair runs, but doesnt help as well.

I guess my hard disc is just pretty up, thats why I decided to go back to Factory Default. But even doing that gives an error...

You can request a backup disc from this link below,

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

Hello Again LucasvdM, The Linux distro may have created your issues. The first point I need to make here is that you can only install one OS on any given partition. The Linux distro would try to install with a different file system than Vista. I can see why the ctrl+F11 would not work. There may be another option here though. I would try this. Insert your Vista DVD in the optical drive and boot the system. The optical drive will have to be selected as the first boot drive in the BIOS. Most of the time it is now. If the system boots to the Vista DVD, there is an option to repair Boot issues. You might give this a try. I have done this a few times with success. If this is successful, then remove the Vista DVD and try once again the ctrl+F11 appraoch. If this is successful, you will still loose any data on the system since you received it. Vista may be able to recreate the Master Boot record (MBR) that the Linux distro may have corrupted. If that fails, the only other option I can think of is a complete reinstall of the OS and programs, but you would loose all the data that has been added since you received the system. This would be my final attempt after all others have not been successful however.

Hi Hansapuppa,

Forum failed so had to type again.

Dell did not provide me any Vista disc, only the recovery partition. Luckily I have one at home...
I tried the Boot repair with the DVD, but it didnt make any sense.

I guess the only option is to reinstall Vista using the DVD. My question remains: how can I do this in the future when I dont have a disc? As Dell did not provide any.

At the moment I loaded the new Vista installation, but it jams when selecting the partitions. It says it cannot create a partition: 0x8004240f.
How can I possibly install Windows when nothing can create a partition? Is my HDD up that much?

Thanks for your help =)

Hello LucasvdM, Sorry to hear your attempt did not work. To get the Vista disk, follow the suggestion of RobinBredin, and that should get the Vista DVD for you. In the mean time, try to install Vista again, but when you get to the point of installing to a drive, look in the lower part of the screen and you will see an option to delete the partition and create a new partition and then format it. I am trying to recall this from my memory so I may not be exactly correct but I am close. Try to delete the C:\ partition and create a new one, and choose to install on the newly created partition, and the install process should continue, I hope. It may be seeing that you have no room for another partition. Vista can only recogonize 4 partitions on a hard drive. Keep us posted.

Hi, Trying to install Vista. It now shows my partitions. Let me type what I see; this might be a bad translation from Dutch.

Disc 1 - Partition 2 - RECOVERY  10.0 GB
Disc 1 - Space not assigned 220.1 GB
Disc 2 - Space not assigned 2.7 GB

When selecting the second and pressing -New- it says: Cannot make a new partition. Error: 0x8004240f.
It doesnt give me the option to delete any partition.

I know now my partition is (...) big time, but how possibly to solve this issue??

LucasvdM,

You can manually restore your Vista Factory Image.  It's fairly easy to do, but does require some patience, mainly downloading the Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK) ISO from Microsoft.  WAIK takes a while to download.  It's over 1.3Gb. 

You then install the WAIK on another Vista or Windows XP SP2 machine and copy about 26Mb of files to removable media.  You then boot your machine with a "live" CD such as Bart's PE or UBCD, access the files on the removable media and manually restore the Vista Factory Image to your C:\ drive.   This will restore future access to the Factory Image using the F8 key.

If you're interested in restoring your original Factory Image, let us know and I'll give the details on how this can be done.

Tony

Hello LucasvdM, This information is what could be expected when encountering the issue you have.

Disc 1 - Partition 2 - RECOVERY  10.0 GB   This is the Dell Recovery Restore partition Should be shown as Partition 3
Disc 1 - Space not assigned 220.1 GB   This would normally be the C:\ partition Should be shown as Partition 2
Disc 2 - Space not assigned 2.7 GB   This is the Dell Media partition

The Disc 2 is not normal and should be shown as Disc 1 - Partition 4

There is another Disc 1 - Partion 1 that is a hidden partition that is formatted in FAT16 format.

This shows the Master Boot Record (MBR) to be corrupted. With this much corruption, I doubt if any of the data can be saved. I know the Dell Media partition cannot. At this point, I would try to install Windows XP, if you have access to a disk. At the point in the install where you are asked where to install, after you press F8, choose to delete all of the existing partitions and create a new partition and choose to make it as large as possible. If you are successful to this point, continue and then do a Quick Format in the NTFS format. The hard drive MBR should then be restored. Stop the XP installation by turning the system off. Then insert the Vista DVD and try again. You should wind up with a fresh Vista install and then can install you programs.