How to Perform a Dell System Restore

There are times when simply doing a Windows restore isn’t enough; you also may not have been provided with any operating system / restore CD’s or DVD’s for your Dell computer.  Luckily for you, Dell places restore materials on a separate partition of your hard drive.  If all else fails and your last resort is restoring your computer to “like new”; here are the instructions to do so.

For systems shipped with Windows XP

1. Back up all the data you wish to save on a thumb drive, external hard drive, etc. (the point of the restore is to ERASE EVERYTHING!!!) Note: if you are doing this because of a virus, be sure you aren’t going to infect your computer with the same virus by transferring the infected files back to your system after the restore is finished.
2. Make sure everything is unplugged from your computer except your mouse, keyboard, and monitor.
3. When you reboot your system you will see a blue bar flash across the top of the screen as it boots, quickly press CNTRL and F11. Act fast now as if you miss your opportunity you will have to reboot and try again.
4. Click Restore on the screen that appears and accept the warning that pops up.
5. When the restore is finished, a window will appear stating that the system recover process was successful. Click “Finish” to reboot.

For systems shipped with Windows Vista

1. Back up all the data you wish to save on a thumb drive, external hard drive, etc. (the point of the restore is to ERASE EVERYTHING!!!) Note: if you are doing this because of a virus, be sure you aren’t going to infect your computer with the same virus by transferring the infected files back to your system after the restore is finished.
2. Make sure everything is unplugged from your computer except your mouse, keyboard, and monitor.
3. As the computer starts press F8 after the Windows Logo appears to reveal the Advanced Boot Options Menu – If the Advanced Boot Options menu doesn’t appear, restart your computer and try again.
4. In the Advanced Boot Options menu, arrow down to “Repair Your Computer” and press ENTER
5. Select your language, then click NEXT
6. Log in as a user that has administrative privileges, usually your login.
7. Click Dell Factory Image Restore
8. Click NEXT when prompted
9. Check the box for “Yes, reformat hard drives and restore system software to factory condition” and click NEXT
10. Click Finish to restart your computer

Your Dell computer is now factory fresh again!