Restoring Dell™ Factory Image From Microsoft® Windows® Recovery Environment

Use the Windows Vista DVD to start the Windows Vista recovery environment. To do this, follow these steps: Insert the Windows Vista DVD into the DVD drive, and then restart the computer. During the startup process, repeatedly press . In the Boot Device Menu, press the to select *Onboard or USB CD-ROM Drive, and then press . If the Boot Device Menu does not appear, restart the computer and repeat step 2. When the Press any key to boot from CD or DVD screen appears, immediately press any key to start the computer from the Windows Vista DVD. For example, immediately press the when the Press any key to boot from CD or DVD screen appears. If you do not press a key immediately, the computer may not start from the Windows Vista DVD. Instead, the computer may try to start the currently-installed copy of Windows Vista. If this situation occurs, restart the computer, and then repeat steps 2 and 3. When Windows Vista starts from the Windows Vista DVD, other screens may appear during the startup process. If other screens appear, accept the default options, and then continue to the language settings screen. On the language settings screen, click the appropriate language in the Language to installlist, click the appropriate time and currency format in the Time and currency format list, click the appropriate keyboard layout to use in the Keyboard or input method list, and then clickNext. On the lower-left corner of the Install now screen, click Repair your computer. If the Windows Vista Setup program detects any problems on the computer, click No when the program displays the following message: Windows found problems with your computer's startup options. Do you want to apply repairs and restart your computer? In the System Recovery Options window, under Operating System, click Windows Vista (TM) Version, even if this entry is already selected, and then click Next to display the Choose a recovery tool window.

» Run PC Restore From a Microsoft® Windows Vista® DVD

Note: The following instructions require a Microsoft® Windows Vista® DVD, which includes the Windows Vista disk that was originally shipped with your computer or any Windows Vista DVD displaying the Windows Anytime Upgrade logo. In addition, the Recovery partition must not be damaged. Click Command Prompt from the System Recovery Options window. In the Administrator window, type the following lines, pressing after each line. path d:\windows;d:\windows\system32 d: CD Tools PCRestore In the Dell Factory Image Restore window, click Next. In the Confirm Data Deletion window, click to select Yes, reformat hard drive and restore system software to factory condition, and then click Next. The message Factory image successfully restored! appears when the process is complete. Click Finish to restart the system.

» Reinstall Operating System Manually If PC Restore Fails

Reinstall the operating system manually if: PC Restore does not restore your operating system to its original condition. Pressing + fails to display the PC Restore tool.