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#11
No "Factory Image Restore" Image Solution
After hours and hours of searching for a solution to there being no "Factory Image Restore" option, this is what I did to reset my own Dell laptop (should really work on any manufacturer) to factory original. Of course, be sure you have your documents backed up before beginning as you will lose everything.
Assuming your recovery partition has not been damaged (if it has, this will not work)
Download Hiren's BootCD from Download Hiren
Burn Hiren's BootCD to a CD
Put the Hiren's BootCD into CD Drive and Reboot computer
Select "Mini XP" from the menu
Double click on "My Computer"
Identify the partition that you use for your operating system
Right click on that partition and select "Format" to ensure a clean install
Identify the recovery partition and go to the "Imaging" folder
Right click on the "Imaging" folder and select "Command Prompt Here"
At the command prompt type (substituting c for your particular recovery partition and e for the partition that you use for your operating system)
imagex /apply c:\dell\image\factory.wim 1 e:\
After the image is successfully applied, close the command prompt.
Close "My Computer"
Remove Hiren's BootCD from CD Drive
Reboot computer
Your computer should now be reset to factory.
And as a bonus, if you try and use the Dell DataSafe Restore it will be there now! Woohoo!