No FACTORY IMAGE RESTORE choice! ?

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  1. Posts : 2
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
       #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!
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 16,133
    7 X64
       #12

    Hi George,

    Glad you managed to do that - it must have been very frustrating.

    There are a couple of methods to try and restore in that situation.

    The first is to mark the recovery partition Active - then if you are lucky, you can boot straight into the oem recovery program ( some kind of bootable wim on that partition) and start the recovery process.

    The second way - if you can find the .wim which includes the recovery image, simply apply it with imagex.

    There are other tools to handle wim images - Gimagex makes it easy with a nice GUI. GImageX - AutoItScript

    That all assumes the recovery .wim ( or wim's - they are quite often split into several small ones - depends on the oem ) are not damaged.
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 2
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
       #13

    Hi SIW2,

    Thank you for the suggestions to other possible solutions. Of the three, I had already tried the second method and was unable to make that work.

    The other two methods intrigue me and I am tempted break the computer now to try both of those methods.

    I was most challeged to come up with a solution when I read in forum after forum that it was impossible. I love to overcome impossibilities.

    Thanks again for your suggestions. When I try them for myself, I will get back with you and let you know how they each worked for me.
      My Computer


  4. mjf
    Posts : 5,969
    Windows 7x64 Home Premium SP1
       #14

    I guess you tried the suggestion in post#10 of using Hirens to boot directly into the Recovery Partition. It works on my old ACER but not for all recovery configurations.

    In general though:
    When you set the recovery partition active it just tells the MBR boot code where to jump to next. If the OEM has configured the recovery partition to be directly bootable it will have the appropriate Bootsector and bootmgr. You then generally need to set the partition inactive after recovery.
    You can avoid the active/inactive setting by bypassing the MBR and going straight to the partition without the rigamarole.
    Last edited by mjf; 25 Nov 2012 at 19:57.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 1
    win 7
       #15

    Thanks Theog! This worked when nothing else did.

    1. Click Command Prompt from the System Recovery Options window.

    2. In the Administrator window, type the following lines, pressing <Enter> after each line.
    path d:\windows;d:\windows\system32

    d:
    CD Tools
    PCRestore

    3. In the Dell Factory Image Restore window, click Next.

    4. 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.

    5. Click Finish to restart the system.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 10,200
    MS Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-bit
       #16

    Illypa,

    Did you follow the advice given by BareFootKid in post #5? Yes or No?

    If you would like to order recovery discs for your computer, then Dell is an excellent company in this regard.

    Please see:
    https://support.dell.com/support/top.../backupcd_form

    Once again:
    Did you follow the advice given by BareFootKid in post #5? Yes or No?
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 11,408
    ME/XP/Vista/Win7
       #17

    You are welcome, apomb. :)
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 1
    Windows 7 Ultimate
       #18

    theog said:
    1. Click Command Prompt from the System Recovery Options window.

    2. In the Administrator window, type the following lines, pressing <Enter> after each line.
    path d:\windows;d:\windows\system32

    d:
    CD Tools
    PCRestore

    3. In the Dell Factory Image Restore window, click Next.

    4. 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.

    5. Click Finish to restart the system.

    Thank You !!
    This was exactly what I needed.
    I tried to update an old vista laptop to windows 7.
    I had to do it from usb drive because the dvd-drive was stuck.

    It failed partialy because the old system had to much garbage.
    Didn't find the recovery image.
    I followed your path (what's in a name, pathsettings) and the recovery worked fine.

    From this clean Windows Vista system I can try to update to Windows 7.

    Thanks a lot !!
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 1
    Win 7 Pro 64bit
       #19

    Thanks


    theog,

    Thanks for the solution. Your Method worked on the 2nd try. I had installed Win 7 on a Dell Inspiron 1318 laptop, but I wanted to restore the Vista install, to try and upgrade to Windows 8, just because I like to abuse myself.

      My Computer


  10. Posts : 11,408
    ME/XP/Vista/Win7
       #20

    That was a long time ago.
    You are welcome.
      My Computer


 
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