Windows 7: Factory restore now my drivers are not installing properly?

so i did the f12 hardware diagnostics last night after coming out of safe mode (it blue screend and didnt shut down properly).

the 'hard drive O' took about 2.5 hrs scanning just that. i also clicked on the advanced memory scan which took a half hour.



it passed all tests but didnt seem to freeze much if at all....

Hi kiefer,

Please load 'BIOS defaults' and recheck performance
- Power off the laptop > Power it back on and as 'Dell splash screen' appears, repeatedly tap 'F2 key' > Tap 'F9 key' to 'restore BIOS defaults' > Tap 'F10 key' to 'Save Settings' (You may find the below mentioned reference image useful)
- Check if the status of 'Fixed HDD' (Is the 'hard drive' detected? Capture the status and share)



Check the performance of your laptop again. If the issue persists, you may try a 'fresh Windows Reinstall'. Since the 'Hardware Diagnostics' have passed, it is likely to be a 'software related issue'.

Please refer to the 'clean reinstall guide' shared by 'marsmimar' in the early part of this thread. It is a comprehensive document and should help a great deal. (Please backup personal data before reinstalling Windows; it leads to data loss)

Hope this helps.

Seems like a long time to run diagnostics. Please have a look at A Clean Install of Windows 7:
Windows Reinstallation Guide and Related Software Guides - Microsoft OS Forum - Software & Operating Systems - Dell Community

I am getting ready to do a clean reinstall and have read the 'clean reinstall guide' but have a Question on step # 4. It says to 'make your recovery disks' can i not use the disks that came with the computer used for factory reinstall? If i cannot use them can i save the programs on a memory stick instead of using a disk?

Many newer computers don't even come with recovery disks, let alone an actual Windows 7 install disk. The owners of these newer computers are expected to create their own recovery media. Step 4 was written as a reminder for those folks. As long as you have factory provided recovery disks you can disregard Step 4.

okay, i got them when Dell sent a tech out to replace my hard drive.