How to restore my DELL lappie to the factory image?

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  1. Posts : 6,292
    Windows 7 64 Bit Home Premium SP1
       #11

    Yes, we are being a bit thick aren't we. Sorry.

    I like where writhziden is going. The typical Dell methods to invoke System Recovery on other systems is to press F10 or F11, and on some it is CTRL+F11.
    You do this straight away - before the logo.

    And if it were me I would be using the command prompt from System Recovery to root around inside that recovery partition to try and find an executable file, using DOS commands.
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  2. Posts : 11,408
    ME/XP/Vista/Win7
       #12

    Your manual said:
    May 2010 P/N 7R3VH Rev. A00

    You will require the following to create the system recovery media:
    Dell DataSafe Local Backup
    USB key with a minimum capacity of 8 GB or DVD-R/DVD+R/Blu-ray Disc
    NOTE: Dell DataSafe Local Backup does not support rewritable discs.

    jumanji said:
    When I do that ( I have tried a hundred times) it does not happen and the lappie merrily goes on to the first screen to select Ubuntu light or Windows 7 - by default boots into Windows 7 after 5 seconds. (This lappie is one of the few that comes with Ubuntu light preinstalled by the manufacturers. So I have not done anything with the MBR)
    Also the manual for Windows only install. May be a out of date manual.
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  3. Posts : 11,269
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
       #13

    I was just reading through the manual for that product, and I noticed the following: "Dell Factory Image Restore may not be available in certain countries or on certain computers"

    http://support.dell.com/support/edoc...n/sg/sg_en.pdf

    See pages 55-59
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  4. Posts : 11,408
    ME/XP/Vista/Win7
       #14

    Yes, that manual looks odd.
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  5. Posts : 7,055
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
    Thread Starter
       #15

    Yes, this manual is dated May 2010.

    An attendum sheet dated Dec 2010 that came with my printed Manual says about Ubuntu light installed, its features and how to enable/disable it as a startup option.(Ubuntu Light can be invoked from Windows Start Menu).

    I got the lappie in March 2011 from Dell, U.S.A. through a friend in U.S.A. and not Dell, India.

    I disabled Ubuntu from the Startup Option so that it boots straight into Windows and tried F8 on power-on DELL logo. Still no joy.

    A reading of the manual indicates that where they provide the Dell DataSafe Local Backup in the lappie to make the recovery disks, a recovery partition may not be there. If not, one has to use the Dell Factory Image Restore from the recovery partition.

    Curious, I explored the Recovery partition. (screenshot). The Recovery folder in it contains 1. System 32/Recovery/ReAgent.xml and 2. WindowsRe/boot.sdi and winre.wim.

    How to restore my DELL lappie to the factory image?-1recovery-partition.jpg

    So I believe the necessary stuff for restoration is there. Or am I wrong?
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  6. Posts : 11,269
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
       #16

    jumanji, I believe this applies to your above post Guide to Making a Dell System Restore DVD
    Especially the part about the factory .wim file

    Edit: see post #4
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  7. Posts : 7,055
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
    Thread Starter
       #17

    ^ good reference though dated but beyond my comprehension. From an user's perspective restoring to the factory condition should only be a click-through process not requiring him to know anything about WAIK,WinPE, imagex .wim and all that jazz.:)

    As TVeblen rightly guessed and stated it is a preboot process (just like F12 brings the bootmenu). The repeated F8 press during this stage, should actually boot into recovery partition and invoke the WinRE. For some reason it is not doing that though winre.wim and boot.sdi are present in the recovery partition.

    After the first run in March/April 11 and the initial windows setup, I had indeed imaged the complete hard drive with Paragon Recovery CD booting from a pendrive. Restored my lappie to that virgin state and tried. Again no joy. So something was amiss even as it was delivered and I failed to check it.

    So unless someone gives a categorical fix for this, I shall now put it in the backburner. Even if the suggested fix mucks up the recovery partition, it shouldn't matter for I can always restore it from the backups.
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  8. Posts : 1,379
    Win7 Pro 32-bit, Win8 Pro 32-bit
       #18

    Just a thought ... presuming the 5GB partition contains Ubuntu Lite, did you shrink down your Win7 OS partition to install Ubuntu there? IF so, the restore may be failing either because (1) that partition is there (where Win7 SHOULD be), or (2) the Win7 partition is too small.

    If you really want Win7 back, you could try removing the Ubuntu Lite partition, resizing Win7 to fill the space -- and then seeing if the Restore works.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 7,055
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
    Thread Starter
       #19

    Nope, Ubuntu Light came preinstalled. I have not done any crime.:)

    Another thought that is running in my mind. Whether the Boot Manager will automatically failover to Windows RE when Windows 7 is unable to boot and not until then.
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  10. Posts : 11,408
    ME/XP/Vista/Win7
       #20

    Nope, Ubuntu Light came preinstalled. I have not done any crime.:)

      My Computer


 
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