I have a Dell XPS laptop. I reinstalled windows a weeks ago using an oem disc. Since then i have notice my sound sometimes stops working. I would like to reinstall to factory. I booted and pressed f8 then clicked repair windows. At the repair menu the dell factory reinstall option is missing. My recovery partition is still on the drive.
Is there no Dell Recovery Tool listed using the method you just described? It appears you are attempting to do everything correctly.
First run Windows Update to see if any drivers are cued in optional Updates. After updating all drivers, for any missing in Device Manager go to the Dell Support Downlloads webpage for your tag number and install the Sound driver to see if that helps.
I would not change out any drivers provided by installer or optional Updates unless there are performance problems, however, as unlike XP Win7 is the authority on its own drivers.
If that fails try restoring the hotlink to Recovery Partition to your F8 Repair My Computer menu, as long as you didn't delete the Recovery Partition during clean reinstall. If you did or it won't restore link and then run, try marking the Recovery Partition Active, then reboot to see if it will autostart: Partition - Mark as Active . Note that you may need to use Option Two using Diskpart from the Win7 Installation DVD Repair console Command Line to mark Win7 Active again
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If not you'll need to order Recovery Disks for your tag from Dell if you didn't make them at computer setup, or post back for any more help on problems with your clean install - which is a superior install anyway: Reinstalling Windows 7
Dell Recovery Partition - restoring F8 link
Dell Restoring Your Computer´s Software to the Factory Settings
If you reinstalled with an OEM disc and didn't create a set of recovery discs first, you will have lost your recovery partition and with it no way of getting back your computer's factory state unless you buy a set of recovery discs from Dell.
However, you can still go to Dell Support and key in your computer's service tag for a list of up-to-date drivers and applications that apply to your computer.
http://support.euro.dell.com/support...hs1&l=en&s=dhs
You'll need to change to your region via the link at the top of the Dell Support page.
I still have 3 partitions. A small partition with diagnostic tools, a 10-14gb Recovery partition, and the main os partition.
Then try restoring the F8 Recovery hotlink which was overwritten when you did the superior clean reinstall, using the tutorial I linked.
If that fails mark Recovery partition active and reboot to see if it will start. If not, move Active flag back to Win7 and either order your Recovery Disks or finish the clean install correctly by providing the drivers as I detailed.
@psiko74
As I said earlier you need to provide more specific information on the reinstall you carried out to sensibly answer your question otherwise you'll just get stabs in the dark.
Just saw your last response - this looks like a standard Dell partition structure!
Did you use Dell factory restore disks?
Post a disk management screenshot
I'll try to explain it again since apparently I wasn't clear earlier:
When OP clean reinstalled it overwrote the Recovery Partition's hotlink on the F8 Advanced Boot Options
menu "Repair My Computer" choice to Recover to Factory Condition, removing that menu entry.
With Dells there is a method to restore the hotlink after clean reinstall which I posted earlier: Dell Recovery Partition - restoring F8 link
If this fails, many times one can get a Recovery Partition which has lost its F-key hotlink to run by marking Active then rebooting to see if it will autostart or respond now to the F-key. If not you can mark Win7 or it's boot partition Active again to start it up: Partition - Mark as Active (Method Two)
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