restore my n5110 laptop to it's factory settings?

To have successfully moved the System boot files to C then after moving the Active flag there you needed to run Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times. Since you didn't do this then the boot files were still on Recovery which is why it started up just by moving the Active flag back there. However for some reason Recovery doesn't want to run now.

Have you tried running Recovery from boot? Dell Restoring Your Computer´s Software to the Factory Settings

If this PC had Dell Recovery on the F8 Advanced Boot tools menu than you can try Dell Recovery Partition - restoring F8 link.

If it still won't run you can try adding Recovery to a Dual Boot menu using this method: Boot Recovery Partition using EasyBCD then run Recovery to see if it restores it's links.

It might however require ordering Recovery disks from Dell.

Or you can get the superior Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 without the factory bloatware, replace Recovery with your own external backup image of your customized clean reinstall. Backup Complete Computer - Create an Image Backup

I did try pressing the F8 key but nothing! Previously I had an option "Dell Factory Image Restore" but now it's no longer seen.And one more thing,previously the active partition wasn't C:\.

What is it you want to do? I gave you the steps to try everything possible to run Factory Recovery - have you tried any of them yet? Are you aware that the blue links are tutorials showing how to do the steps?

If you want this solved then you must be completely thorough with fully interactive communication to get every step done.

Hi Hem981,

My honest advice: Call Dell India Technical Support and tell them that your Windows is ruined for some reason you do not know :) ( do not tell them anyother thing and get into a muddle) and you are not able to recover from the recovery partition. ( Your recovery disks you found out is damaged and now you are in a soup.:) )

They will try to help you recover from the partition and if not possible, they will in all probability, send you the OS Reinstall Disk with which you can do a clean install that will self-activate. If they advice you to take it to the nearest Dell Service Point, politely tell them that you will be hard put to do it and would prefer to do a clean install yourself.

I am speaking from my personal experience having got the OS disk, when I could not recover from the recovery partition. ( DELL as a general policy will send a OS reinstall disk if the customer requests for it within the warranty period. If you happen to talk to a good samaritan at the other end, he may relent and send it free even if you are out of warranty, Generally DELL Support is customer- friendly. Is your name Hema? Then it is an added advantage.)

Give it a try. It is not going to cost any money.

Thanks,but I think i will do a clean install of windows rather than using Dell's discs because it may restore all the apps pre-installed.I only wanted the drivers..

The only disk Dell will send is a Win7 Reinstallation DVD which is a clean copy of the OS with only the activation and a Dell logo baked in.

However you can achieve the same thing with the Product Key on the COA sticker using Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7.

Follow the steps closely including how drivers are handled in Win7 which is not at all like XP. Wait until all Important and Optional Updates are done to see which drivers are still missing in Device Manager to import them from the Dell Download webpage for your model. Don't change any other drivers unless performance requires it. Win7 is nearly as driver complete as Win8 which requires no participation at all with drivers.