How to restore to factory settings [W7]

Hi really simple question here..

I need to restore my laptop back to it's factory settings. I've looked at guides on the net and gone through the control panel to the system recovery < advanced recovery methods however the options that I see in the guides and on my laptop presently differ.

Before it had an option to "return your computer to factory condition" however now it says "Re-install windows)

So how can I restore it to factory settings?

E: Laptop is a Dell Inspiron1545.
OS is W7 Home

Hi, and welcome to seven forums.

If you want to restore the laptop completely to default as if the first time you switched it on, switch it on and on the black screen/dell logo/blue dell line (basically asoon as the screen shows something) press ctrl and f11 at the same time,rapidly pressing f11 while holding down ctrl will speed up the prosecc,and then just follow the instructions, this will revert your laptop to default.

Hope it helps

Hiyya shaniquaa and welcome too. Yep just as Alsisgevat says mate all prebuilt machines especially laptops have the default option viaa dedicated key my Toshibas have the 0 key (used many times) and I have learnt somehitng myself tonight I didn't know about the CTRL key trick thanks Alsisgevat

I got so fed up with it I slipped in a SSD and use a reasonable sized external for data and mate the difference is astonishing.

If you keep your original drive try the optimise tricks by Brink too mate there is a very noticeable decrease in speed re the machine running at boot and through the apps . Optimize Windows 7[2]=Performance Maintenance

Plus don't forget to look through the tutorials re getting rid of the bloat if you don't want they stick in your machine. You avoid this of course with the SSD and you can transfer the OS from the HDD to the SSD too -

SSD - Install and Transfer the Operating System

It shows how to rescue your files then try repairs in Failure to Start tutorial below.

Then I would run Dell Diagnostics and Utility partition Tools by booting into f12 menu.

How to Run the Dell Diagnostics Utility & Error Code List | PC Help Forum

If the hardware tests OK then continue with the repair tutorial, click to restore your Windows 7 computer to factory settings | Dell US, or do the superior Clean Reinstall also in list below.

Ask back any questions as they arise.

Karlee if Gregs solution cannot help you out and all you want to do is retrieve data I have a little solution that can recover them quite easily.

BOOTABLEUBUNTU

Makea bootable Ubuntu disk http://www.ubuntu.com/download

Setthe BIOS to boot from the optical when the machine boots it will show you ascreen with TRY or INSTALL > select TRY. You can of course remove the hard drive and any otherdrives when doing this as if the optical alone is the only drive left in themachine then the BIOS will only find it to boot from.

Whenit is finished - it takes very little time you will get a screen like in thepic .

Openthe drive you want > User and dig down until you get to the data / settingsyou may be able to copy / paste the material you want to an external source orother installed drive doing this.

Iam not sure if it will but I have recovered tons of data etc using this methodboth on "dead" or just plain drives that you cannot get data fromusing Windows.
But I am guessing Greg will be on track there as I said this is just an option and does not rely on Windows to do access data see pic.
If you have any problem with my ditty post back.

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