Problem restoring to factory setting, "the parameter is incorrect".

Hi all

So I want to restore my computer to its factory settings because it is giving me a few annoying problems that I would like to get rid of. I go through the steps (given here), but I get stuck once I get to the step right before the system is about to be restored. I get an error message that just says "the parameter is incorrect". It doesn't give an error code. From here I have to do a hard shutdown of my computer.

I tried calling dell but since I'm out of warranty they want to charge me ~100 bucks to get this fixed. That seems way too high for me, especially for this problem given my budget. I did get some info from the tech guy though he said":

1- The recovery files may be corrupt, possible due to a virus (this could just be a scare tactic)
2- will have to use windows 7 re-installation cd if the files are indeed corrput

That's about all I got from him. I have the windows 7 cd that came with the comp and 2 other cds that have the drivers. The computer itself is a Dell insprion 560.

So basically does anyone know what my options are? Is there anyway to get around the parameter is incorrect problem or will I have to restore the computer another way?

Any help would be really appreciated!!

There is probably a way round that.

If somebody posts a screenie of their similar Dell recov partition , we wlll be able to see.

If you have the Dell Windows DVD and a driver disc, you'd do better to use those.

You'll finish up with a pristine system that has none of Dell's bloatware.

Insert the Windows DVD and restart your computer.

When the Dell logo appears, press F12 immediately.

Select your CD/DVD drive from the boot list and press Enter then follow the onscreen instructions.

Recovery partition for Dell XPS 8300:

Thanks for the reply guys.

I don't have a partition drive on my comp, it's just the big ol C drive. Does that matter?

Can you post a screenshot of your disk management layout?

We need the screenie from Start>Control Panel>System & Security>Administrative Tools>Create and format hard disk partitions.

Ok here is the screen:


Hope that's what you guys need!

Well, there appears to be nothing wrong with Drive 0.

However, it has three partitions, not one as you mentioned. You currently have:

1. A 47 MB Dell OEM partition.
2. A 10 GB Recovery partition.
3. Your Windows partition.

One thing that puzzles me, it also shows a RAW partition J, with no size. Any idea how that came about?

In retrospect, I think the Dell technician is probably right in that the recovery partition may well be corrupt.

As you have a Dell Windows DVD and driver DVD I'd be inclined to use them to carry out a clean install. I see no point in paying Dell a shed load of money to do something you can do yourself.

Just make sure you download or are in possession of an ethernet LAN adapter driver so that you have a way of getting online after you're reinstalled Windows. I'm fairly certain the Dell driver disc won't have all the drivers you need.

Thanks for your help so far seavixen.

So I just installed the windows 7 app on there and the computer is fresh. It seems that it saved all my old files to a folder called windows.old since my harddrive has the same capacity as it did before i did the installation.

I just inserted one of the dell drivers and I'm not really sure where to go from here. I have an ethernet cord which I can plug into my router but I'm not sure if that will give me internet access?

What is the next step?

Thanks again for your help so far.

Ok I fixed the problem, thanks to the people on here who helped.

Eventually I just used the windows OS reinstallation cd to reinstall the OS. This wiped my hard drive but kept all my old files in a folder called windows.old which was very nice. I then had to reinstall all the drivers that came in the pre-packed dell cd and now the computer is running great. :)

Well done.

Sorry I didn't get back to you earlier, but being in a different time zone, I was in bed!

Anyway, pleased to see you're up and running and thanks for the update.