My OS disk is now D. Laptop keeps on restarting.

I do apologize for my posts. I am used to XP and have been using it until I received this laptop last December. I prefer clean reinstalls in the first place as long as I have the right drivers for everything. I'll make a clean reinstall(and delete the recovery partition?) and run windows update first thing.

Dell Recovery won't run after a reinstall since the F8 menu is also reinstalled so not sure how you ran it from partition.

I'd also earlier suggested you get the cleanest possible reinstall by first running Diskpart Clean Command. However you will lose bootable Dell Diagnostics via F12 so run that now to test hardware and whether it runs. It's tests are available online at http://www.dell.com/support/Diagnostics/us/en/04.

In countless Dells we've helped Clean Reinstall here I've never heard a single complaint about drivers or anything else. There are Special Notes for Dell Owners at the end of Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7.

gregrocker said:

Dell Recovery won't run after a reinstall since the F8 menu is also reinstalled so not sure how you ran it from partition.

I'd also earlier suggested you get the cleanest possible reinstall by first running Diskpart Clean Command. However you will lose bootable Dell Diagnostics via F12 so run that now to test hardware and whether it runs. It's tests are available online at Dell PC Diagnostics | Dell US.

In countless Dells we've helped Clean Reinstall here I've never heard a single complaint about drivers or anything else. There are Special Notes for Dell Owners at the end of Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7.

Since I didn't touch the recovery partition when I reinstalled, it's still in it's original state. After the reinstalled, I downloaded dell datasafe and made a USB backup of it using the software and performed the restore. It was quite educational for me even if it was time consuming.

Just to make sure I understand this, I should check if diags work even though they have it online? I think it works yesterday. I can't check now because I'm making recovery discs of the factory image using dell datasafe. I'll be keeping this as a last resort. Then I perform the diskpart tutorial before I do a clean install?

I mentioned Diagnostics so you'd know that you will lose it if you wipe the HD along with the Recovery partition. I think getting the cleanest slate possible for reinstall is more important myself, but others may want the Diagnostics tools and Recovery partition onboard. We try not to limit User's options with their property without fully outlining them.

gregrocker said:

I mentioned Diagnostics so you'd know that you will lose it if you wipe the HD along with the Recovery partition. I think getting the cleanest slate possible for reinstall is more important myself, but others may want the Diagnostics tools and Recovery partition onboard. We try not to limit User's options with their property without fully outlining them.

So far, one disc failed in the backup. If this fails one more time, I'm going to keep the recovery partition and proceed to cleaning the C drive using the diskpart tut you linked in your previous posts and perform a clean install.

What "disk failed in the backup?"

Use an external or another internal HD to save the Win7 backup after Clean Reinstall. The only disks you need are the Win7 installation DVD provided in Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 so you know you have the latest official ISO and tool to burn it.

If the Dell Reinstallation DVD says SP1 you can use it to also gain self-activation and a Dell logo on System page.

Please mark thread "Unsolved" at top so others will look in on it while I am taking my dog to the beach.