Factory Reset Without Disk?

I bought a refurbed Dell Optiplex with Win 7 Pro 64 bit a while back and I'd like to do a factory reset and start over with the computer. Not having problems with the machine, I just want to start fresh. Searching 'Factory Reset' I get a lot of results saying to do this through the Recovery control panel, under Advanced Recovery Methods. but I see no 'Factory Reset' option there. There's a 'Reinstall Windows' option, but it says I need an installation disk to do this. There's also an option to restore everything from a system image, including the system, all my software, and files, but I've never made a system image, and anyway, I'm looking for a clean slate.

This computer is all legit - System Control Panel reports genuine MS Windows and Intel i5-3470. It came with a 2 year full replacement warranty, which is pretty unheard of for a refurb, but it came with Windows preinstalled - no disk. (Does anyone even provide disks anymore?) Anyway, I'm thinking reinstall is something different from factory reset. So can somebody tell me how to factory reset my computer without a disk?

Dell Optiplex 7010, Intel Core i5-3470, 2TB HD, 16GB RAM, Win7 Pro 64-bit

Thanks,

Arlis

samuria said:

Check in disk manager is there a recovery parition

Have you got this on your pc https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/e...p-and-recovery

I don't have Dell Backup and Recovery, but I clicked on 'Computer' and there is a recovery partition with a little over 7 GB on it. Can I use this with just the Recovery control panel? In there, under 'Advanced Recovery Methods' there is an option that says 'Use a system image you created earlier to restore your computer'. How would I do that?

Thanks

SIW2 said:

sounds like whoever you bought it from reinstalled win7 at some point, without the dell recovery program. However, if the recovery partition is still there and intact, you should be able to boot into it to do the restore to factory .
You would need to add a boot menu entry to do it.
Can you post a screenshot of the contents of that recovery partition?

Here it is. I bought the computer refurbed from an eBay seller, TechLeaf. You give them a menu of your requirements: Computer brand, how much RAM, HD (both brand new), OS version, and then they build the computer accordingly - so I guess that would be the fresh install of the OS. 2 year total replacement warranty also included, but I never had to resort to that. A little over a year in, they handheld me through several weeks trying to track down a recurring BSOD problem, then finally offered to just replace the machine, but within a couple days I resolved the issue. No probs since then.

So how do I boot into this partition and do the factory reset?

Do you still think I need to dl the iso? This was a fresh install of the OS.

Thanks.

Thanks. Did some searching and figured out how to mark the partition active. Now, boot into it and then do what to factory reset my computer?

Check if your Dell has a recovery partition. When you start up your computer, press F8 repeatedly until the Advanced Boot Options menu appears. If there's an option for Repair Your Computer, select it and see if it guides you through a factory reset process.