Solved problem restoring laptop back to factory settings

[edd78]

hi i was trying to restore my laptop back to factory settings but get a message saying windows cannot find a system image on this computer so don't know what to do next all i know is that i did a back up not long ago i am sure it said something about system image, i used wd passport as my backup

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Restoring an image would take you to the state the laptop was in at the time the image was made.

NOT to the time the laptop left the factory.

If you want to restore to factory specs, I'd think Dell would have put some type of recovery partition on the laptop that you could access through menus and programs on the machine---without using any backup you made.

 

[edd78]

hi thank you for the reply
Have you any idea where to find the menus so that i can restore my laptop back to factory settings

regards
edd

 

[ignatzatsonic]

How to restore your Windows 7 computer to factory settings | Dell US

Above are the instructions from Dell.

There appears to be an omission in step 5--it doesn't say what key to press to get to "advanced boot options". It's probably the F8 key. If that doesn't work, some F key should bring that menu up.

Understand that restoring to factory state will cause you to lose personal data. I assume you have some of that, so you'd need to back it up to some other drive before starting--probably an external drive or maybe a USB flash drive.

 

[edd78]

I looked at videos on you tube and saw that the option that people use is dell data safe restore and emergency backup but i don't see that option i seen a option that says dell backup and recovery manager

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I seen a option that says dell backup and recovery manager

You saw that option when following the link I posted?

Why didn't you choose "Dell backup and recovery manager" when you saw it?

 

[edd78]

i wasn't sure maybe when i saw videos of people using dell data safe restore and emergency backup as a option i thought that there was something missing or maybe it was a confidence thing. I am going to give it a go tomorrow as i have a night shift to do but i will let you know how it goes

 

[edd78]

hi i tried the dell backup and recovery manager option and i get a error message saying the application was unable to start correctly (0xc000007b) press ok to close the application

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I can't help you any further as I have little familiarity with Dell PCs.

I did Google that error and see that it is quite common.

Someone else may have ideas. You could look at Dell forums.

Have you rejected the idea of doing a clean Windows install?

 

[edd78]

hi thank you for the reply
doing a clean Windows install is a option that i could use

 

[theog]

How to use Dell Recovery Partition,make Recovery Disks & how to order OEM manufacturer's Recovery Disks.
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xlob/mmd/en/starting_DFIR.htm
RouteTo
How to video.
http://www.dell.com/support/trouble...bedCodeParam=cwamdrNTryUm5yvodtmENFjBABKJx7Aj
How do I create backup discs with Dell DataSafe Local Backup 2.0? | Dell US

 

[ignatzatsonic]

hi thank you for the reply
doing a clean Windows install is a option that i could use

If you fail when trying Theog's suggestions, post again and we can probably get you going with a clean install--which has some advantages and disadvantages compared to a clean install. The disadvantages being that you might not be able to continue using some of the applications that came with the Dell from the factory--stuff Dell put on it that are not part of Windows.