Dell : Restoring Your Computer on Factory Default Setting

Restoring Your Dell Computer on Factory Default Setting

1. Backup important files & data store in secure place.
2. Remove non-essential peripherals
3. Restore the computer’s software to original condition
4. Restore your personal file and data from backup.

Backup Important files & Data

• Click Star and then Control Panel
• In the control Panel windows, Click ‘System & Maintenance’ and then click ‘Backup and Restore Center’
• Under Backup Up file or your entire computer, Click ‘Backup file’ If the User Account Control window appears, and you are prompted for an administrator password or a confirmation, type your password, or click ‘ Continue’
• On the Where do you want to save your backup? Page, choose the location in which to save the backup. To do this, click either  on a hard disk, CD, or DVD or  On a network, and then specify the location, if you select a hard disk, be sure to save the backup to external drive such as a USB key or hard drive.
• Click ‘Next’
• On the which file types do you want to backup? page, click to select the check boxes next to the types of files that you want to back up, and then click  ‘Next’
• On the How often do you want to create a backup? page, leave the defaults as they are and click ‘ Save setting and Start Backup’ to Backup the file to the specified location.
• Backup will save the files in the background and may take several minutes to complete. If you specified a removable drive, Backup may prompt you to enter an additional blank disc if more than one is necessary to hold all your files. Be sure to label your discs thoroughly (such as "My Files Disc 1" etc.) so you can quickly restore them later Once the Backup Complete message appears, you are ready to proceed with the next step.

Remove non-essential peripherals

• Scanner
• Printer
• Modem or Network cables
• Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)
• USB flash drive or other external Hard Drive
• Any other external devices (e.g., USB-attached devices)
• Remove the computer from the docking station, if you are using one.

Restore the computer’s software to original conditio

1.  Turn on your Computer
2.  As the computer starts, press <F8> on the keyboard until the Advanced Boot Options menu appears on the screen.
3.  Press the <Down Arrow> on the keyboard to select Repair Your Computer on the Advanced Boot Options menu, and then press <Enter>.
4. Specify the language settings that you want, and then click Next.
5. Log in as a user who has administrative credentials, and then click OK.
6. Click Dell Factory Image Restore.
7. In the Dell Factory Image Restore window, click Next.
8. Click to select the Yes, reformat hard drive and restore system software to factory condition check box.
9. Click Next. 
10. Computer is restored to the default factory configuration.
11. When the restore operation is completed, click Finish to restart the computer. 
12. The software is now installed as it was when the computer was first received.

Restore your personal file and data from backup.

1          Click then click Control Panel.

2          In the Control Panel Windows, Click ‘System & Maintenance’ and then click ‘Backup & Restore Centre’

3          Under Restore files or your entire computer, click ‘Advance Restore’

4          On the What do you want to restore?  Page, click  Files from a backup made on a different computer and click  ‘Next’

5          Locate the backup you created earlier by browsing to it now. If you saved the backup to CD(s) or DVD, insert that disc now. Once the backup is located and selected, click ‘Next’

6          On the Select the files and folders to restore page, click  Restore everything in this backup then click ‘Next’

7          Backup will restore the files to your computer. If you are restoring from a removable drive and used more than one blank disc, Backup will prompt you to enter the next disc in the set as necessary. Depending on the number of files and their sizes, this process may take several minutes.