How to Restore Dell XPS 420 and Dell XPS 1530 to Factory
Recently ran in an issue where spyware and viruses was all a system could take and it was time to restore the system back to factory and start again. This post describes how to restore back to the Dell factory image on Dell XPS 420 (desktop) and Dell XPS 1530 (laptop) but will work on other models as well.
Back in the days the manufacturer would send the restore DVD’s but then stopped and started using software like Symantec Ghost and other programs to create recovery partitions. So let’s get started.
- Make sure to backup any files you want to keep and then reboot the system.
- As the computer starts, press <F8> on the keyboard until the Advanced Boot Options menu appears on the screen.
- Use the Arrow keys to select Repair Your Computer on the Advanced Boot Options menu, and then press <Enter>.
- Specify the language settings that you want, and then click Next.
- Log in as a user who has administrative credentials, and then click OK. As part of the selection you will see user accounts that are on the system, you can select one of them as long as you have the password and it has administrator privileges.
- Click Dell Factory Image Restore.
- In the Dell Factory Image Restore window, click Next.
- Click to select the Yes, reformat hard drive and restore system software to factory condition check box.
- Click Next. The computer is restored to the default factory configuration. This will take some time to complete.
- When the restore operation is completed, click Finish to restart the computer.
The system is now installed as it was when the computer was first received. This will usually only have the OS and the drivers and sometimes some programs. You are now ready to go through and configure the system fresh.
I don’t see computer repair
I have vista – Dell xps 420
F8 does nothing while the computer is starting up
Has the hard drive been replaced from the original? If so the factory hidden image is gone and this process will not work.