WINDOWS XP PROFESSIONAL and WINDOWS XP HOME EDITION
During the computer startup press and hold the CTRL + F11 keys
Follow the instructions for Restore to Factory Settings
WINDOWS VISTA
You require the Wndows Vista disks
ADVANCED USERS
Manual instruction to restore to Factory Settings
Boot from Windows Disk or use F8 and select Repair Computer
Enter Keyboard type UK or US etc.
Click C:\\system32 Dos
this takes you to X:\\system32
cd \\
to go to the root of the recovery drive
type ==> \”imagex /apply d:\\dell\\image\\factory.wim 1 c:\\\”
To create a wim file see this link:
CLICK HERE TO CREATE RECOVERY IMAGE WIM FILE
copy recovery tools directory to the E:\\ usb drive
E:\\
cd \\tools
imagex /compress {maximum or fast} /capture c:\\ e:\\Factory.wim \”Windows Vista Home Basic\”
WINDOWS 7
1. Create a recovery drive r:
2. copy .wim file to it and rename to install.wim
3. C:\\Windows\\System32\\Reagentc.exe /setosimage /path R:\\ /target C:\\Windows
(I started with a Windows 7 disk and changed it to
Reagentc.exe /setosimage /path E:\\ /target d:\\Windows as these were the drives it started in Emergency Repair Startup)
3. See this LINK
4. restart and follow instructions to re-install