Dell XPS 140 with Windows XP trying to take to factory settings?

[sbenich]

Hello,

Everything I have read says go to Advanced Boot Menu and click on Restore Computer. My computer doesn't have that option. It only has:

Safe Mode
Safe Mode with Networking
Safe Mode with Command Promt
Enable Boot Logging
Enable VGA Mode
Last Known Good Congiguration
Directory Service Restore Mode (which I tried but just tries to take me to a restore date not back to factory settings)
Debugging Mode
Disable automatic restart on system failure

Start window Normally
Reboot
Return to OS choices Menu

I have also tried Control F11 to no avail as well. I don't have any disk's to help with this either. Any suggestions????

 

[xXPing_PongXx]

It seems like your computer does not have a restore drive. Did you install any other Operating System apart from the one the computer brought by default?

 

[sbenich]

We had our hard drive go bad and the computer tech that replaced it might have put on a newer xp version Media Pack Service Pack 3 edition. But we bought it with xp as well so I assume it would be the same one but maybe not. Does that mean no other options other than to pay someone to fix it? Or would it be a waste of money?

 

[xXPing_PongXx]

You can try calling Dell and asking how much would it be for the Recovery Disks, make sure you tell him your Model Number. They usually run for about $20 with shipping, so it's not expensive.

You have an old computer if you want to spend the money in upgrading to a new one then that's up to you, depending on your budget you can just spend a little bit buying the disks until you can purchase another PC.

 

[Elvandil]

It would be of help if we knew exactly what was on the hard drive. If you choose to do that, then you can make either the bootable CD or USB key linked at the end of this post and use the partition editor you will see on the desktop to examine your drives to see what partitions exist (and whether there exists a recovery partition that we can access).

But, chances are that if a new installation was made, then it was not the one licensed to Dell specifically for that machine, and without the installation media that was used, you have no way to repair or reinstall.

However, recovery disks (the equivalent of the recovery partition) are available from Dell for your specific model at a nominal fee (usually around $20). That may be your best bet. That would restore your system, and give you a copy if needed in the future. You could use the product key on the machine (which works only with Dell versions and not retail versions).

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Parted Magic disk partitoning tool (Bootable CD image)
If you prefer a bootable USB key, download and run Linux Live USB Creator. Choose the Parted Magic distro, and it will download it and automatically create a bootable USB key.

This CD (or key) contains many useful tools. You can partition, recover files, recover lost partitions, make disk images (by several different methods), transfer files between media, scan for viruses (It can serve as an Alternative Trusted Platform for search and elimination of rootkits and bootkits), examine and benchmark hardware, access the internet, and much more.

 

[xXPing_PongXx]

It would be of help if we knew exactly what was on the hard drive. If you choose to do that, then you can make either the bootable CD or USB key linked at the end of this post and use the partition editor you will see on the desktop to examine your drives to see what partitions exist (and whether there exists a recovery partition that we can access).

But, chances are that if a new installation was made, then it was not the one licensed to Dell specifically for that machine, and without the installation media that was used, you have no way to repair or reinstall.

However, recovery disks (the equivalent of the recovery partition) are available from Dell for your specific model at a nominal fee (usually around $20). That may be your best bet. That would restore your system, and give you a copy if needed in the future. You could use the product key on the machine (which works only with Dell versions and not retail versions).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Parted Magic disk partitoning tool (Bootable CD image)
If you prefer a bootable USB key, download and run Linux Live USB Creator. Choose the Parted Magic distro, and it will download it and automatically create a bootable USB key.

This CD (or key) contains many useful tools. You can partition, recover files, recover lost partitions, make disk images (by several different methods), transfer files between media, scan for viruses (It can serve as an Alternative Trusted Platform for search and elimination of rootkits and bootkits), examine and benchmark hardware, access the internet, and much more.

You just read my previous posts and gave more detail, but at the end it's the same thing I posted. You're the second person that does this with my posts...