Factory Restore CD

  • Thread starter Thread starter Whitey
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Whitey

Hello. In my new PC ( A Dell Inspiron ) box came a CD and it is pretty
generic. Says something like "restore CD" and not much else. Is this the CD
that will make it factory fresh if I want to reinstall everything like when
it came out of the box? Or could I just pick and choose certain
files/programs to reinstall? I don't anticipate having to do this but
anything is possible. Also, if I actually did have to use the CD, wouldn't I
lose everything on the hard disc ? Last question- Once someone told me that
if you reinstall the factory software too many times it weakens the hard
disc somehow. Any truth to that? Thanks in advance and sorry if I seem lost
but I am not a PC wizard and this seems like a good group to ask questions
from what I've seen so far. Bye!
 
My Inspiron came with both an image restore partition on the hard disk, and
a DVD that says

Operating System
Already Installed on your Computer
Reinstallation DVD
Windows VistaTM Home Premium 32BIT
The software is already installed on your computer.
Only use this DVD to reinstall the operating system on a DellTM PC.
This DVD is not for reinstallation of programs or drivers.

There is also a drivers and utilities DVD

DellTM
Drivers and Utilities
Already installed on your computer
....
For Reinstalling DellTM InspironTM Computer Software

Open "Computer" and look for additional partitions on your hard disk, and a
partition labelled "Recovery". I think the program to restore the computer
to factory new condition is called PCRestore. If you run that program, it
will wipe your system partition before reinstalling Vista.
 
Whitey said:
Hello. In my new PC ( A Dell Inspiron ) box came a CD and it is pretty
generic. Says something like "restore CD" and not much else. Is this the
CD that will make it factory fresh if I want to reinstall everything like
when it came out of the box?
Click to expand...

Sounds like it yes.
Or could I just pick and choose certain files/programs to reinstall? I
don't anticipate having to do this but anything is possible.
Click to expand...

Usually not. You might try having a look at the disc, perhaps its got a
readme file or something similar on it that might give some clues.
Also, if I actually did have to use the CD, wouldn't I lose everything on
the hard disc ?
Click to expand...

Usually yes, most restore discs will wipe the system drive first. Again not
always, but typically.
Last question- Once someone told me that if you reinstall the factory
software too many times it weakens the hard disc somehow. Any truth to
that?
Nope.

Thanks in advance and sorry if I seem lost but I am not a PC wizard and
this seems like a good group to ask questions from what I've seen so far.
Bye!
Click to expand...

Sorry I couldn't be more help, unfortunately its entirely up to the OEMs
what sort of restore or repair options they provide. I personally wish they
would all just ship a Windows disc, and then a separate disc with all their
bits and bobs on. Maybe one day.

--
Paul Smith,
Yeovil, UK.
Microsoft MVP Windows Desktop Experience.
http://www.dasmirnov.net/blog/
http://www.windowsresource.net/

*Remove nospam. to reply by e-mail*
 
Paul said:
news:%[email protected]...
Click to expand...
I personally wish
they would all just ship a Windows disc, and then a separate disc with
all their bits and bobs on. Maybe one day.
Click to expand...
Amen to that. I've spent about an hour earlier removing Google Desktop,
Dell Dock, Tiscali Internet, replacing McAfee AV etc., to strip the
desktop back to a usable state to on a new Dell Inspiron.

If you buy these machines it's on the basis of hardware and price, not
on how much junk the OEM wants to install. What's really daft is that
although such software might make an OEMs life easier when delivering
support for a newbie, it's just added confusion for those who are moving
beyond the newbie stage.

It would be interesting to find out how many calls MS field from
customers who have problems because such stuff.

Could MS solve this problem by including a decent AV and advising OEMs
not to pre-load so much junk? Seriously, when you strip a machine back,
Defender is on, Windows Firewall is on, UAC is on, Updates is on, all
you then need is a decent AV to rock'n'roll. :)
 
Hi Whitey,
Hello. In my new PC ( A Dell Inspiron ) box came a CD and it is pretty
generic. Says something like "restore CD" and not much else. Is this the
CD that will make it factory fresh if I want to reinstall everything like
when it came out of the box?
Click to expand...

Yep, that's what they do.
Or could I just pick and choose certain files/programs to reinstall?
Click to expand...

Nope, that's what they don't do.
I don't anticipate having to do this but anything is possible. Also, if I
actually did have to use the CD, wouldn't I lose everything on the hard
disc ?
Click to expand...

Generally, these are "wipe and reload" disks that return the system to the
way it was out of the box. Anything you have installed or saved is not
preserved. This is why backing up critical data on a regular basis is
important. By the time you know you need it, it'll be too late to retrieve
it.
Last question- Once someone told me that if you reinstall the factory
software too many times it weakens the hard disc somehow. Any truth to
that?
Click to expand...

None at all, complete fallacy. Reinstalling the original system state will
have no more detrimental affect than any other day-to-day use.
Thanks in advance and sorry if I seem lost but I am not a PC wizard and
this seems like a good group to ask questions from what I've seen so far.
Bye!
Click to expand...

Right group, good questions. Hope the answers helped.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com
 
Whitey said:
Hello. In my new PC ( A Dell Inspiron ) box came a CD and it is pretty
generic. Says something like "restore CD" and not much else. Is this the
CD that will make it factory fresh if I want to reinstall everything like
when it came out of the box? Or could I just pick and choose certain
files/programs to reinstall? I don't anticipate having to do this but
anything is possible. Also, if I actually did have to use the CD, wouldn't
I lose everything on the hard disc ? Last question- Once someone told me
that if you reinstall the factory software too many times it weakens the
hard disc somehow. Any truth to that? Thanks in advance and sorry if I
seem lost but I am not a PC wizard and this seems like a good group to ask
questions from what I've seen so far. Bye!
Click to expand...


The best to ask are the nice people at Dell..



--
Mike Hall - MVP
How to construct a good post..
http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm
How to use the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups..
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=newswhelp&style=toc
Mike's Window - My Blog..
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/default.aspx
 
Whitey said:
Hello. In my new PC ( A Dell Inspiron ) box came a CD and it is pretty
generic. Says something like "restore CD" and not much else. Is this the
CD that will make it factory fresh if I want to reinstall everything
like when it came out of the box? Or could I just pick and choose
certain files/programs to reinstall? I don't anticipate having to do
this but anything is possible. Also, if I actually did have to use the
CD, wouldn't I lose everything on the hard disc ? Last question- Once
someone told me that if you reinstall the factory software too many
times it weakens the hard disc somehow. Any truth to that? Thanks in
advance and sorry if I seem lost but I am not a PC wizard and this seems
like a good group to ask questions from what I've seen so far. Bye!
Click to expand...

Yes, the "restore CD" gets you back to the originally shipped
configuration, which, after a week or so of owning the computer, is
probably not what you want.

I'd suggest buying a backup program such as "Acronis True Image," so
that you can create a bootable CD (or DVD) of your current system. You
can then restore from this disk.

Bill
 
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