Solve : Dell Restore Partition?

1.	Solve : Dell Restore Partition?
Answer» My mother in law is having some major issues with her one year old Dell 5100 (can't uninstall some programs, some programs crash when launching, MSN toolbar updater crashes even when IE is not running, can't update programs (adobe, java), WINDOWS UPDATE CRASHES!!!, McAfee disables repeatedly, WIndows says that mulitple antivirus programs are running., but I don't see that there are ....and these are just things that I personally have seen) I don't know if this is malware related or what, and quite frankly, I don't think it's worth the time to investigate. She has less than 1 GB of data to worry about, only one peripheral to install, and only a couple of non factory programs to install. PLUS high speed internet for ease of program download and update. This Dell did not come with the Restore CD's but the Restore Partition where they take the image of the HD from the factory installation and store it in a special partiton, then when you run the procedure, it recopies that image into the main partition. I chatted with a Dell tech support rep this afternoon and he assured me that the Restore procedure is just as effective as a good old fashioned format and reinstall from the CD. I have never worked with images or this type of restore before. Is it really as good as the old fashioned way? It sounds great - only 10 minutes!? If there is a virus, would this clean that up too? PK If it works you will be OK unless there is an infestation there as well. At this point go ahead and give it a try per their instructions. What have you got to lose? Most of these restore CD's format the drive and that is surely what you want to do. You may be able to transfer any data files to a pen drive, CDRW, etc. first depending on the functionality of the machine. I would ALWAYS prefer a real Windows CD to reinstall with, but this meets the need of a basic user who would never understand how to download annd install a driver, etc.No, that is the problem, I am not using a Restore CD, but the Restore PARTITION. I don't think that it does format first, does it? I guess that is PART of my question. Yeah, data backup is not a problem. PK Quote I don't think that it does format first, does it? I guess that is part of my question. You won't know all the options until you start. I would hope so. Did Dell advise you on this?I work for Dell so I have some experience with the PC Restore. The command is ctrl+F11 on the dell logo if you didn't already have it. It actually works quite well especially in situations such as your's where you just want it fixed. I'm not positive on the specifics of it but it does use norton ghost. Works pretty good and I haven't had any real problems with it. The only time it won't work is if the mbr is damaged, otherwise you're all good. Give it a go, I'll try to find out if it formats the drive at all or what exactly it does tomorrow at work and let you know what I find out. And ya, it'll take care of SPYWARE, viruses, OS corruption, whatever else happens to be plauging(sp?) the computer. Well... as long as it's not hardware related.Some people say that it does format first, but I don't understand how it is able to do this in 10 minutes. This is a 130 GB HD! RapedApe: Please find out for sure if you can and let me know. At first I was skeptical when I found out that Dell no longer shipped CD's, but I have to admit, this does sound very convenient. I am excited to give it a whirl. Thanks PKthe trick the use is they use ghost, which can just copy a FAT table on to your drive, rater than scanning your drive and building one from scratch. its cheating realyFrom what I've found out it doesn't really format. Kinda just deletes everything there and then throws down the image. I use norton ghost myself and the image restore, when successful, works very well. Give it a go and if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. Quote At first I was skeptical when I found out that Dell no longer shipped CD's, but I have to admit, this does sound very convenient. I am excited to give it a whirl. Dell does ship real CD's but it is $10 more - a very wise investment to choose that option!You don't actually have to pay for it. You can just call up after you get it and say that you want to reformat the computer. Just say that you know how to do it yourself and you don't need any help, just want the CD's. Then off the CD's go speeding to your door. Well, I did it, and everything seemed to go well. It sure was fast!! Only 4 minutes to reimage, then about another hour to setup, remove software, update, etc. I do have a question though. I forgot to unplug the peripherals (webcam and a printer/scanner) before i started the restore procedure, but did unplug them during the procedure, before Windows started. Is this OK? I did not see any problems. I would think that as long as they were unplugged before the initial Windows start up, i should be OK, as the devices were not activated while the reimaging was taking place, right? PK Yes, better to unplug ALL peripherals, but it seems to have worked ok, right?Glad to hear it worked out for ya. I've forgot to ask my customers to unplug the devices from time to time and it's never caused a problem. Pretty sure that all will be well for you there.The general consensus (including from Dell hardware support chat) is that there should not be an issue. Yeah, everything went great as far as I can see. PKGood for you and thanks for posting back.

Answer»

My mother in law is having some major issues with her one year old Dell 5100 (can't uninstall some programs, some programs crash when launching, MSN toolbar updater crashes even when IE is not running, can't update programs (adobe, java), WINDOWS UPDATE CRASHES!!!, McAfee disables repeatedly, WIndows says that mulitple antivirus programs are running., but I don't see that there are ....and these are just things that I personally have seen)

I don't know if this is malware related or what, and quite frankly, I don't think it's worth the time to investigate. She has less than 1 GB of data to worry about, only one peripheral to install, and only a couple of non factory programs to install. PLUS high speed internet for ease of program download and update.

This Dell did not come with the Restore CD's but the Restore Partition where they take the image of the HD from the factory installation and store it in a special partiton, then when you run the procedure, it recopies that image into the main partition. I chatted with a Dell tech support rep this afternoon and he assured me that the Restore procedure is just as effective as a good old fashioned format and reinstall from the CD.

I have never worked with images or this type of restore before. Is it really as good as the old fashioned way? It sounds great - only 10 minutes!?

If there is a virus, would this clean that up too?

PK
If it works you will be OK unless there is an infestation there as well. At this point go ahead and give it a try per their instructions. What have you got to lose? Most of these restore CD's format the drive and that is surely what you want to do. You may be able to transfer any data files to a pen drive, CDRW, etc. first depending on the functionality of the machine.

I would ALWAYS prefer a real Windows CD to reinstall with, but this meets the need of a basic user who would never understand how to download annd install a driver, etc.No, that is the problem, I am not using a Restore CD, but the Restore PARTITION. I don't think that it does format first, does it? I guess that is PART of my question.

Yeah, data backup is not a problem.

PK Quote

I don't think that it does format first, does it? I guess that is part of my question.

You won't know all the options until you start. I would hope so. Did Dell advise you on this?I work for Dell so I have some experience with the PC Restore. The command is ctrl+F11 on the dell logo if you didn't already have it. It actually works quite well especially in situations such as your's where you just want it fixed. I'm not positive on the specifics of it but it does use norton ghost. Works pretty good and I haven't had any real problems with it. The only time it won't work is if the mbr is damaged, otherwise you're all good. Give it a go, I'll try to find out if it formats the drive at all or what exactly it does tomorrow at work and let you know what I find out. And ya, it'll take care of SPYWARE, viruses, OS corruption, whatever else happens to be plauging(sp?) the computer. Well... as long as it's not hardware related.Some people say that it does format first, but I don't understand how it is able to do this in 10 minutes. This is a 130 GB HD!

RapedApe: Please find out for sure if you can and let me know.

At first I was skeptical when I found out that Dell no longer shipped CD's, but I have to admit, this does sound very convenient. I am excited to give it a whirl.

Thanks

PKthe trick the use is they use ghost, which can just copy a FAT table on to your drive, rater than scanning your drive and building one from scratch.

its cheating realyFrom what I've found out it doesn't really format. Kinda just deletes everything there and then throws down the image. I use norton ghost myself and the image restore, when successful, works very well. Give it a go and if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. Quote

At first I was skeptical when I found out that Dell no longer shipped CD's, but I have to admit, this does sound very convenient. I am excited to give it a whirl.

Dell does ship real CD's but it is $10 more - a very wise investment to choose that option!You don't actually have to pay for it. You can just call up after you get it and say that you want to reformat the computer. Just say that you know how to do it yourself and you don't need any help, just want the CD's. Then off the CD's go speeding to your door. Well, I did it, and everything seemed to go well. It sure was fast!! Only 4 minutes to reimage, then about another hour to setup, remove software, update, etc.

I do have a question though. I forgot to unplug the peripherals (webcam and a printer/scanner) before i started the restore procedure, but did unplug them during the procedure, before Windows started. Is this OK? I did not see any problems. I would think that as long as they were unplugged before the initial Windows start up, i should be OK, as the devices were not activated while the reimaging was taking place, right?

PK
Yes, better to unplug ALL peripherals, but it seems to have worked ok, right?Glad to hear it worked out for ya.

I've forgot to ask my customers to unplug the devices from time to time and it's never caused a problem. Pretty sure that all will be well for you there.The general consensus (including from Dell hardware support chat) is that there should not be an issue.

Yeah, everything went great as far as I can see.

PKGood for you and thanks for posting back.

Solve : Dell Restore Partition?

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