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Help! I need to restore factory settings (running XP) on my Dell


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#1
reider77

reider77

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Hi,


My computer is screwed up and barely usable for anything. I want to restore the factory settings, but my instruction manual's directions don't seem to work.

I can't get Spybot S&D to finish a scan or repair anything that it finds.

I read in the online manual that I am supposed to hit Ctrl + F11 at boot, but that doesn't do anything. It just proceeds to load windows XP as it normally would. F2 does something, F12 does something, even ctrl + f8 does something. But none of these take me to a menu that offers a restore function. I've tried Ctrl + f11 over and over again to no avail. Can anyone help?

I'm so frustrated!


Thanks in advance for any of your time and assistance. It is greatly appreciated.
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#2
rshaffer61

rshaffer61

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The key combination is CRTL + F11 pushing the keys at the same time at the the dell screen during post. Once you push them then you want to release them.
It should go into the recovery partition so you can do a system restore.


If the above doesn't work then boot into windows and do the following.



Go to Start then to Run
Type in compmgmt.msc and click Enter
On left side click on Disk Management
On right side you will see you hard drive.
Male sure the window is open all the way on the top right so I can see all the info it has.
Now I need you to take a screenshot and attach it to your next reply. Do the following to take a screenshot while the above is open and showing on your desktop.

To do a screenshot please have click on your Print Screen on your keyboard. It is normally the key above your number pad between the F12 key and the Scroll Lock key
Now go to Start and then to All Programs
Scroll to Accessories and then click on Paint
In the Empty White Area click and hold the CTRL key and then click the V
Go to the File option at the top and click on Save as
Save as file type JPEG or PNG and save it to your Desktop
Make sure the window is open all the way so I can see everything on the top right window.


Attach it to your next reply
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