Restore Dell Inspiron Mini 10 to Factory Settings
If you want the solution, on how to restore your dell Inspiron mini 10 without the background information –feel free to skip to the bottom of the article for the solution.
Instructions for PC Restore on Dell Inspirion Mini 10 Don’t Work
If like me you’ve purchased a Dell Inspiron mini and you’re looking to perform a factory restore on it you’ve probably run into difficulty. You’ll want to perform a factory restore in order to get your system back looking like when you first purchased the machine. The chances are however that you’ve checked out the manual only to find that the instructions on page 42 of the manual entitled “Using Dell PC Restore” don’t actually work.
In particular, they’ll tell you that in order to perform a PC Restore on your Dell Inspirion you need to:
- Turn on the computer and during the bottom process, a blue bar with
www.dell.com appears at the top of the screen. - Immediately upon seeing the blue bar, press <Ctrl><F11> if you wait too
long and the operating system logo appears continue to wait until you see
the Microsoft Windows desktop; then shut down and try again.
The only problem with this, I found on my Dell Outlet purchased Windows 7 mini 10 with Windows Starter was that these instructions no matter how many
times I tried just don’t work. Given that that my Inspiron mini didn’t come with a factory restore CD, I naturally checked for a recovery partition on the hard drive – I noticed that this wasn’t visible in Windows Explorer; however, a partition did exist when I checked using the defragmentation tool provided in Windows.
Restoring Dell Computer by Phoning Customer Support
In the instruction manual I was advised that “Dell PC Restore by Symantec and Dell Factory Image Restore may not be available in certain countries or on
certain computers” naturally, given that I could see no evidence of this software on my computer, nor could I access it using the shortcut, thus I phoned
Dell technical support to either provide assistance with this problem. Quite frankly after 30 minutes on the telephone, they were completely useless –
firstly they denied that there was an image on the hard drive, they denied that I was legally obliged to be able to restore my computer and that it was
impossible to restore my Windows 7 operating system without a recovery CD which would require me to purchase an external hard drive (cost £40) and a recovery CD at £60 plus delivery fees. To this, I told them no thanks!
Anyhow, I eventually figured out a solution by a lot of trial and error. I found this article on restoring the Dell Inspirion mini 10 which isn’t entirely
accurate but it pointed me in the right direction.
Solution to Restoring Dell Mini 10 to factory settings on Windows 7 Starter
Restart the computer and press F8 when you receive the Dell loading screen and keep holding it till it the computer beeps , then release it and you’ll find
that you get into a Windows loading screen it gives you a variety of options – select the “Repair your computer” option by highlighting it using your arrow
keys and press enter.
You’ll now be asked to login to your machine, you’ll need to use the same username/password that you use to access Windows normally.
Now, instead of accessing Windows you’ll get a screen with a whole variety of options at the bottom, of that list you’ll find a hyperlink that allows you to
select “Dell Factory Restore Image” – select this and follow the on screen instructions.
Author Notes – I was really disappointed with the fact that Dell had shipped to me incorrect factory restore settings in the manual and then provided me
inaccurate information on the telephone – even after my insistence that this information was inaccurate.
DJ Offer writes, Offer runs the Facebook Add On Chit Chat, Chit Chat is a Facebook login program that makes it possible to send Facebook messages from your desktop. Chit Chat supports text formatting, Facebook chat history and much more!
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thank you very much for this ..
it repaired my daughters notebook ..
after finding it had 400 infections and 30 worms
Thank you soo much hopefully my pc is faster now..
I dont know how to do it?? i need help….. :P
Thanks for publishing this. When I called Dell, the tech support guy agreed that the doesn’t work on this model. Since my Mini 10 was out of warranty, they wanted $60 to give me the correct key combo to perform the pc restore function and walk me through the restore process. This should be free since the documentation is incorrect. Thanks again.
tried what you said and I got the initial menu to repair computer but all it did was load back to the reg desktop.
the above did not work for me…but this did
To restore your computer to the original factory installation, follow these steps:
Turn on the computer, after the Dell Logo appears and then disappears repeatedly press the key until you see the Advanced Boot Options menu.
——————————————————————————–
From the Advanced Boot Options highlight Repair Your Computer with the arrow keys and press .
——————————————————————————–
Click Next >
and login to your administrator account on the computer. The administrator account is the account created the first time the computer was turned on.
——————————————————————————–
Click Dell Factory Image Recovery and DataSafe options and follow the prompts provided.
f8 key
This is so amazing! It actually worked and now my PC is better than ever! Thank you so much!
To Enter boot option, restart your pc, your dell logo appears press F8 to proceed to boot option. There are lot of options to chose from, like safe mode, repair and stuffs. Hope this helps.
Thank you soooooooooooo much, the last paragraph did the trick…
I’ve been looking everywhere for ways to restore my laptop! This is a great article, I’m going to give it s go now!
Problem is mine is a “refurb”, so I don’t have the initial login for the administrator account used when the computer was first turned on.
Your a superstar!!!!!! Thank you sooo very much x
thanks so much. hopefully this will get rid of all the tracking cookies and virus’ on mine.
I KEEP GETTING THREW ALL THIS THAT OPERATING SYSTEM NOT FOUND.
i have windows xp not windows 7 ty
thanks for advice but when i press repair it just restarts by itself again
Worked like a charm. Thank you
my dell 1018 was shutting down all the time so tryed restoring to factory image . clicked on computor repair but just restartes again. now i have pressed cntrl f11 and now wont boot . have flashing curser and beeping please help
i did that but i didnt get a repair option jusr a
safe mode
safe mode with Networking
safemode with Command Prompt
Enable Boot logging
Enable VGAMode
last known configuration
Directory services restore mode
debugging Mode
Disable automatic restart on system failure
Start windows normally
reboot
Return to OS Menu
Use und down keys to move the hightlighted to your choice
now what to do
How would I do this on a XP system?
i am having the same problem tonu is having. can anyone help me?
Nice work Author. Clear and simple instructions. Fixed me up.
Ohh,, finally got the right advice here to solve my problem..thanks a lot..
Worked great for me…doing all the steps I did when the mini came out of the box. Thank you! Very easy and faster than I’d expected.
thanks for this. helped me solve the same problem on my dell 1018. i used the factory image method
Just got off the phone with dell. Gonna charge me 80.00 plus tax to reformat the crap i got from them. or 215.00 for one year software support. Thats more than I paid for this piece of junk!! Thanks for your post James, it really helped.. You would figure that if you purchase a computer with one year warranty it would cover software. They are just gready. i will never purchase dell crap again.
All I get when I do “james’s” instructions is back to the windows login. It worked on one of my Mini 10s but isn’t working on the other
James thank you it worked!
Yeah, it seems that the US Models require you to tap F8 multiple times at the “Dell Loading” screen, i pressed it about 15 times quickly and it took me to the screen as mentioned above.
However, i don’t have a Dell System Restore option, i have a DataSafe BackUp & Restore option. Which is in the process of working now.
The US models don’t have a visible OS Partition as well, & Mine doesn’t show up in the defrag settings, but it was there, The Dell Mini was purchased January of 2011 & There was a Factory Restore partition hidden with the date of 1/8/2011 on the hard drive!
Thx for the tips and help.
my computer says disk read error occured press ctrl+alt+del to restore but it just keeps coming back to this screen. i cant get the menu to come up by pushing f8. what can i do? its a inspiron mini 10 windows starter
i did that but is saying operating sys not found.
Please help me with my daughters Dell Nickelodeon Inspirion Mini, I am trying to restore it “back” to factory mode, with no luck. I tried James’s method and it does NOT work, I get the screen he mentioned but it does NOT have “restore” option. This mini has XP, below is the screen I get when I follow James’s instuctions:
safe mode
safe mode with Networking
safemode with Command Prompt
Enable Boot logging
Enable VGAMode
last known configuration
Directory services restore mode
debugging Mode
Disable automatic restart on system failure
Start windows normally
reboot
Return to OS Menu
Use und down keys to move the hightlighted to your choice
Can some PLEASE help me to restore my daughters laptop.
my dell mini has the same options as Darlene, and tonu, can someone plz help me? i have no idea how to fix this I cant get past my desktop, its froze, my mouse n keys will not respond. am goin crazy havin to use my daughters laptop
Thank you very much for this.
I’ve been toying with the idea of booting with a bootleg copy of windows 7 starter from a flash drive or something of the sort. But a legitimate path is always better!
Thanks a lot.
I have the same problem as darlene…no option to ‘repair computer’… been trying all day to fix the junk! please help!
Life saver!!!
+1!
I have tried all of these things Ctr+F11, repeatedly press F8 before, after, and during the Dell logo. I have tried just holding these two down and nothing is working. I stopped using my Dell Inspiron Mini for so long I forgot the password and I don’t know how to reset the laptop or clear the password. I only have an adim. account so I cannot get through with a guest account. I really need help with this. PLEASEEEE :(
You are the man. I spent a while trying everything else and this was finally the thing that worked. Thank you for publishing this.
Although this did not work for me – the solution propounded by James worked fine. Warning – if you’re going to do this, allow yourself 60 to 90 minutes, and a lot of patience…
Same as darlene and nickeym. Dell Nickelodeon Inspiron Mini 10 with XP. No repair option. Will someone please help before I throw this thing back at the business owner from whom I purchased it? PLEASE?? Also having a problem with the wireless network connection. It will connect to the my router and shows strong signal strength, but the Internet Explorer will not connect with any of the pages I type in.
Top man once i found the restore patition
I know there must be away cntl+F12 BS
Thanks for your help I will sleep tonight!
Rhix isng working for me …ive pressed f11got the black screen up clicked the top repair your comp option then it says windows is loading your files then it goes to a dark grey screen followed by a screen thats blue with a branch and a bird on ….help xx
I am having the same problem as johnC, if anybody has any ideas then that would be a big help
After looking on other websites, i found that, if you were having the same problem as myself, johnC, darlene and others then there is an easy solution.
when you hit the dell loading screen, hold the ctrl button
When you laptop the goes to the next screen (with a blue bar at the top), hit the f11 key
Follow the instructions onscreen and your computer should be ok to use.
I’ve read all the do this do that and nothing is going for this piece of junk. I thought I would be nice for a friend and trouble shoot this piece of shite. I cannot go into safe mode, ctrl +11 what a joke. If you cant afford a latop without a dvd/cd then dont buy this crap. Go to the public library.
pues es el primer comentario negativo hacia el soporte Dell en lo particular me ha resuelto muchos problemas lo único que tiene costo es cuando el equipo ya no esta en GARANTÍA, pero siempre tienen una solución que tengan buen dia.
Thank you so much I have been trying to find a way to do this for a used mini my daughter got. However, when i was prompted for the user name and password for the administrator I did not have the information. Instead of trying a password I just hit enter. It worked, if someone else runs into this problem it may work for you to. Thank you again
i dont have the admistrators password im stuck!
Thank you so much i did not no much about the laptop i picked up to repair and resell got it home it had a password but found a way around it and then went looking on how to restore it to factory settings have been looking the net for 10hrs and could not find anything that would give me the right info until i found this post thank you so much the info has helped me find the restore and am working on it right now thank you again
MAN YOU ARE AWSOME YOU ARE FANTASTIC DO YOU IMAGEN THAT I WAS LOOKING FOR WAY TO RECOVER MY WINDOWS MAN I AM GLAD FOR FINDING THIS SLOUTION THANK YOU THANK YOU.
I WRITE THIS COMMENT AND MY COMPUTER IS BEING RECOVERD THANK YOU AGAIN YOU ARE KING.
HITMAN-47@IRAQ
Thanks a ton man, you saved me a whole lot of time.
It never beeped!!
Dell are a thieving bunch of !!!!
None of the above work at all on my heap. Same issues as Darlene etc.
Probably cheaper and more satisfying to smash it up with a large hammer and buy a decent machine!
horrible guide
I can’t find the The “dell factory image restore” after I logged in. What am I supose to do?
Worked like a champ, thanks for saving me the grief
dell mini. lost login password, nothing works, tried to get it to boot from external dvd drive to reload windows and it wont let me do any of that HELP please school is starting and my son needs this computer
Horrible critique.
Make sure the power is connected
A very big thanks to Will for his solutionto Windows XP users.
I was having the same problems as Darlene and a few others where My daughters Mini 10 had XP installed instead of 7 and F8 was not working for me due to the option not being made available on that screen.
Holding Ctrl down at the loading screen and F11 at the next worked great and I hope it worked/s for others who were/are having the same problems.
when you hit the dell loading screen, hold the ctrl button
When you laptop the goes to the next screen (with a blue bar at the top), hit the f11 key
Follow the instructions onscreen and your computer should be ok to use.
This worked! Will answer above worked. ctrl at the Dell bar, and ctrl F11 Symatec Ghost 8.3 appears and this process goes by fast.
I’ve pressed the F8 button so many times and nothing works! Help!
Thank you..Thank you…You made my day.
I’ve been trying to get this dam thing to work for over a year. Didn’t have the time or money for this hunk of junk thank you Will, your a life saver.
Thank you so much! It worked with my Dell Mini 10v, I have been trying for such a long time! and was looking for a DVD rom drive to do it from the DVD instead.
For Mini 1012, I found out from a Dell forum that pressing F8 a few times after the Dell loading completes but before Windows loading begins works like a charm.
my computer is slow please no fast i am want is rieght ok
ya le di me no me funciona no me arroja la opción “Factory Restore Image” ayudaaaaa
No me salen esos paso ayuda
Neither F8 or Ctrl+F11 worked fir me. I tried Ctrl+Alt+F11 and that finally worked.
Many thanks, was kinda stuck but your instructions worked :)
Worked like a charm! Just have to really read the instructions carefully, i.e. works for Win7 Starter, RE-START your computer, not ‘Resume’, etc. Thanks a million!
Darlene and others,
I was having the same problem and finally found a youtube video that totally solved the problem. My granddaughter is back in business! Yay! Why Dell makes this so difficult I will never know! The you tube link is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RH5I3sS6Bw
will this overwrite an ubuntu partition that I created on the hard drive? I’m literally waiting for anyone to reply, right now.
hahaha ^^^^^ the avatar for my first commment is is really how I look right now!!
please moderate these posts, then hopefully moderate the relplie I need
imagine, ISO images of systems that worked, that were like the factory images, and or custom roms of cell phones!!!???
that would be badass, but then the whole, windows genuine bs would ruin it huh? oh well, pipe dream I suppose….
I’ve been refreshing this page for over a half hour, please help me….