mikex Posted January 6, 2007 Report Share Posted January 6, 2007 (edited) Newer Dell machines may be restored by holding the control key while tapping the F11 key during reboot.Also you can call before your warranty expires or very soon there after and get the OS and software cd's mailed to you. Remember to be nice, and patient.Just food for thought.M<<<<<Disclaimer>>>>>This is not intended for theft of OS or software. Dell has questions to validate the ownership system. This is intended for users to have a copy of the OS and software that came with their computer in the event the hard drive fails and needs replacing. MODS if this thread is outside the ToU feel free to remove it.M Edited January 6, 2007 by mikex Quote Link to post Share on other sites
blim Posted January 6, 2007 Report Share Posted January 6, 2007 Wow, wow, wow, Mike! and thanks...now the questions By "restore", do you mean system restore or re-installing the operating system? (ie: pressing F11)And will they ship the OS and software CDs free or is there a cost? When I ordered this idiot box, I also ordered the OS CD (figured that would be insurance for never needing it, thus $10 well spent! )Daughter's warranty expired Jan 4. She had her motherboard replaced in October, it was deemed necessary to reinstall the OS as it didn't fix her problem She says Dell Tech left her with a "whole bunch of CDs" and she *thought* the OS CD was one of them, but Son reinstalled Windows through a "hidden partition" and I don't think he used a CD ("I don't think" are the key words here, they were 50 miles away). I'll have to nag her to double check to make sure she has an OS CD!Thank you very much, Mike! Great tips!Liz Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mikex Posted January 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2007 Cost...depends on how good you are at social engineering. How good you are at making the person on the other end want to help you. When they come on the line make sure you get their first name. Call them by their first name during the conversation.The whole thing is to be nice and patient, the person you will speak to will possibly be a middle eastern, by the sound of the accents I hear when calling Dell. I called the number for out of warranty parts/service. The Jan. 4th thing, (hint) maybe you thought the warranty expired the beginning of Feb?? (/hint) The few times I had contact with Dell the cd's were sent no cost.CTRL+F11 reinstalls XP and all software on the drive like it was when it was shipped to you. You will need to backup ALL data you do not want to lose.M Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shanenin Posted January 6, 2007 Report Share Posted January 6, 2007 This will hurt my "windows reload" business :-) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JDoors Posted January 6, 2007 Report Share Posted January 6, 2007 This will hurt my "windows reload" business :-) Not if you keep the tip to yourself ... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shanenin Posted January 6, 2007 Report Share Posted January 6, 2007 In my opinion, it is easier(cleaner) to install from scratch and just install the needed packages. If you use restore disks, you have to spend lots of time uninstalling crap. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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