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General discussion

Dell need to reformat. No dell factory image restore points!

by veganhs Jul 18, 2012 9:20AM PDT

Long story (in detail below) short: I think I need to reformat my dell studio 14z and when I go to dell factory image restore... there are no restore points. This leads me to no option of restoring to factory settings. Someone please help me!!

Hi, I have had my dell studio 14z 64bit vista for almost 3 years (intel(r) core (TM) 2 duo windows 7 home premium. It runs great (besides the 6 cell battery is going), but lately I've been getting the warning: low disc space: you are running low on disc space on recovery D: I have 14.6gb used, 42.5 mb free. This just happened recently. The only thing I've downloaded lately was when I was taking a test on firefox, I had to switch over to internet explorer and update java. I've since then uninstalled java but that didn't do anything. So maybe it wasn't the java that saved to D: but I don't download games, tv shows ,movies, or anything like that so I don't know what it could have been.
Staples looked at it and said something was saved to D: disc that wasn't supposed to. I can't refrag, I've tried disc clean up which is the recycle bin of 0 files... I've tried everything. I tried to do a system restore point with C: drive but that didn't help. There are no D: drive restore points.. so I decided to back up all my files and do a reformat. So I went to do dell factory image restore but there are no image restore points. none. I now can't do the image restore.
When I got the computer I turned it on and it was loading and I noticed a scratch on the computer so I hard shut down while it was loading because I didn't want to do anything to the computer in case they wouldn't exchange it. I returned it because of the scratch, got another one with a dent , so I settled for the first one with the scratch. Started up again and it was fine. This is the only thing that makes me think that since I did a hard shut down on the initial boot up of the brand new computer, that it didn't restore a factory image restore point..?? But maybe I don't know what I'm talking about.
The computer runs fine, it's just that annoying D: drive alert. I'd rather just start fresh anyways since I have everything backed up and maybe it'll make my computer run smoother starting fresh.
What are my options?
I don't have an internal disc drive but I have an external drive. The CDs that came with the dell are:
"operating system"-reinstallation DVD, Windows vista home premium 64bit SP1
dell drivers and utilities for reinstalling dell studio 14z computer software
microsoft office 2007

What do you think I should do? Any advice would be helpful.
THANKS!!

Discussion is locked

11 Posts
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About drive D
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Jul 18, 2012 9:39AM PDT
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thank you
by veganhs Jul 19, 2012 11:19AM PDT

what is the normal disc space used up in D drive on a healthy running computer?

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Can be near zero on drive d.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Jul 19, 2012 11:31AM PDT

This is nothing but a recovery partition. No free space required.

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zero?
by veganhs Jul 20, 2012 10:06AM PDT

you mean the remaining space could be near zero ?

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(NT) It's a restore volume. Nothing more.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Jul 20, 2012 10:11AM PDT
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quick question
by veganhs Jul 24, 2012 6:13AM PDT

someone told me to delete windows from D drive. is this the right move to make? he said it'll free up a lot of space (because as of right now, i can't make ANY system restore points because there is no room)
is it normal for windows to be in D drive?
thanks!

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Only if you want to break the restore system.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Jul 25, 2012 7:03AM PDT

It seems odd to worry about it since in stock form, the setting is to ignore low disk space on the restore volume.

Can you share why there is a sudden concern here?
Bob

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RE: Dell need to reformat. No dell factory image restore poi
by DELL_shomprakash Jul 22, 2012 4:23PM PDT

Dear Veganhs,

I would be happy to assist you with this query. My name is Shomprakash, and I'm a member of the Dell Social Media and Communities Team.

Essentially, the Dell Datasafe Factory Image can be "Created" as a base image. The link to install the DSL Software is at :

http://dslbdownload.datasafelocalbackup.com/dsldownload-en.html

Once you download the standalone setup file, you will be required to run the setup. Kindly note that the process of "Base Image Creation" is a long process, and it will allow you to create a new recovery image based on the current status of your hard drive.

However, if the purpose of seeking a factory image restore is to remove additional programs which are already installed, kindly follow the process to do a clean windows re-installation using a Windows Re-installation DVD.

Clean OS Re-installation Steps using the OS Disc are provided:

(First you need to make sure that your External ODD is selected as a bootable device in the system BIOS)

Link for OS Re-installation Steps: http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dsn/detectos?lx=179256&lv=339949&l7=362048

(Once you visit this link please select your Operating System Type as originally shipped with the order ensuring that the correct options (32/64bit) are selected )


If after installing Windows, you need to seek the Dell Branded Utilities, you will find them at the website "My Dell Downloads" (Link : http://smartsource.dell.com)

If this reply was helpful or if you need a further follow-up, Kindly respond here. I will be glad to assist you to the best of my knowledge and ability.


Thanks & Regards
Dell_Shomprakash_R
Dell Social Media Responder

http://www.facebook.com/Dell
http://twitter.com/dell
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE21F49ACD1A6B608&feature=plcp

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quick question
by veganhs Jul 24, 2012 6:14AM PDT

hi thanks for your reply. i don't think i want to make a factory image because something is in the D drive that should not be.

someone told me to delete windows from D drive. is this the right move to make? he said it'll free up a lot of space (because as of right now, i can't make ANY system restore points because there is no room)
is it normal for windows to be in D drive?
thanks!

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RE: Factory Restore
by DELL_shomprakash Jul 24, 2012 5:05PM PDT

Hi,

Thanks for the response.
Going through your query, I believe that you may have more than one partition for your primary operating system. I would suggest that the Operating System be limited to the primary partition, as per standard Dell procedure.

Ideally, the primary partition (CHappy should contain the Windows Installation Directory.
The Recovery (DHappy is intended to be a hidden partition that stores your computer's base factory image.

So if a clean installation helps you to restore this operating mechanism, I would suggest you to go ahead.
But don't forget to back up your data first, as a clean OSRI cannot be reversed.

All the best!

Regards,
Dell_Shomprakash_R
Dell Social Media Responder

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Try to download the software But is for Win 7
by tusharaipatwar Jan 14, 2013 1:10AM PST
Back to Dell forum

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