System Restore

[jon]

Hi,
I have recently purchased a new Dell PC (Vostro 1700), I took it out of the
box, and used the Dell mediadirect CD to format the whole drive into 2
partitions (and a 3rd that MediaDirect seceretly creates).

I then used the Dell Windows Vista re-installation CD to install the
operating system onto the 1st partition (This helps eradicate all the [
IMO ] "Dell junk" that ships with the PC like McAfee Tiscal Aol etc).

I then installed all the software that I need to be on the PC such as ODBC
drivers, and specific company programs, and then I used Vistas built in
backup utility to create a backup on the second partition.

So far so good, so now I was thinking that in 2 weeks when my new PC behaves
like an old PC full of temporary files, redundant registry entries etc, I
can just boot up, press F8 and select Advanced Boot options, then Repair
Your Computer (As per the instructions in Vista).

But then I got a nasty surprise, the Advanced boot options don't have the
"Repair Your Computer" option.

Can anybody tell me either:

A - How to get the Repair Your Computer option to appear

or

B - How to restore from my backup in some other way, perhaps using a program
on a USB stick or something.

Thanks in advance for your expertise.

Jon

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Welcome to Dell Technical Forums!
http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/?category.id=Tech_Talk

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

---------------------------------------------------------------

Hi,
I have recently purchased a new Dell PC (Vostro 1700), I took it out of the
box, and used the Dell mediadirect CD to format the whole drive into 2
partitions (and a 3rd that MediaDirect seceretly creates).

I then used the Dell Windows Vista re-installation CD to install the
operating system onto the 1st partition (This helps eradicate all the [
IMO ] "Dell junk" that ships with the PC like McAfee Tiscal Aol etc).

I then installed all the software that I need to be on the PC such as ODBC
drivers, and specific company programs, and then I used Vistas built in
backup utility to create a backup on the second partition.

So far so good, so now I was thinking that in 2 weeks when my new PC behaves
like an old PC full of temporary files, redundant registry entries etc, I
can just boot up, press F8 and select Advanced Boot options, then Repair
Your Computer (As per the instructions in Vista).

But then I got a nasty surprise, the Advanced boot options don't have the
"Repair Your Computer" option.

Can anybody tell me either:

A - How to get the Repair Your Computer option to appear

or

B - How to restore from my backup in some other way, perhaps using a program
on a USB stick or something.

Thanks in advance for your expertise.

Jon

 

[jon]

Hi Carey,
I notice you are pointing me to Dell, but I have not yet installed any Dell
software on the PC other than MediaDirect to partition the Hard Drive.
I am using only Microsoft Software (Vista Business and Office Pro 2007).
MS Vista's help file tells me that I should press F8 at boot up and I will
get "Advanced Boot Options" with "Repair Your Computer" as an option, but MS
Vistas help file is incorrect.

So I figure my question is Vista related and not Dell related (Although I
have checked the link you sent, and I cant find a solution there either).

Thanks for the post anyway.

Anybody else got any suggestions ?

Thanks

Jon

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Dell makes a customized Windows Vista recovery disk.
That's why I pointed you to the Dell forums.

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

---------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Carey,
I notice you are pointing me to Dell, but I have not yet installed any Dell
software on the PC other than MediaDirect to partition the Hard Drive.
I am using only Microsoft Software (Vista Business and Office Pro 2007).
MS Vista's help file tells me that I should press F8 at boot up and I will
get "Advanced Boot Options" with "Repair Your Computer" as an option, but MS
Vistas help file is incorrect.

So I figure my question is Vista related and not Dell related (Although I
have checked the link you sent, and I cant find a solution there either).

Thanks for the post anyway.

Anybody else got any suggestions ?

Thanks

Jon

 

[jon]

Oah.
So when I buy Windows Vista Business OEM, the "OEM" means its not actually
Microsoft Windows Vista Business, but in fact a doctored version that has
had functionality removed ?

Naughty Dell.

Thanks again.

Jon

Dell makes a customized Windows Vista recovery disk.
That's why I pointed you to the Dell forums.

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

---------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Carey,
I notice you are pointing me to Dell, but I have not yet installed any
Dell
software on the PC other than MediaDirect to partition the Hard Drive.
I am using only Microsoft Software (Vista Business and Office Pro 2007).
MS Vista's help file tells me that I should press F8 at boot up and I will
get "Advanced Boot Options" with "Repair Your Computer" as an option, but
MS
Vistas help file is incorrect.

So I figure my question is Vista related and not Dell related (Although I
have checked the link you sent, and I cant find a solution there either).

Thanks for the post anyway.

Anybody else got any suggestions ?

Thanks

Jon

Welcome to Dell Technical Forums!
http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/?category.id=Tech_Talk

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

---------------------------------------------------------------

Hi,
I have recently purchased a new Dell PC (Vostro 1700), I took it out of
the
box, and used the Dell mediadirect CD to format the whole drive into 2
partitions (and a 3rd that MediaDirect seceretly creates).

I then used the Dell Windows Vista re-installation CD to install the
operating system onto the 1st partition (This helps eradicate all the [
IMO ] "Dell junk" that ships with the PC like McAfee Tiscal Aol etc).

I then installed all the software that I need to be on the PC such as
ODBC
drivers, and specific company programs, and then I used Vistas built in
backup utility to create a backup on the second partition.

So far so good, so now I was thinking that in 2 weeks when my new PC
behaves
like an old PC full of temporary files, redundant registry entries etc, I
can just boot up, press F8 and select Advanced Boot options, then Repair
Your Computer (As per the instructions in Vista).

But then I got a nasty surprise, the Advanced boot options don't have the
"Repair Your Computer" option.

Can anybody tell me either:

A - How to get the Repair Your Computer option to appear

or

B - How to restore from my backup in some other way, perhaps using a
program
on a USB stick or something.

Thanks in advance for your expertise.

Jon

 

[cvp]

Oah.
So when I buy Windows Vista Business OEM, the "OEM" means its not
actually Microsoft Windows Vista Business, but in fact a doctored
version that has had functionality removed ?

Naughty Dell.

Thanks again.

Jon

Dell makes a customized Windows Vista recovery disk.
That's why I pointed you to the Dell forums.

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

---------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Carey,
I notice you are pointing me to Dell, but I have not yet installed any
Dell
software on the PC other than MediaDirect to partition the Hard Drive.
I am using only Microsoft Software (Vista Business and Office Pro 2007).
MS Vista's help file tells me that I should press F8 at boot up and I
will
get "Advanced Boot Options" with "Repair Your Computer" as an option,
but MS
Vistas help file is incorrect.

So I figure my question is Vista related and not Dell related (Although I
have checked the link you sent, and I cant find a solution there either).

Thanks for the post anyway.

Anybody else got any suggestions ?

Thanks

Jon

Welcome to Dell Technical Forums!
http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/?category.id=Tech_Talk

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

---------------------------------------------------------------

Hi,
I have recently purchased a new Dell PC (Vostro 1700), I took it out of
the
box, and used the Dell mediadirect CD to format the whole drive into 2
partitions (and a 3rd that MediaDirect seceretly creates).

I then used the Dell Windows Vista re-installation CD to install the
operating system onto the 1st partition (This helps eradicate all the [
IMO ] "Dell junk" that ships with the PC like McAfee Tiscal Aol etc).

I then installed all the software that I need to be on the PC such as
ODBC
drivers, and specific company programs, and then I used Vistas built in
backup utility to create a backup on the second partition.

So far so good, so now I was thinking that in 2 weeks when my new PC
behaves
like an old PC full of temporary files, redundant registry entries
etc, I
can just boot up, press F8 and select Advanced Boot options, then Repair
Your Computer (As per the instructions in Vista).

But then I got a nasty surprise, the Advanced boot options don't have
the
"Repair Your Computer" option.

Can anybody tell me either:

A - How to get the Repair Your Computer option to appear

or

B - How to restore from my backup in some other way, perhaps using a
program
on a USB stick or something.

Thanks in advance for your expertise.

Jon

Nothing removed. More likely function and customized drivers and
hotfixes added

 

[Guest]

What "repair" options do you think you are going to get to by booting from
the hard drive that you cannot get to by booting from the Vista DVD? If Dell
did ship your drive with a WRE set-up, didn't you wipe it out by immediately
repartitioning and reinstalling Vista?