Help? please? Dell Inspiron laptop needs to be restored to "factory settings"

aloiseb

Please help! We bought the laptop in January from PCWorld and it's refusing to hook up to wireless internet. Took it back and they had a look, said it looked as if the disc had become "corrupted" and we needed to restore its factory settings. They said we need to use the discs which came with it.

We've saved all the files onto a DVD and are now ready to do this "restore". But we can't find out how to! We do have all 3 discs but putting in the reinstallation disc

Please could somebody say what you have to do? Is it something to do with pressing F12 when the laptop is first switched on, because I have tried this but can't see anything I can understand when I do it - lots of options such as BIOs doodahs and things but nothing which looks remotely like"restore factory settings"!

BTW we can't find the receipt for the laptop so are not sure PC World will do any more without charging.

Also, is it likely to have been a virus which has caused this problem and if so, will we get the same thing happening again if we put all the old files, I-tunes etc back on the laptop from the dvd of saved files?

A_Nice_Englishman

Go to http://www.dell.co.uk , click on Support, Technical Support and enter your service tag number. You should be able able to get the instructions to restore your factory settings.

Having said that, it seems a rather drastic solution if your only problem is being unable to connect to your wireless network. You will find help on the Dell support website for troubleshooting this - and if you do a factory restore you will need to set up the wireless connection again anyway.

What poor advice from PC World!

aloiseb

Thank you very much for this - although it's not very comforting - I am beginning to suspect that better support would have been availble if we had opted for the £10 a month service contract!

I've found some information (not on Dell about using the F8 key to get into Advanced reboot, so am seeing how that goes.....

wakandem

To restore a dell you press F11 during the dell screen.
As ststed it is highly unlikely you need to do this . Have you restarted the router? they can 'lock' up on occasion. Does the pc connect to other networks , take it round to a friends and see if you can get on to theirs

wakandem

Install virus checker avg after completely uninstalling any that came with the laptop. Then insert the backup disks and scan them before copying them over

seadee

What about taking it back to PC World and saying "This PC you sold me is not fit for purpose so I would like a replacement or my money back please"?

Laz123

wakandem wrote: »

To restore a dell you press F11 during the dell screen.
As ststed it is highly unlikely you need to do this . Have you restarted the router? they can 'lock' up on occasion. Does the pc connect to other networks , take it round to a friends and see if you can get on to theirs

It's Ctrl + F11.

sunshine54

actually it F8 on start up, then select repair, select dell restore. (tick reformat hard drive)
perform factory image restore

aloiseb

Did the F8 think, factory settings were restored. Then did all the set up with their driver discs etc. It still won't find a wireless network.

seadee

aloiseb wrote: »

Did the F8 think, factory settings were restored. Then did all the set up with their driver discs etc. It still won't find a wireless network.

Stupid question but it does have wireless capability?

Does it connect to the net when wired?

Go and get your money back it if doens't work

daily_2

Is the wireless light on? Fn+F2 or F2?