www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

Hi All
I have an INSPIRON (DELL) 1545 laptop It has some issues at the moment, messages inform me of a graphics card issue GMA X4500
the message tells me to update the driver but the damn thing wont let me . It constantly freezes then switches internet off and automaticaly removes history!
I am out of warranty. I have put all important info on an external usb so I would like to know if any one knows how to
recover to factory settings?
The normal system reboot (F8) ONLY LETS ME GO BACK TO 1 WEEK
unfortunately I never made a system image recovery disk so I am lost.
Any help greatly appreciated

Try this link for the various options available to you.

http://support.dell.com/support/topics/ ... rue#Issue1

If you have everything you want and/or need thats important to you off the machine then you don't need sytem recovery, just do a fresh install of the operating system.

If you don't have a copy, then download it from pirate bay or wherever.

You already have a legal licence which should be on a sticker on the back of the machine, which you type in during install.

From dell site-

Using Dell Factory Image Restore in Windows 7 Notice:
Restoring the original factory image erases ALL existing data. This includes files, folders, programs, drivers, E-mails, photos. Before performing a PC Restore, back up all personal files. If you do not back up your personal files, the data will be lost.

1 Turn on the computer.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2 As the computer starts, press <F8> on the keyboard until the Advanced Boot Options menu appears on the screen. Note:
You must press <F8> before the Windows logo appears on the screen. If you press <F8> after the Windows logo appears on the screen, the Advanced Boot Options menu will not appear on the screen. If you do not see the Advanced Boot Options menu, restart the computer, and then repeat this step until you see the menu on the screen.


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

3 Press the <Down Arrow> on the keyboard to select Repair Your Computer on the Advanced Boot Options menu, and then press <Enter>.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4 Specify the language settings that you want, and then click Next.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5 Log in as a user who has administrative credentials, and then click OK.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6 Click Dell Factory Image Restore.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

7 In the Dell Factory Image Restore window, click Next.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

8 Click to select the Yes, reformat hard drive and restore system software to factory condition check box.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

9 Click Next.
The computer is restored to the default factory configuration.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

10 When the restore operation is completed, click Finish to restart the computer.
The software is now installed as it was when the computer was first received.

If you dont have the recovery image option on ur hardrive, then u must use a DELL windows 7/vista/xp disk

I had this problem as i tried to do a fresh install of windows 7, it installed ok but wen it came to activating it with the product key it wouldn't have it.

I tried to do the automatic phone activation, then i spoke to customer services at microsoft and was basically told that DELL had their own version of windows 7 and i had to have one of their disks to do a re-install, even though i had a genuine product key.

I downloaded a DELL windows 7 disk, used that for the install, activated it with my product key and hey presto it worked.

I had a DELL Inspiron laptop

Hope this helps

Juliex

sockdip wrote:If you have everything you want and/or need thats important to you off the machine then you don't need sytem recovery, just do a fresh install of the operating system.

If you don't have a copy, then download it from pirate bay or wherever.

You already have a legal licence which should be on a sticker on the back of the machine, which you type in during install.

Wrong.

A COA is *NOT* a valid licence, merely part of it.

An OEM installation of Windows (the OEM in this case is Dell) consists of:

- the preinstallation made on the computer
- the media kit / hdd restore solution (with option for an end user to create their own media)
- the COA ("sticker") on the side of the computer

In most instances, the key is never needed as the computers BIOS contains part of a system to activate the OEM build without the number off the case.

Downloading a disk from the likes of Pirate bay is stupid for many reasons and theft/piracy to boot.

How do you know the media has not been tampered with? During investigations, many versions were downloaded and had been altered to include the likes of trojans, viruses and other modifications not detected/hidden from normal means of detection.

If you didn't take the chance to create the media (very common), then you can contact Dell who will usually (for a fee, typically around the 20ish mark) send you an offical media kit that you can use to reinstall. The kits typically include driver/software disks which are very handy to have during the process.

It's the safe option, one which I would advise you take - but it's up to you.

BG

Have you tried booting this PC in Safe Mode with Networking. If it is stable in this mode then download the correct gfx driver and you should be okay.

In safe mode the default VGA gfx driver will be used. So you will be able to quickly establish that the gfx driver is at fault if its stable.