How to run PCRestore on Dell systems preinstalled with Windows Vista when the F8 menu is not accessible.

Howto run PCRestore on Dell systems preinstalled with Windows Vista  when the F8 menu is not accessible.

Note: This only work if the "Recovery" partition is not damaged (The recovery partition is shown as drive "D" with volume label "Recovery" in Windows Explorer).

1) Boot to WinRE using the Dell OEM DVD/CD (For How to boot to WinRE please search DSN for article #316051)

2) Click on Command Prompt (See Figure 1) 

Figure 1

3) Type path d:\windows;d:\windows\system32 and press <ENTER> key (See Figure 2)

Figure 2

4) Type d: and press <ENTER> key (See Figure 3)

Figure 3

5) Type cd tools and press <ENTER> key (See Figure 4)

Figure 4

6) Type PCRestore and press the <ENTER> key and Dell Factory Image Restore window will appear (See Figure 5)

Figure 5

7) Click on Next and Confirm Data Deletion dialog will appear (See Figure 6)

Figure 6

8) Place a check mark beside "Yes, reformat hard drive and restore system software to factory condition" for the final confirmation and click on Next when ready(See Figure 7)

Figure 7

Note: The restoration process takes approximately 10 to 15 minutes, the format bar will run back and forth (See Figure 8)

Figure 8

9) Click Finish to reboot system (See Figure 9)

Figure 9