I have tried everything Ctrl F11, Ctrl F9, Ctrl F8 and nothing allows me to reset the harddrive

If the hard drive was replaced or reformatted, the factory restore was erased. If so the only way is to load OS from CD .

Hold F9 or F11 on startup.

If neither the F8 repair, or Ctrl+F11 work, then you are left with using the recovery disks that you (hopefully!) burned when you bought the machine. If you didn't burn a set, then using a Microsoft disk with the right OS on it (i.e. Vista Home Premium, or Windows 7 Home Premium) should work. When you are asked to enter the key, you should be able to use the key provided on the label.

If the machine is still working though (which it looks like it may be doing, from what you have written), then you should still be able to make/burn a set of recovery disks.

The link HERE should also provide some support (it's Dell's website) - it has guide books on using the software.

When the computer is turning on, if it is windows 7 press f8 and select Repair. You will see the factory reset. Otherwise press f11 (or ctrl + f11), it will take a couple of tries.

Function keysTo do this Press
Get Help or visit Microsoft Office Online. F1
Move text or graphics. F2
Repeat the last action. F4
Choose the Go To command (Home tab). F5
Go to the next pane or frame. F6
Choose the Spelling command (Review tab). F7
Extend a selection. F8
Update the selected fields. F9
Show KeyTips. F10
Go to the next field. F11
Choose the Save As command (Microsoft Office Button ). F12


SHIFT+Function keyTo do this Press
Start context-sensitive Help or reveal formatting. SHIFT+F1
Copy text. SHIFT+F2
Change the case of letters. SHIFT+F3
Repeat a Find or Go To action. SHIFT+F4
Move to the last change. SHIFT+F5
Go to the previous pane or frame (after pressing F6). SHIFT+F6
Choose the Thesaurus command (Review tab, Proofing group). SHIFT+F7
Shrink a selection. SHIFT+F8
Switch between a field code and its result. SHIFT+F9
Display a shortcut menu. SHIFT+F10
Go to the previous field. SHIFT+F11
Choose the Save command (Microsoft Office Button ). SHIFT+F12


CTRL+Function keyTo do this Press
Choose the Print Preview command (Microsoft Office Button ). CTRL+F2
Cut to the Spike. CTRL+F3
Close the window. CTRL+F4
Go to the next window. CTRL+F6
Insert an empty field. CTRL+F9
Maximize the document window. CTRL+F10
Lock a field. CTRL+F11
Choose the Open command (Microsoft Office Button ). CTRL+F12


CTRL+SHIFT+Function keyTo do this Press
Insert the contents of the Spike. CTRL+SHIFT+F3
Edit a bookmark. CTRL+SHIFT+F5
Go to the previous window. CTRL+SHIFT+F6
Update linked information in an Office Word 2007 source document. CTRL+SHIFT+F7
Extend a selection or block. CTRL+SHIFT+F8, and then press an arrow key
Unlink a field. CTRL+SHIFT+F9
Unlock a field. CTRL+SHIFT+F11
Choose the Print command (Microsoft Office Button ). CTRL+SHIFT+F12


ALT+Function keyTo do this Press
Go to the next field. ALT+F1
Create a new Building Block. ALT+F3
Exit Office Word 2007. ALT+F4
Restore the program window size. ALT+F5
Move from an open dialog box back to the document, for dialog boxes such as Find and Replace that support this behavior. ALT+F6
Find the next misspelling or grammatical error. ALT+F7
Run a macro. ALT+F8
Switch between all field codes and their results. ALT+F9
Maximize the program window. ALT+F10
Display Microsoft Visual Basic code. ALT+F11


ALT+SHIFT+Function keyTo do this Press
Go to the previous field. ALT+SHIFT+F1
Choose the Save command (Microsoft Office Button ). ALT+SHIFT+F2
Display the Research task pane. ALT+SHIFT+F7
Run GOTOBUTTON or MACROBUTTON from the field that displays the field results. ALT+SHIFT+F9
Display a menu or message for a smart tag. ALT+SHIFT+F10


CTRL+ALT+Function keyTo do this Press
Display Microsoft System Information. CTRL+ALT+F1
Choose the Open command (Microsoft Office Button ). CTRL+ALT+F2

To restore back to factory settings if it is dell then for xp it is ctrl + F11 on boot and select dell factory image restore for vista it is F8 on boot select repair your computer login using ur account and then select dell factory image restore.
For other manufcturers try Ctrl + F10 or F9 on boot.

Press F8 the moment you see Dell logo screen and select Last Known Good Configuration. If it still doesn't boot to windows, your operating system might be corrupted and needs reinstallation.

Dell systems has an Image Restore options. In Vista, press F8 on the Dell Logo Screen and select repair your computer. If you're running on XP, Press Ctrl+F11 to boot from the Factory Image Restore partition. Follow the instructions carefully to restore system back to factory image.