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Reinstall By Read the Restore my Computer message, click Yes, and click Next when it finishes. Restart the system once the reset completes. To restore the factory settings on a Windows XP Dell Inspiron, press and release the F11 and CTRL keys simultaneously during startup to access the Dell PC Restore by Symantec window.
see if there is a factory restore option for this computer, normally that would be tapping the f11 key during the boot process, most dells come with a boot partition now tha will recover the laptop to factory state
if you've tried f8 and f11 (although i think you should be pressing f12) then there is only one logical step and that is to reinstall. you can download a version of whatever windows OS it came with and use the sticker on the machine for the serial key. you can then go to support.dell.com to download the correct drivers for your hardware.
Press Ctrl + F11 While booting The moment you see the dell logo Press the Ctrl key and start tapping the F11. If it has the restore image it will take you to the restore page. If there is not restore image it won't work
Turn off the system.
Turn on and press Ctrl+F11 immediately. It will take you to the DELL Complete PC restore which will help you restore to factory settings.
Put recovery disk in the CD drive. On reboot, hold down F12 key. You should get a choice of drives to boot from. Make sure the first two are in the correct order:
1. CD-ROM (optical drive)
2. HDD (hard drive)
then press F10 to save and exit.
Now the laptop should boot correctly from the recovery disk.
This is from the Dell support site. You were correct in pressing ctrl+f11 but perhaps you did not press at the correct time. If in following these first two steps you do not get the recovery console, it may not have been installed on your computer.
1 Turn on the computer.
2 When the Dell
splash screen appears during the computer startup process, press and
hold <Ctrl> and then press <F11>. Then, release both keys
at the same time.
3 In the Dell PC Restore by Symantec window, click Restore. Alternatively, press <Tab> to highlight Restore, and then press <Enter>.
4 When a warning message appears stating that all data will be lost, click Confirm, or press <Tab> to highlight Confirm and then press <Enter>.
The Progress window will appear. Once the restore process starts, Dell PC Restore by Symantec usually takes about 8 to 10 minutes to finish.
When the restore process is complete, the following message will appear: The system recovery process was successful.
5 Click Finish or press <Tab> to highlight Finish and then press <Enter> to restart the computer. The software is now installed as it was when the computer was first received.
Contact Dell technical support to get the CD read the partition on your hard drive to restore to factory settings. It won't be able to work without one since it has to boot from the CD in order to get it to work.
Press Cntrl+F11 key togather or keep on tapping F11 ket while you holding the cntrl key when you see the dell logo during startup you would see the screen to reset to factory setting
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