If you need to reformat your Dell laptop and your system did not come with restore disks, you should not reformat using a standard windows disk because you will have to find the drivers for the graphics, sound, video etc. Chances are, you probably have a partition on your system that contains the restore files. This makes it extremely easy to restore your system to factory defaults.

Before you start, MAKE SURE YOU BACK UP ALL FILES because this process will restore EVERYTHING to default. Backups should include your 'My Documents' folder, mail, favourites, ftp settings, internet connection settings.

Once you have backed up your data, follow these steps to restore your system:

• Reboot system


• Press ctrl F11 while system is booting


• When asked if you want to reformat or restart, choose reformat


• Sit back and wait for your system to reformat