How set my computer back to its orginal settings?

zdenek527: How set my computer back to its orginal settings?
I have a Dell computer running Microsoft Vista that’s about a year old. I wish to erase the hard drive and put the original software back on it. I have four cds that came with the computer. One with the operating system, another with application software, and two with drivers and utilities. I’ve gone to computers and tried formating the hard drive, and it won’t let me. What do I need to do?

Answers and Views:

Answer by LittleWolf
The OS reinstall disk should be self-booting. Just turn off the computer with the OS reinstall disk in the drive, then turn it back on after a few seconds. If this does not get you into the reinstall routine, your BIOS needs to have its Boot Order changed to boot from CD first. The BIOS setup is entered by pressing and holding F2 during startup. The other disks can then be run as regular installers once the OS is installed. The order is: OS, Drivers, utilities, software. Maybe the disks are numbered for clarity.

Answer by LEO rRr
TRY LOOKING FOR A RESET BUTTON or FUNCTION ON YOUR COMP !! that might do the trick !!?!! But depending on the model & year of your comp. You might want to contact a comp tech online !?! Or on your own time by way of phone !?! G/L~!!! rRr

Answer by It’s the right answer!
To format your hard drive partition which has the windows file can only be formated using a boot cd like the one to install your os.

Answer by steve_loir
My Dell has a utility to put everything back to as it was when bought.

I press F11 as it boots and it comes up with a Dell PC Restore menu.

Check in your manual to see if yours has the same. If you have lost the manual you can download one from Dell.

Answer by Kendall Sylvan
Use the system restore option that is built into Vista.

* Right click on ‘My Computer’
* Click on Advanced System Settings
* Select the System Protection Tab
* click on the System Restore button

then Vista will guide you through the process for using System Restore, and you would choose the earliest restore point available.

——

** Option #2 **

If you prefer to rebuild the computer setup on your own:

* Get a good distribution of a Linux Live CD (Open Solaris, Ubuntu, Slax, etc)

* mount the drive you want to erase with ‘ntfs’ and read/write permissions

* then delete the files from the disk or format (for ntfs) as desired

* the result will be a blank hard drive.