How to reformat dell laptop

Hi All,

I am struggling to reformat my dell latitude d531 laptop to factory settings as I do not have the cd however people and sources on the net say to press f8 before the windows logo and that a 'repair your computer' button should appear as mentioned on ehow.com.
However when I attempt this, this option is not available there are some options such as 'directory service restore mode' and 'last known good configuration' but I am unsure what these will do? If anyone can help in any way I would be very appreciative as I am at a loss and I miss my laptop!

Thank you for taking the time to read this =)

1
Unplug all printer, fax, modem and other peripheral cables or drives from the computer.

2
Turn the computer on. Press the "F8" key until the "Advanced Boot Options" menu appears. You must press "F8" before the "Windows" logo appears.

3
Use the down arrow to scroll to "Repair Your Computer" and press "Enter."

4
Choose your language settings and click "Next."

5
Enter the administrator's username and password. Click "OK."

6
Click "Dell Factory Image Restore" then click "Next."

7
Click the check box next to "Yes, reformat hard drive and restore system software to factory condition."

8
Click "Next." The computer now will be restored to its factory settings.

9
Click "Finish" when prompted. The computer will restart.


You have to press f8 at the exact sequence or it will be missed, try it again and hold in f8 key. it may take more than one attempt

noah

Thanks noah for your reply, I have tried pressing the f8 key on multiple occasions but I can never find an option of 'repair your computer' would you know of any other way I can do it or would I need to get a cd to reformat it? Would you know what cd to get!? Sorry for this I am just so bad with computers!!!

These procedures depend on version of Windows (XP, Vista, 7). Also depends on if you are working from factory installed OS (Operating System (Windows)), or field installed OS. In other words, if Windows was installed from a Windows Operating System CD rather than from a Windows Recovery CD, then different recovery options are available.

What version of Windows is installed on your system? Was system ever recovered before?