How to restore Vista on Advent 7204 to factory settings?

[xCatx]

I got my laptop in April 08 and since then it has gotten rediculously slow and really needs a reboot! I've done disc fragments ect, but its getting worse, i've backed up everything on my hard drive, so other than not really understanding what'll happen to my Itunes and music, i am happy to just restore it.

But with my previous laptop, i could put in the dics that came with it, however this laptop didn't come with any discs, i just opened it plugged it in and was away!

Can anyone help?
I have no idea how to do it. I looked at the System restore, but i see that is just from restore points, and there isn't one for when i first got the computer, just from the past few weeks.

Any help would be greatm thanx!

[Bob_180_Bob]

Hi,
Try this from the manufacturers site.
Hard Drive Recovery

Should your Windows develop serious errors or fail to start, you can restore your computer back to factory settings by using the hard drive recovery located on a hidden partition on the hard drive.

To restore your computer back to factory settings, follow the steps below:

Turn on the computer and keep tapping F8 until the advanced options menu is displayed
Use the up/down arrow keys on the keyboard to highlight Repair Your Computer and press enter to select it
Select the language you wish to install (normally English is the only option)
Once you have chosen your language you will be presented with the available recovery options
Microsoft Repair Environment - after choosing the UK keyboard layout you will be asked to choose the Operating System you wish to repair. If Windows Vista is not listed then you cannot repair the OS without doing the full recovery. After choosing Vista the Microsoft Vista startup repair tool will run and attempt to repair any startup problems you are experiencing
Reinstall Windows - gives you the options available to reinstall Vista
Advanced Options - this launches the diagnostic centre allowing you to run chkdsk, launch notepad or bring up a command prompt
Exit & restart computer - Exits withut running the recovery process
To continue with the recovery program you need to choose Reinstall Windows
On the next screen you have the ability to launch Vista System Restore and roll back to a date when Vista was last working ok or to run the Full Destructive Recovery. To continue with the recovery program you need to choose Start Full Destructive Recovery
After choosing the Full Destructive Recovery option you are presented with the warning screen that all data will be lost. It is important to make sure all data has been backed up to disk if possible and to realise this process deletes all data and reverts the machine back to it's default state. To continue with the recovery program you need to tick the box indicating you are aware of data loss
The recovery process will then run through, the computer will restart a couple of times during this. You will also need to go through the Vista "Out of Box Experience", to configure Vista. This is fairly straightforward so just follow the onscreen instructions

[burtonhevkev]

hi i was just reading your info above as i wanted to reset my laptop to factory settings, ive followed your instructions and now the lights are on but know screen coming on, any help please? thanks

ps. im connected to a monitor as laptop screen doesnt work

[Master Rattley]

That was silly then wasn't it.

Does the screen do anything at all? flicker, have a line through it etc. ??

[burtonhevkev]

yep!! it does flicker and i plugged it in to the monitor this morning and the intel flashed up and start window normally appeared which i hit return on, but then after that, nothing!! lights are on but no one is in!!

[caperjack]

try hitting f8 on bootup ans see if it will go to safe mode

[dannydeb]

Followed the instructions and I can confirm this is superb advice ! Thank you very much :icon_idea: