About Me

Hello everyone. Welcome to my Website.

My names Philip Yip.

I have a background in experimental BioPhysics obtaining a first class Masters degree at the University of Strathclyde in 2011. At present I am a PhD Student at the Photophysics Research group, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland. I am also industrially linked to HORIBA Scientific and NPL Biotechnology Group. Our research is focused within the field of Fluorescence Spectroscopy, in particular Time-Resolved Fluorescence measurements. I have added some information here about our research and our instrumentation. Theres a lot of information listed there mainly for reference of students in our labs but it could also be useful to those outside who are using similar equipment.

The website was my personal blog but renamed is renamed DellWindowsReinstallationGuide due to the popularity of my Windows Reinstallation Guide and Related wikies which I wrote to help users on the Dell Community Forums. The guides have became quite popular World-wide hitting over 500,000 views. Moreover I got granted the privilege to join the Dell Community Rockstar program due to my contribution on the forums. Feel free to comment on any of the pages with feedback as I am always looking to improve the guides. Questions may also be asked in the comments but it is usually better to ask them on the Dell Community Forums as multiple experts are gathered there.

You may also find some more information about me in Linked In:

Linked In Profile  

76 thoughts on “About Me

  1. Hello Philip,

    Do you have upgrade advice from a Dell Inspiron 530 64-bit to Windows 8.1? Some help would be great and very much appreciated. Windows 8.1 64-bit is installed and regularly freezes. I'm wondering if some of the drivers need updating.

    Cheers, Page

  2. Hello, hope you see this message today, I am trying to fix a computer that was vista then upgraded to windows 7; but I have reinstall windows but I don't have the vista cd, but I do have the windows 7 cd, every time I try without a cd; it tells me to insert the cd; would I be able to do with the 7 cd?

    1. Assuming its an upgrade only DVD then it will require a previous installation of Windows to work.

      Installing the previous version of Windows is a waste of time and difficult for you to do.

      Therefore use a Digital River .iso and create a bootable USB: http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/download-microsoft-windows-and-office/download-microsoft-windows/windows-7-sp1-iso-download/
      The Digital River .iso will allow for clean installation if you opt to install without a product key.

      To install see Windows Reinstallation Guide/A Clean Install of Windows 7:
      http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/

      This will instruct you how to clean install Windows 7 and instruct you on product activation on a clean install with an upgrade product key.

  3. Philip~ I have a question for you. My question involves OptiPlex 745, 755, 760. Can you swap hard drives between the 3 computers? For example, if I take a blank hard drive and insert it into a 745 computer and install Windows 7. This computer is all set up. Can I take that same hard drive and insert it into a 755 or 760 computer? If not why? What is different between the 3 computers?

    1. I managed to use my Universities Windows 7 with Service Pack 1 64 Bit image for an OptiPlex 790 on an OptiPlex 755 and OptiPlex 760 but it didn't work on an OptiPlex 745. My personal Acronis Image of an OptiPlex 760 worked across all of them I think. You will need to activate Windows again if you change the hard drive. I assume you have some sort of volume licensing?

    2. the operating system is on the hard drive. if you removed the hard drive from one computer that was "all set up" and installed a fresh HD, you would need to re-install an OS before you could get past the BIOS.

  4. Philip~ I have noticed that if you perform a fresh install of Vista or Windows 7 on a 745 computer, once OS has been installed and the OS applies all of the drivers, you can't take that same drive and put it into a 755 or 760 computer. It will blue screen on you. I am talking about 32 bit computers.

    What is different between a 745 and a 755 hardware?

    1. Also, I have experienced this first hand. What is the difference in hardware between a 745, 755 and 760 computer? If you don't know the answer, please ask around.

    2. What is the SATA Operation of your OptiPlex 745's is it AHCI? The BSOD is usually due to the change of SATA operation. I need to verify whether or not the OptiPlex 745 has the AHCI SATA Operation in the System BIOS but I can do this tomorrow with the one in the lab.

      In any case ensure you have the latest BIOS revision 2.6.6: http://ftp.dell.com/FOLDER00224415M/1/HEIDEN_2.6.6.exe
      See here for instructions regarding changing the SATA Operation in the system BIOS:
      http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/a-clean-install-of-windows/ensure-you-have-the-correct-sata-configuration-in-the-bios-setup-for-your-configuration/sata-operation/#VarA

      I'm sure it does but theres some conflicting information see here for more details:
      http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/disk-drives/f/3534/p/19456582/20139704.aspx
      http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/285173-32-achi-mode-dell-optiplex-help

      Also try applying this fixit and then swapping the drives: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976/en-gb

      See also: http://kb.acronis.com/content/2149

  5. What happens is this, you take a drive that was configured for a 745 computer, you put that drive into a 755 and turn it on. You will see the Windows logo and the computer restarts itself going into this loop. You will never get pass the Windows logo. What driver or hardware causes this to happen?

    1. i believe that drivers are not necessarily the issue. the registry is configured to the exact hardware on the hard drive of the computer that the operating system was installed on. so when you swap HD's, win is looking for stuff that is either not there, different, or not in the right place. this process is possible with linux, at least ubuntu.

  6. Can you find another link for downloading Vista? The links following the link do not work

  7. Hi,
    I'm about to format and install 7 on my Studio 1747. I looked at the resource CD that came with it as well as the driver section of Support. I don't find the System Software you've mentioned. Is it possible i don't need it? Thanks,
    Michael

      1. Thanks for the link. However, the question is this: do I need it on my Studio 1747 under 7? And out of curiosity, if yes, why isn't it on the Resource CD, if you know? Thanks.

  8. And if I don't need it and I do install it, will that cause any problems?

    1. I'm not sure why its not listed for that system, likely you will be fine without it however personally I would install the version I mentioned anyway. It won't have any negative effects.

      1. Thanks for the response. I had another question, this time about drivers. I noticed that the Resource CD has many more drivers on it than what I need. How do I know which are right for my system? I know you're busy and I appreciate you taking the time.

      2. The hardware IDs can be used to identify variants in the system hardware such as wireless cards and display adapters.
        http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/downloading-drivers-checking-hardware-ids-and-downloading-and-installing-dell-system-drivers-in-the-correct-order/checking-hardware-ids-in-the-device-manager/
        Personally I do not recommend using the resource Disk and instead directly obtain the latest drivers from the Dell FTP website:
        http://ftp.dell.com/published/Pages/studio-1747.html

        Inputting a Service Tag into drivers and downloads is meant to list all your system drivers and meant to omit the ones which don't apply to your system:
        http://www.dell.com/support/my-support/us/en/19/product-support/product
        However hasn't worked correctly for me for the last year or so.

        Neither page nor the Resource disk list the drivers in the correct installation order. Its particularly important that you install Windows 7 Service Pack 1, Dell System Software and then the chipset Drivers before the rest of the drivers.

  9. OK. So I'm not crazy. I looked through the drivers on the support web site and couldn't figure out why some of them we there. So not every driver on the web site is for my computer. Is this the case for the CD also? I ask because there seem to be a lot of drivers on the CD that have nothing to do with my laptop.

    1. The DVD will contain all the drivers for a model as mentioned there are common components and hardware variants such as wireless card, graphics card, optical drive and other minor components such as mouse keyboard bundles. The DVD is usually out of date with respect to the Dell FTP Website. The hardware IDs as mentioned above can be used to identify these variants.

      1. One of the items in your installation guide refers to SATA drivers needed to install. In looking through the ftp site, I see SATA firmware but not drivers. Does my Studio 1747 need drivers or are they included on the Windows DVD? Thanks.

  10. Hi Philip!

    I couldn't find any contact info for you so I'll leave a comment here. I had to let you know that your blog here was an absolutely invaluable resource for me just now! I wiped my sister's computer's hard drive and reinstalled her OS, and upon doing that I found she no longer had the ability to connect to the internet wirelessly–a problem I had not anticipated and definitely had to solve. A bit of Googling led me to a post you'd made in a Dell forum, and that in turn brought me here.

    Thanks for creating and maintaining an amazingly thorough resource–I found it immensely helpful and I'm sure others have and will, too!

    1. Hi Rachael

      Thanks for the kind comments, I'm glad that you found my guides useful and were able to get your sisters system back up and running. I spent quite some time writing them and trying to addressing common issues found on the Dell forums.

      They seem to be showing up pretty well on Google searches with Google being the main search engine. 🙂

  11. In fact it is an Intel processor. Core i7. Where do I get the driver? ftp site? Or I don't need it?

  12. Hello,
    I'm setting up my Studio 1747 today, There are three things I need to know:
    1. I can't find a Bluetooth driver for my machine. Is there a separate driver? Is the driver included in another package? Is the driver in the software? I know you said that install order is important — spcifically don't install the software before the driver. Where do I look?
    2. To be absolutely certain that my notebook is virus free, I was thinking of removing all the BIOS updates I've applied since I bought it and then reinstalling. Is this even possible? Are BIOS viruses possibel? Realistic? Is doing this a bad idea?
    3. I seem to remember that when I bought the computer originally, it came with a special Dell Power Scheme which I can't find now. Am I crazy? Is there one? If so, where can I find it?
    Your help has been invaluable. Thank you,
    Michael

    1. Michael
      To 1. Install the driver for the Dell Wireless 365: http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/driver-sets/dell-wireless-cards/ The drivers are installed with the software for the Broadcom bluetooth devices.
      To 2. The BIOS Update is an update to the system firmware. Once updated it cannot be downgraded (without great difficulty) and downgrading increases the chances of breaking the system. Pretty much you should not attempt downgrading the BIOS: http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/updating-the-bios/ BIOS viruses are possible but rare as measures are made to prevent incompatible flashes for instance. You will not get any of these unless you obtained the BIOS update from a dodgy source. i.e. if you got the update from Dell it'll be fine. Dell systems which came with Windows 8.0 and later have implemented UEFI and Secureboot to make it more secure. These technologies aren't present on your system but I wouldn't say you have anything to worry about.
      To 3. Install Dell Quickset. For power options there should be a power saving scheme in Windows 7, it should be fine to use. usually the system is set to balanced by default. I will write instructions later on today how to do this, thanks for flagging it up, it should be part of the installation guides.

  13. Good morning,

    I want to scream HELP! but that might be overly dramatic.

    Thanks to your amazing site I have gutted and re-setup by Studio 1747 laptop and it's working great save for one item. The processors overheat — badly.

    I was running Kaspersky and the machine just turned off.

    I checked my event log. I saw "The speed of processor 3 in group 0 is being limited by system firmware. The processor has been in this reduced performance state for 4 seconds since the last report." with an Event ID of 37.

    I searched around on the web a bit and found advice to turn my power setting up to the max. This didn't help. I was running an antivirus, along with speccy, and saw my processors heat up to 99C just before the system turned itself off.

    What advice can you give me? Do you think there's something seriously wrong or maybe just a setting that needs to be tweeked?

    Thanks,
    Michael

    1. Firstly "gutted" does this mean software or hardware? If you physically took the system apart to clean or upgrade it then you should apply some new thermal paste on the processor. Its probably worth doing so anyway, see here:
      http://www.maximumpc.com/article/howtos/howto_install_cpu_and_apply_thermal_paste
      See the Service Manual for details on getting to the CPU:
      ftp://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-products/esuprt_laptop/esuprt_studio_laptop/studio-1747_service%20manual_en-us.pdf
      A good layer of thermal paste should help keep the processor cool.

      I also advise running the full F12 pre-boot diagnostics, its possible the system fan has failed and may need replaced. You should be able to hear the fan if its working:
      http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/f12-preboot-diagnostics/

      I advise using a laptop cooling pad, see here or some guidance:
      http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/hardware-maintainance/

      I would also suggest making a post on the laptop general hardware forum, you might get the same advise but others on the forums are likely to give better advise with regards to overheating:
      http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/

  14. Good evening,
    Gutted means following your guide — from DBAN to installing software/drivers.
    I have not opened it. I believe that will be my next move. I will take it to a PC repair ship and have them apply some paste, as well as giving it a good cleaning/dust removal. I will let you know if this is effective.
    Incidentally, I have posted this question to the Dell Laptop Hardware section. It remains unanswered. If anything comes up, I will pass the info along.
    Thanks so much for getting back to me so quickly. You really are the best person to rely on.
    Michael

    1. One other thing, do you know if the system overheats and powers down when in the BIOS setup or if you use a bootable Ubuntu USB?

      Also what BIOS revision do you have?

      1. BIOS revision is A14, the most recent one available.

        I will try booting into BIOS and see if it heats up after an hour.

        As well, I'm in the process of finding a tech I can trust. Would a Best Buy/Geek Squad type be able to clean the innards and apply thermal paste properly?

        Thanks,

      2. It should be a fairly simple task for them to do. I never use them because I am in the UK and tend to repair things myself.

  15. Philip, Hi, I have a Dell optiplex 360 which originally came with Vista but when ordering it I wanted XP; had a laptop with XP already so I had Dell load XP on the 360. I did also receive the Vista Business disk as well and then was able to get the Windows 7 upgrade option later.
    Now that XP is gone I want to load Vista and then the upgrade 7, but when I start Vista I get to a certain point it tells me that "Windows could not update the computers boot configuration".
    How do I resolve this problem?
    Thanks for any help.

    1. Hi Jay

      You may want to securely wipe your system before installation:
      http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/securely-wipe-your-hard-drive-with-dariks-boot-and-nuke-dban/

      Don't bother loading Windows Vista. Instead use a Digital River .iso to install Windows 7 directly (it will allow clean install):
      http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/download-microsoft-windows-and-office/download-microsoft-windows/windows-7-sp1-iso-download/

      Instead of entering your upgrade product key during setup, follow the instructions here and activate using the command prompt:
      http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/a-clean-install-of-windows/microsoft-product-activation/product-activation-with-a-windows-7-upgrade-key-after-clean-installation/

  16. Dear Philip Yip,
    I have read into your website and find very interest in your information about Dell and Windows. I know that you can give me some advices.
    I bought a Dell Inspiron 7537, Windows 8.1 64bit on WD 1TB HDD. I would like to replace 1TB HDD with an Intel 530 SSD 240GB. I viewed into a Disk Management of 1TB , there have many hide partitions provided by Dell for a backup & recovery. The primary partition occupied 30GB after I had turn off a Hiberate, paging system files. This partition was original oallocated 930GB. Because I did not upgrade to Dell premium in a DBR, so I can run only a basic functions of DBR.
    1. I notice that Reinstalled Disk is a Factory backup which similar to Create-Rescue-Disk. DBR basic function cannot backup my current primary partition that I had run optimized defragment and shrink volume to a minimum.
    2. I cannot backup a Factory Backup and/or Create-Rescue Disk into a 16GB USB flash drive. The system need a 100GB so I change a USB flash drive to an external USB HDD.
    3. Next issue, I reinstall a system into Intel 530 SSD with the backup DBR_MASTER, the recovery said that I must have 930GB of primary partition.

    My objective is to replace HDD 1TB with a SSD 240GB.
    1. How can I backup my current primary partition which I already shrink a volume spaces
    2. How to prepare UEFI format into Intel 530 SDD clean spaces.
    3. If I do not care about system and data in 1TB HDD, do you recommend to clean install Windows 8.1 into Intel 530 SSD and update drivers in next step.
    4. Since I have not Windows 8.1 SL 64 bit DVD and Inspiron 7537 has not DVD drive too. Can it be possible to preparea UEFI flash drive with Windows 8.1 SL image within 16 GB flash drive. I understand that Dell put a Windows 8.1 product key into its UEFI. Will I find any issue again during my clean Windows 8.1 installation about the product key.

    Please give me some links if you have already cover about these techniques.
    Best regards,
    Nikom P.

  17. hello!
    i have a new inspiron 7847!
    i cannot access my system files or my documents and settings!
    do you know why??? when i see the nature of my account, it is said administrator, not standard… but… strange….
    Thanks!
    Peace!

  18. Phillip,
    You suggested that I do a clean wipe of my computer before reinstalling Vista/Windows 7, sorry but not real savvy on this sort of thing, but do I make sure I have downloaded anything I want to keep on a flash drive before hand and will that also delete all the programs installed too.

    Also, I have the Vista disk and I also have a Windows 7 Pro upgrade I was going to install after Vista. Would that be OK? You wanted me to install W/7 right away, but not sure I understand the part about the product key.

    Thanks again
    Jay

    1. Please reply on the Dell Community Forums as the forum has some more tools making it easier to reply to questions. Questions posted here can get lost in the comments.

  19. Phillip;

    I have a Dell XPS 2720 that came with a single band Dell Wireless 1703 adapter. I'd really like to install an Intel dual-band 3160 Wireless AC adapter, but when I try, the card doesn't work. I get a message saying that Windows couldn't automatically bind the IP protocol stack to the network adapter. The card shows as enabled, but there's no connection. I had the same result when I tried a 7260, but when I called Intel they told me that the 3160 would work, so I tried that. Do you have any idea how to make this adapter work?

    Thanks,

    Brian

    1. Try here:
      http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-hardware/windows-couldnt-automatically-bind-the-ip-protocol/a2f074cf-be62-435e-b951-42dfbb9351c2

      The most useful reply (not the marked answer)

      Control Panel > Administration Tools > Computer Management > Services & Applications > Services.

      Scroll down this list to find 'WLAN Auto Config'

      Double click on 'WLAN Auto Config' On the general tab, select from the start up type drop down menu, select 'Automatic'. Under Service Status click on 'Start'. Then 'Apply' these settings and exit from all open control panel windows.

      This should then allow Windows to set the required bindings.

  20. Unfortunately, the service is already set to automatic and is running, but the same error message still appears.

  21. Good morning,
    First off, thanks for all your help. I've posted before and you're always right on the money. I appreciate your generosity with your knowledge.
    I have a Dell Studio 1747 with 2 * 500 GB HDD. I'd like to combine them. What I need to do is span and stripe. I've looked at Acronis Partition and it seems fine. Can you recommend a free software that does the same thing? Obviously, it has to be as reliable as Acronis.
    Thanks,
    Michael

  22. Good morning,
    I have a Dell Studio 1747 from 3.5 year ago. It has a Core i7 and 6 GB or RAM.
    I've used your pdf on how to clean out and reinstall a Dell system and it's great. My problem is that now that my system is up and running, I find it slow.
    My question is this: Do I need to install all the drivers and utilities you mention or are the MS versions OK? Secondly, if I use the MS version, will the PC be any faster?
    Thanks,
    Michael

    1. You should install the Dell system drivers I mention. The drivers inbuilt into Windows are basic and will not bring out the full functionality of your hardware hence it probably appears to be running more slowly.

  23. Good afternoon,
    I've checked and double checked and there's no option for RAID anywhere in my BIIOS.
    Can you recommend a partition manager that will stripe and span like Acronis but that's free?
    Thanks,
    Michael

  24. I just want to say thank you for all your work. Your tutorials are the best i've found so far.

    1. You're very welcome. Thanks for the kind words. This set of tutorials were initially made to address problems with Windows installation I've found on the Dell Community. They have been continuously edited over the years to address the common areas where users have got lost.

  25. hi

    First of all congrats your videos regarding fluoromax-2 measurements. I have few doubts regarding EEM Matrix. I have measured EEM using Foluromax-2 instrument. My EEM was mixed with lamp and other noise. Hence, i decided to remove noise using Mcorrect and Xcorrect files. But i dont know the procedure exactly.Can you please guide me in this regard… Thank you so much

    Regards

    UK

  26. Hi
    I am unable to restore windows from WindowsImageBackup folder in all the dell desktop pc, and unable to understand why so, and getting the message that no image found during recovery from windows installation.

    1. Please post this on the Dell Community Forums in more detail and mention if you are using Dell Backup and Recovery or Windows natively and if Windows 7 or 8.1.

  27. Hi Philip,
    I'm facing the following issue. "No boot device found" while startup. After this, I'm not able to proceed further except to restart. I have a Dell Inspiron 15R 3537 and I'm out of Warranty :(.

    The following are ePSA diagnostics report:
    BIOS AO4
    Error Code 2000-0145
    Validation 101506
    Msg: Hard Drive 0 – S/N WX71E33WLT17, self test did not complete

    1. Can you tell me what exactly the problem is ? whether it is due to OS corruption or my Hard Disk becomes completely useless ?
    2. What should be my next steps ??

    Please help.

    Thanks,
    Arun PR.

    1. That code points to hard drive failure. 2000-0142 and 200-0146 are more common. You can try to reseat your hard drive to see if it works. I think it has likely failed and its time for you to get a SSD such as a Crucial MX200.


  28. I'm trying to help a friend complete their use of your instructions for their Dell Inspiron 9400 where they updgraded and then did a clean install to Win 10 Pro from Win 7 Ultimate. I'm not sure how to advise them with regard to the .cab they successfully got from the MS Update Catalog for the 1400 Mobility driver. I'm able to extract the contents using 7-zip, but not sure what to do after that since there are multiple .inf files and many other files. like .cat files as well as a B_72960 folder. When I get to this part of your instructions I don't know how to implement what it appears you are saying:
    ".cab files are not the same as the .exe or .msi files which you are used to install drivers with.
    To completely install a .cab file you need to use the Windows Package Manager which is for the advanced user.
    I generally use the update driver within the device manager"
    Exactly how do I work within Device Manager or some other function of the O/S to get the driver software installed? Thank you SO MUCH for your time and effort on all this information.

  29. Hello, Philip,

    I thought you might enjoy this. It's a bit of humor, and a bit of a rant, about AVG, although the result of their problems could eventually cause harm. I'm not sure how to convey to the engineers at AVG that they have overreached their Windows expertise as a result of their general paranoia about viruses and other intrusions.

    My first encounter with problems with their software was allowing their so-called TuneUp program to "optimize" my PC. The result was a complete mess – it had lowered the priority of most of the programs I use most of the time, like google. Oh, well, I'll just uninstall it.

    So, I decided to uninstall TuneUp from my Windows 10 system, and attempting to do so crashed the Windows 10 shell. (Cortana?), so I had to take it out manually.

    Then when I attempted to install Visual Studio 2015 on this same Windows 10 system, it hung several times. I read in a blog that AVG anti-virus had silently blocked the installation of one of the sub-components of VS. Sure enough, once I disabled AVG it installed just fine.

    The last piece – and this one really takes the cake – I ran an AVG scan on an old XP system I'm resurrecting, and it identified the Windows developer hook NtMapViewOfSection as an infected rootkit (this is being reported widely as an infection).

    AVG has been far and away the best identifier of infections that I have found, but what do we have to put up with to use it???

    Regards
    Jon

    1. To be honest I've never liked AVG, Norton or McAfee (despite being Intel) but I've not tested either for a very long time. Personally I use Malwarebytes' Antimalware and inbuilt security within Windows 10. Sometimes I will use Sphinx firewall control.

      I've never been fond of cleanup utilities or cleaners except CCleaner.

      If I have to use something as old as Windows XP I generally have it disconnected or better as a disconnected VM.

  30. dear philip,
    since last couple of weeks, browsing your site has become very weird.
    one, it takes very, very long to load any page.
    two, there seems to be too many ads – it is difficult to make out the content, amongst the slew of ads.
    three, leaving a comment has been a headache. i had to log in to my wordpress account before my comment was accepted.

    i tried both the browsers – IE and chrome – and the problems are same.

    is there a problem with my computer? browsers?
    have you received similar complaints?
    do you want me to take a photo/screenshot of your page, and send it to you?
    do let me know. my e-mail is biren.birooATgoogle's mail

  31. Hi Philip, do you know if it's possible to copy dell recovery partition to new HDD for windows installation.
    As my old HDD showed error 142, and won't boot.
    Funny I can connect it to another pc as external and copy all the data.
    I have a new HDD but don't know what to do with windows installation.
    System: dell Inspiron n5010, running Windows 7 home premium 64bit.

    1. More hassle than its worth. The factory settings are old and inferior to a clean install.

      You are best to either Download Windows 10 RS3 and clean install with your Windows 7 OEM Product Key or Download Windows 7 SP1 and clean install without a Product Key the activate using OEM SLP.

      See here for more details:
      http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/windows-oem-faqs-and-downloads/

      I still need to update the guides for RS3 but the instructions are pretty much identical to RS2.

  32. hello sir,
    i recently bought a dell g3 3590 gaming laptop. i want to re install the windows that came pre installed with the laptop. i dont want to use the recovery image partition in my hard disk coz it is buggy. i asked for the link to the dell recovery ISO meant for this model but dell india support is not giving it. they keep pointing me to the dell recovery tool that creates an usb stick for recovery purposes and deletes the downloaded ISO automatically. why are they not giving the link to the ISO? how can i obtain the corresponding dell ISO which contains all the dell drivers and dell applications?

  33. my earlier comment got deleted during moderation, i dont know why. please dont delete this.
    i have 2 queries:

    1. i have the dell os recovery tool. i want to download the windows 10 iso (not automated by support assist)(pertaining to my service tag) using it. but i read online that the tool deletes the iso after making the recovery usb. how can i get the iso file?

    2. is there a difference between the windows 10 iso (not automated by support assist) downloaded using the dell os recovery tool and the microsoft iso? what is the difference? which one is better? how?

    1. I prefer the Microsoft ISO it is usually smaller in size as it is only the language you select whereas the Dell ISO is multi-lingual but only has US English and not UK English.

      You can use the Dell Update tool to get any system drivers from Dell once Windows 10 installed.

      Its been a while since I used the Dell OS Recovery Tool to get the ISO. If I recall correctly it saves the ISO in a subfolder in Program Data and deletes it when the Bootable USB is created. You can copy the ISO from this folder before the USB is created. This guide is for the Windows 7 ISO it should be similar for Windows 10:
      https://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/downloading-a-dell-windows-7-professional-iso-using-the-dell-os-recovery-tool-and-making-a-bootable-usb/

      1. thank you very much. btw, does the windows 10 iso (not automated by support assist)(pertaining to my service tag) downloaded using dell os recovery tool contain the dell applications that came pre-installed in my laptop, or it is just a windows iso only? thanks in advance 🙂

      2. No it just contains Microsoft Windows and Dell Update is preinstalled. There are no other substantial Dell customisations.

  34. Hi Philip,
    I followed your guide to convert my Dell Optiplex 3010 from MBR to GPT.
    Everything went fine but the last couple of line of text was slightly different. Its shown below.
    I assume it was trying to upgrade or repair the Recovery Environment and somehow failed to do so.?
    Any ideas?
    "MBR2GPT: Conversion completed successfully
    Call WinReReapir to repair WinRE
    MBR2GPT: Failed to update ReAgent.xml, please try to manually disable and enable WinRE.
    MBR2GPT: Before the new system can boot properly you need to switch the firmware to boot to UEFI mode!"

    They are good guides
    Thanks
    Dave

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.