Cant restore my Win 8.1 Pro laptop

[Stanleyb41]

Hi

I would like to completely restore my laptop as its quite bloated, even after removing pics, videos etc. Originally it came on Win 7, then I upgraded to 8, then 8.1. It did NOT have recovery disks when new, and I never created any.

I have recently tried to create one on a USB pen drive, and it was apparently successfully, however when I try to restore it does not recognise the USB drive, or if it does after a reboot, it wont boot from it.

Its a Dell XPS 15.

Any help or pointer would be much appreciated, thanks.

Stan

 

[Laura Knotek]

Have you contacted Dell and asked them for assistance?

 

[BaritoneGuy]

Hi

I would like to completely restore my laptop as its quite bloated, even after removing pics, videos etc. Originally it came on Win 7, then I upgraded to 8, then 8.1. It did NOT have recovery disks when new, and I never created any.

I have recently tried to create one on a USB pen drive, and it was apparently successfully, however when I try to restore it does not recognise the USB drive, or if it does after a reboot, it wont boot from it.

Its a Dell XPS 15.

Any help or pointer would be much appreciated, thanks.

Stan

Did you create the disk as a UEFI drive? The USB stick should match the way that the computer boots. Also look in your computer BIOS to see if there is something preventing the boot from USB. And last make sure your PC isn't set for secure boot. This is unlikely but would also prevent what you are trying to do.

 

[jmshub]

The best way to create a bootable USB drive for Windows 8 is by actually using the installer? Are you doing that, or using the old Win 7 DVD-USB tool? That, and check your boot settings in BIOS. You'll need to have USB listed as a bootable device. If it is lower on the list than your Hard Drive, you'll need to press some key to choose your one time boot device, often F8 or F12.