Cannot factory restore my dell dimension 3100. Tried ctrl f11, delete button, got into setup program but cant find anything that says restore. Tried doing a restore point from accesories,but some stupid virus is blocking it! Help!!

SOURCE: dell usb problems

i have the same pc. Get the newest BIOS and get the updated chipset drivers from dell

SOURCE: Factory restore

Call the manufacture and see if they would be willing to send you a restore disk. Also not a cheap way but you could by new windows xp and re-install it. System restore could get you pretty far back but it doesn't allow you to re do the whole hard drive. What is the operating system?

SOURCE: reset dell e521 back to factory setting

Well you really need to use your system restore disk. NOTE::::>>>> All of your user files and personal info Will be deleted, including bookmarks, and any programs that did not originally come with the computer. Your computer will be as if it was just taken out the box.

SOURCE: How do I restore my

To restore back to factory settings you have to format hard drive which will erase all information and then install operating system all over. to do this you need original operating system cd that came with the computer. put this in and restart the pc and once it shuts down keep on pressing F12 which will give you boot menu. you will choose cd/dvd rom and make sure to press space bacr or any button right after it when it asks so it will boot in to cd it self. once the cd loads all the files it will ask to repair or press escape to install new windows which is what you need. once in that screen you have to delete the old partition and then do format and then install windows. make sure you read all the prompts just to be sure but this is preatty much universal. Also before you do anything make sure to do back up of all of the data since you will loose all of it after format. now for the first time you choose format it will give you few options. just choose normal and not quick format. quick format is faster but normal will check hard drive for errors and bad sectors which is always good.once everything is installed you will need the drivers cd to be able to install all the drivers line network drivers and video etc.. If you dont have drivers cd and have internet access just go to google.com and click on downloads and support and download all the drivers for your model and put on cd or jump drive.Good luck with this.

SOURCE: I have a Dell Dimension

Hi

Loading PBR for descriptor 2 ... failed" would be the exact error message if the MBR is unable to load the partition boot record for the second partition. There may be more, but here are three possible causes:
the partition table is corrupted so that the descriptor points to the wrong place (i.e., says the partition is one place when it's really somewhere else);
the partition table descriptor points to the right place, but the boot record there is corrupted or has been erased;
the hard disk is failing and having trouble reading the sector with the boot record.
To check (1), visit www.goodells.net/dellrestore/fixes.htm and download my dsrfix utility. If dsrfix reports a clean bill of health, then (1) isn't the problem.
To check (3), run hard disk diagnostic tests. Press F12 when the machine is starting and see if the bios boot menu offers you a hard disk diagnostic test that you can run. Or even better, if you know the brand of the hard disk, most manufacturers should have a free diagnostic utility you can download to test the hard disk.
If it's not (1) or (3), then use Ctrl+F11 to run the Dell restore utility to recreate the Windows partition.
"Bad PBR" means the partition boot record the MBR is trying to load has an invalid sector signature.
Right before that message, you should see something like "Loading PBR for descriptor 2". That will tell you which PBR the MBR is having a problem with--descriptor '1' is the Dell Utility partition, '2' is the XP partition, and '3' is the Dell Restore partition.

However first, make sure that all connections are secure, and reseat the RAM.
If no luck and it use Windows XP, then press the F8 key during startup, select Safe mode from the menu using the arrow keys, and press Enter.
If it starts in Safe mode, then do a clean boot to find the cause:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310353

If it does not start in Safe mode, then restart, press the F8 key during startup, and select 'Last Known Good Configuration'.

If still no luck, then press the F2 key during startup to get into Setup(try the Del key if F2 does not work), and make sure the CD drive is configured to boot ahead of the HD.
Then, insert the Windows (or Recovery) CD, restart, and follow the steps shown here to access the Recovery Console, and do a FIXBOOT(writes a new partition table to the HD)

http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/
If that does not fix things, then do a FIXMBR(repairs the HD's Master Boot Record) using the same above procedure for a FIXBOOT, except substitute FIXMBR.
If still no luck, then you may have to do a repair install as described in the above link(Follow the steps for having an OEM version of XP).
If no good, then do a fresh install of XP(You will lose all data, restore points, and updates).

If there are problems doing that, then either the HD or RAM may be bad

Please check this link also:-

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/t/19276860.aspx