Cannot restore to factory setting on my dell dimension 5150 by using symantic built in restore it will nit allow me to click on restore just reboot?

Dell Dimension computers have a built-in PC restore system that allows you to quickly restore the PC to its original factory settings.
The PC restore is located in a hidden partition of the PC's hard drive and contains a copy of the computer's original factory installed software.
There are two different ways to restore the Dimension's settings depending on which operating system your computer is running.

Windows XP
Disconnect all peripheral equipment that is attached to your computer such as printer, scanner, external hard drive and memory sticks.
Restart the computer.
After the Dell screen appears on the monitor, hold down the "Ctrl" key and press the "F11" key.
If the Windows XP screen appears before you can finish this step, wait for the computer to finish rebooting and restart the computer again.


Highlight "Restore" in the Dell PC Restore window by using the tab button.
Hit "Enter."


Highlight "Confirm" in the restore warning box by using the tab button.
Hit "Enter."
This will start the system restore process.
Do not attempt to turn off the computer during this process or vital system files may be damages and you will not be able to restart your computer.


Click "Finish" in the box that notifies you that the restoration has been successful.


Hit "Enter" to restart the computer.
The computer has been restored to the original factory settings.

Windows Vista

Disconnect all peripheral equipment that is attached to your computer such as printer, scanner, external hard drive and memory sticks.



Restart the computer.
After the Dell screen appears on the monitor, press the "F8" key.
If the Windows Vista screen appears before you can finish this step, wait for the computer to finish rebooting and restart the computer again.


Highlight "Repair Your Computer" by using the down arrow key in the Advanced Boot window.
Hit the "Enter" key.


Click "Next" after selecting a language. Log into the computer as an administrator.
"OK." Choose "Dell Factory Restore."
Click "Next."


Check "Yes" next to the reformat the hard drive and restore factory settings option.
Click "Next" to start the restoration process.
Do not attempt to turn off the computer during this process or vital system files may be damages and you will not be able to restart your computer.


Click "Finish" in the box that notifies you that the restoration has been successful.
The computer will automatically restart itself to its original factory settings.

1. Turn on the power
2. Press and hold "Ctrl" then press "F11" when the Dell splash screen appears during booting up
3. Click "Restore"
4. Click "Confirm". A progress window will appear to inform you how long it will take. A message will appear stating "The system recovery process was successful" when the process is completed.
Read more: How to Restore the Factory Settings on a Dell Dimension 4800 http://www.soyouwanna.com/restore-factory-settings-dell-dimension-4800-31875.html#ixzz1u3kXl9Pc

Best thing to do Lou is to reinstall windows XP. this should take care of your problems. Best of luck.

You can reboot by Operating system , Click start>Restart

OR

you can press power button for few seconds, it will power off, & then you can press power button.It will start booting up...

Thanks for choosing Fixya

to restore the settings you have to follow the steps

Instructions

Windows XP
1. Step 1 Disconnect all peripheral equipment that is attached to your computer such as printer, scanner, external hard drive and memory sticks.
   
2. Step 2 Restart the computer. After the Dell screen appears on the monitor, hold down the "Ctrl" key and press the "F11" key. If the Windows XP screen appears before you can finish this step, wait for the computer to finish rebooting and restart the computer again.
   
3. Step 3 Highlight "Restore" in the Dell PC Restore window by using the tab button. Hit "Enter."
   
4. Step 4 Highlight "Confirm" in the restore warning box by using the tab button. Hit "Enter." This will start the system restore process. Do not attempt to turn off the computer during this process or vital system files may be damages and you will not be able to restart your computer.
   
5. Step 5 Click "Finish" in the box that notifies you that the restoration has been successful.
   
6. Step 6 Hit "Enter" to restart the computer. The computer has been restored to the original factory settings.
   
Windows Vista
7. Step 1 Disconnect all peripheral equipment that is attached to your computer such as printer, scanner, external hard drive and memory sticks.
   
8. Step 2 Restart the computer. After the Dell screen appears on the monitor, press the "F8" key. If the Windows Vista screen appears before you can finish this step, wait for the computer to finish rebooting and restart the computer again.
   
9. Step 3 Highlight "Repair Your Computer" by using the down arrow key in the Advanced Boot window. Hit the "Enter" key.
   
10. Step 4 Click "Next" after selecting a language. Log into the computer as an administrator. Click "OK." Choose "Dell Factory Restore." Click "Next."
    
11. Step 5 Check "Yes" next to the reformat the hard drive and restore factory settings option. Click "Next" to start the restoration process. Do not attempt to turn off the computer during this process or vital system files may be damages and you will not be able to restart your computer.
    
12. Step 6 Click "Finish" in the box that notifies you that the restoration has been successful. The computer will automatically restart itself to its original factory settings.
    

thanks

All versions of windows have whats called system restore.

Hopefully it was turned on.

Go to start button, all programs, accessories, system tools,
system restore, click on choose a different restore and then next,
now, on the next page click on the little box that says-show me all restore points, now pick the oldest restore point, and this will return the pc to
a state when it was new.

Does it have a Microsoft sticker on the case giving you a serial number and product type: 2000, XP Home , XP Pro etc

If it has one then you need to find a buddy with a copy of that software and hope that it is compatible with the version you have on your system.

If not then it is off to the shop for a fresh copy

Okay, do as follows.

(a) Boot the computer. When you see a blue bar with www.dell.com on the screen, hit Ctrl + F11.
(b) On the next screen, click "Restore".
(c) Next, click "Confirm".
(d) Let the restore process run. It will probably take 10-ish minutes. Don't touch it while it's doing it's thing.
(e) When prompted, click "Finish" to reboot the computer.
(f) When prompted, click "Yes".
(g) When prompted, click "Next".
(h) After the computer restarts, click "OK".

disable all integrated devices, change boot sequence to cd drive & then try to reinstall....

Hi jaspa - this is how it works:

To use PC Restore:
1 Turn on the computer.
During the boot process, a blue bar with www.dell.com appears at the top of the screen.
2 Immediately upon seeing the blue bar, press <Ctrl><F11>.
If you do not press <Ctrl><F11> in time, let the computer finish restarting, and then restart the computer again. NOTICE: If you do not want to proceed with PC Restore, click Reboot in the following step. 3 On the next screen that appears, click Restore.
4 On the next screen, click Confirm.
The restore process takes approximately 6–10 minutes to complete.
5 When prompted, click Finish to reboot the computer. NOTE: Do not manually shut down the computer. Click Finish and let the computer completely reboot. 6 When prompted, click Yes.
The computer restarts. Because the computer is restored to its original operating state, the
screens that appear, such as the End User License Agreement, are the same ones that
appeared the first time the computer was turned on.
7 Click Next.
The System Restore screen appears and the computer restarts.
8 After the computer restarts, click OK.
If this solves your problem PLEASE rate this as fixed. If it did not or you had problems, DO NOT RATE YET, just add a comment letting me know what happened and I'll be happy to assist you further. Thanks.

Jeff