Can not Reset PC..

[kisamokichi]

I have a Dell Studio 1737 with Windows Vista 64-bit Home Premium.

It will NOT let me get to the advanced boot menu when starting up.

I have previously installed Windows 7 from Vista, then back to Vista after Windows 7 with no problem, but its not letting me this time.

I have tried pressing f2, f12, and to more of an extent, f8, which would usually bring me to the advanced boot menu, but it will not let me.

Could it be that I'm just not pressing f8 at the right time? I know I have done this before and it didn't give me this many problems.

I just want to restore my old laptop to its former glory one last time before it dies on me later this year (its getting close to its grave)

Note: I do not have the disk. That thing has been gone for years. I did not need it before anyways.

(I guess if I really wanted to, I could download an illegal copy and then put my key in, since its a legal key and still visible on the bottom of my laptop. But meh.)

 

[kisamokichi]

I managed to get into the advanced boot menu but theres no recovery option -n-

 

[hang-the-9]

Since you were re-installing the OS yourself, there will be no recovery option. The factory recovery depends not just on the recovery partition being there but also the C drive to be setup a certain way.

Downloading a setup disk is not an "illegal copy", the CD is nothing without the Key Code you have. The actual license resided in the product key not the disk. If you can get a setup disk for your version of the OS, you can use it. Just don't use a hacked or modified disk, that's when you can get into issues with viruses or license activation.