How to Troubleshoot and Reinstall the Operating System on Precision Desktop Workstations

Table of Contents:

1. Specific Issues with the Operating System and Precision Desktop Workstations
2. Troubleshooting drivers, BIOS, and software downloads within Windows
3. How to Restore the Operating System to the Factory Image
4. How to run the Recovery Utilities and Use Basic Commands and Utilities within the Operating System
5. How to Reinstall the Operating System on your Precision Desktop Workstation
6. How to Perform a Clean Install of the Operating System on your Precision Desktop Workstation

Specific Issues with the Operating System and Precision Desktop Workstations

The following articles provide information about operating system issues specific to Precision Desktop Workstations:

• Precision: RAID Setup (pre-install Drivers)
• How to Resolve Hard Drive (HDD) or solid state drive (SSD) Issues on your Dell Computer
• How to resolve the "Windows cannot be installed to disk # partition #" error when installing Windows
• How to create a RAID 1 volume within Windows using the Intel Rapid Storage Technology utility
• Obtaining the Driver CAB File for Operating System Deployment to Latitude, OptiPlex and Precision Workstation Systems
• Dell Computer Support for Windows 8 Upgrade and Windows 8.1 Update

Back to Top

Troubleshooting drivers, BIOS, and software downloads within Windows

The following articles provide information about troubleshooting drivers, BIOS updates, and the Dell Digital Delivery utility for software downloads:

• Access UEFI (BIOS) System Setup from Windows 8
• Updating the BIOS on Systems with BitLocker enabled
• How to us the Dell Support Site to identify and install the Drivers for your Dell personal computer
• How to install Drivers using a Dell Resource CD/DVD
• Checking Hardware Configuration (Driver Install)
• Dell Digital Delivery- Installing, Using, Troubleshooting, and FAQs
• How to resolve You are not connected to Dell Digital Delivery message

Back to Top

How to Restore the Operating System to the Factory Image

To restore your computer's operating system back to its original factory image, follow the relevant steps in Dell Windows Backup Media and Recovery Options.

Back to Top

How to run the Recovery Utilities and Use Basic Commands and Utilities within the Operating System

The following articles provide information about using the various operating system recovery utilities and basic troubleshooting commands within the operating system:

• OS Recovery for self-encrypting drives
• What does the MSConfig Utility do in Windows 8 on your Dell personal computer?
• How to run System Restore on Windows 8 on your Dell personal computer
• How to boot into Safe Mode in Windows 8 on your Dell personal computer
• How to run a Startup Repair on Windows 7 and 8 Operating Systems on a Dell personal computer
• Using the Advanced Startup Options in Windows 8 on a Dell personal computer
• How to disable Power Plans and Settings in Windows 8 on your Dell personal computer
• How to Configure Computer Management in Windows 8 on your Dell personal computer
• Dell Backup and Recovery 
• How to use Windows 8 Task Manager
• How to create a Bootable USB Key
• Create a Bootable USB pen using DiskPart
• How to Run Command Prompt 
• Top Commands for use in Command Prompt
• Introduction to basic troubleshooting commands within Ubuntu Linux

Back to Top

How to Reinstall the Operating System on your Precision Desktop Workstation

The following articles provide information about how to perform a reinstall of the operating system on your computer:

• Where is my Windows 8 Product Key and how can I tell my Windows 8 installation is genuine?
• Windows 8 Upgrade and installation instructions
• How to use an Ubuntu install to create multiple customer partitions on your Dell personal computer
• Dell Media Recovery Options and the Request Backup Discs Form

Back to Top

How to perform a Clean Install of the Operating System on your Precision Desktop Workstation

The following articles provide information about how to do a clean install of the operating system:

• How to Downgrade from Windows 8 to Windows 7 Professional
• How to install Ubuntu Linux on your Dell personal computer
• How to configure Ubuntu Linux after it is first installed on your Dell personal computer

Back to Top

Recommended Articles

Here are some recommended articles related to this topic that might be of interest to you.

• What is Dell Windows Backup Media and Recovery?
• Factory Reset, Restore, or Reinstall Microsoft Windows on a Dell computer
• Restore your Computer Using SupportAssist OS Recovery
• How to Download and Use the Dell Operating System Recovery Image