The Dell-specific Ctrl+F11 process is supposed to completely automate the restoration process, returning the hard disk to the state it was in when Dell shipped the computer. However, overwriting the MBR by using a boot manager, using the commands "fixmbr" or "fdisk /mbr", installing from a Windows installation CD, and assorted other tasks a user might do will inadvertantly break Ctrl+F11, rendering the system unable to boot the DSR partition. Furthermore, changing the partitioning by adding, deleting, or resizing partitions will cause DSRcheck to fail, so even if Ctrl+F11 works, the restore process will abort without attempting to restore the Ghost image.
The term 'restore' should be taken as meaning to return to a previously saved or stored state. A prerequisite here is that a backup must have been previously saved to which you can return. In contrast, 'reinstall' should mean the process of installing XP again from an installation CD, just as would be done if the hard disk partition did not previously have any operating system. 'Install' and 'reinstall' are functionally the same thing--whether or not the partition previously had XP installed is not really relevant when the process will eliminate any previous installation and install XP anew.
In the case of Dell's "PC-Restore by Symantec" feature, Dell has supplied the user with a backup image made at the factory, and this backup is stored in the DSR partition. It is this backup that is restored from when the Ctrl+F11 keys are pressed.
A backup image must exist before you can restore from it. If Dell did not ship your computer with a DSR partition, you cannot restore. If you have deleted the DSR partition, you cannot restore. In these cases, you may still reinstall if you have the reinstallation media, but that is a different topic than what is being covered here. If a DSR partition does not exist, you cannot create one and hope a backup image will magically appear in it.
If Dell shipped your computer with a DSR partition and it has not been deleted, then you should have the backup image to restore from--although you might not always be able to get to it. That's what this page is about: re-enabling your ability to use Dell's backup image.
More info on how to fix the Ctrl+F11 and DSR process and the balance of the article......
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