Factory Restore in m11x r2

I want to factory restore(with installed alien programs) my m11x but I can't find any similar procedures anywhere so I'm gonna post what I did/tried. I also want, if possible, to do this without disc drive installed(in m11x r2) nor external dvd drive.

1. Burned a copy of "recovery" disc(included in the package) to a USB bootable flash drive, from a different laptop
2. Booted it to m11x and successfully installed win7, hoping it has the alienfx, aliensense, etc, but it's WITHOUT alien programs, also no drivers manually installed(the updated drivers)
3. Installed AlienRespawn in hope to get the recovery partition and opened AlienRespawn > Backup tab > Create Recovery media > USB Flash drive. It was in a separate flash drive
(I have now a win7 usb and "factory image recovery" usb drive)
4. Then I opened again AlienRespawn > Restore tab > Restore your system to a previous date or to the factory state > Some message saying to restore in factory image(7/7/2010) then Restart.
I stick both win7 usb and recovery usb in case it is needed
5. It opened system recovery just like in F8 in startup. Options are: Startup Repair, System Restore, System Image Recovery, and others. So I selected System Restore but when it listed the restore points, there's no 7/7/2010, only 2013's
6. Changed to "System Image Recovery" option. Then there's a pop-up saying "Windows cannot find a system image on this computer. Attach the backup hard disk or insert the final DVD from a backup set". tried to ignored it and proceed to selection of recovery image but there's nothing in the list. In "Advanced...", options are search the image in computer network and install a driver. I don't know how to operate those.

How can I restore it with alien programs? or can I just install the programs and drivers to the blank/normal win7 from the DVD in the package? is it different?

 

I'm pretty sure the AW programs can be individually installed after the installation completes. Also, as far as I can tell, the alien respawn image recovery will not work with separate installs of Windows. If you made the image with the original Windows install and the reformatted and reinstalled, that previous image is useless. As for the Windows system restore function, that one only works to restore your install of the OS, but does not save external data (with some exceptions).

 

True, it won't work afterwards. You need to use it before the manual install. And it's also true that the AlienRespawn can be installed and can create an image after a successful clean install.

 

Okay... so the one that I did backup(the factory image recovery) in the usb is useless? Because if (1)I can use the bootable usb(recovery dvd win7) to reinstall windows and (2) I can install drivers and alienware command center, not simultaneously, then I don't have a use for the "factory image recovery" usb drive. Am I right? or is it efficient to back-up that image and store for some future use(which I don't know where)?

 

I am having trouble understanding what your situation entails, exactly.

1. Did you use Respawn Recovery to create a system recovery image that resets the computer to factory settings?

2. Did you use the native Windows system restore function to create an image that resets your OS install?

3. Did you use a tool like Rufus (I'm not sure if windows can be used to create a bootable USB) to make your USB key a bootable drive and reinstall Windows off that?

If you did the first, then you should have an image with all Alienware software and drivers that came with the system. when I look at my Respawn Recovery tool, it tells me that the image I can create on a USB key works like a bootable drive and will reinstall the system with factory settings, all software and drivers included.

If you did the second, you're more or less out of luck, as this option only restores your Windows directory and leaves all external software alone. This sort of image is generally generated automatically when you apply OS updates, for example, and is not usable to reset a system to factory settings.

If you did the third, then you are really doing nothing different than reformatting and reinstalling a clean copy of Windows. In this situation, you will have to manually add all Alienware software and drivers yourself.

 

I did the first but the system can't find the bootable usb with the image after I used Respawn recovery so I resorted to the third. Yeah, thanks for the answers, my m11x is now running with the necessary Alienware software and drivers. But I'm having problems with the 'spaceship' and 'alien fx' button even though I installed Alien FX and run the controller. I can operate the Alien programs by opening Alien CC but I can't use the keyboard shortcuts. Is it by default programmed in the recovery disc or can I activate those keys?