Dell Vostro 1500 - Dell Factory Image Restore / Exchanged Laptop

I have exchanged my Dell Vostro 1500 laptop. I need to return my original laptop, however, I was just going to do a system restore to factory settings with Windows XP. I realize there is a partition on my HDD which is probably the restore partition. However, how do I go about restoring it back to factory default? The manual only covers the Vista option.

Surprisingly, putting the "Operating System" disk only loads XP. This is good usually so you don't have to deal with all the imaged junk, but in this case, I jsut want an automated way to restore back to factory settings before shipping it back.

That being said, should I even worry? I am assuming Dell may just wipe it and restart anyways?

 

yes they wipe it with military grade security. they have to by law.

 

What law says they must whipe it using DoD mandated rules? Dell always tells you in their support literature mailed with a replacement HD to whipe your HD as they aren't responsible for any leaked data...

 

Well of course not. It's just a way to cover their own butts. A lot of stuff in EULAs just have exaggerated stuff to make sure they don't get hit with a class action lawsuit.

 

Yea, but if there is a legal mandate for them to do this, as the other poster is claiming, an EULA can't shield them from fulfilling that legal obligation so they won't be able to lock themselves out of a class action. For example, Dell couldn't put a clause in their EULA saying that you couldn't get your money back if instead of sending you a computer as you ordered they sent you a picture of a computer... A judge would rule that EULA clause unenforcable as it violates the Uniform Commercial Code and laws on the Sale of Goods...