does anybody have any experience or knowledge about using system restore or how to reformat a Dell computer that i didn't get Windows 7 install cds for?

i don't have a plan for a full system crash and restore for my Duo. if you have the time and want to be a bit verbose.

i think at bios has ability to do system restore back to factore defaults, you could try burn those recovery cd/dvds and burn that recovery partition cd/dvd.

also you could try call to dell's help service and ask recovery discs (if you get those it costs some bucks).

p.s. DELL=HELL

well, i used the program Dell installed to create my recovery CDs. meh, forget what it was called... DataSafe Backup?

i'm kinda curious as to whether i would've been able to do the same thing with Win7, i saw an option to create a recovery cd while i was frying DVDs that i thought i was backing up my Xena videos to.

most likely yes.

Win7 has a feature and so do most computers you buy from companies like HP and Dell.

The HP program is funny, as says you can only create the disks once, but if you cancel the process after the dvd's are burnt it will let you keep making them :X

Of course I just went to my employer and bought Win7 ultimate for 15 through them :X