I was smart enough to buy a laptop without Windows installed but ain't smart enough to create a recovery partition or disc so that i don't have to install drivers and necessary apps again and again.. Please let me know how to do this and i also would like to know how to include windows loader activation also..? And i also want to learn whether it is too late to create such a disk for windows 7 as windows 8 is going to be out with factory reset included with it..!
I thought all Dell compauters come with a recovery partition and i program that will enable you to create recovery dvd set as factory setup. what is the model details? Have you not looked at the dell program folder to check for this program?
I see and understand now, maybe look at the link offered by Tito then, or get yourself ghost, Image for Windows or Acronis and make a backup once you have installed everything you need.
Like nick@number11 says, all you really need to do is create an image of your system either with 7's built-in imager, Acronis or some other similar program. Put that image, preferably more than just one, on a second (external?) hard drive to keep it safe. Images are snapshots in time so you still need to have a backup routine for your data. If and when you make significant system updates and/or changes make a fresh image.