Yes, I agree and understood what would be involved in restoring to factory condition. And before doing it, I was ready to use Windows 7 Pro DVD (which I bought with my Dell). Fortunately I was able to restore (I posted a separate thread on how) the PC without having to reinstall Window 7 or back to factory.

And as far as Windows 7 image backup capability, do you mean the System Restore Point? I do plan to do it but unfortunately it is not easy or maybe even possible to store this on an external drive.

Thank you.

>Be very careful and make sure you understand exactly what your factory restore option will do.
>
>A factory restore process will do exactly as its name implies, return the machine to the state it was in when it left the factory. Most OEMs partition the entire hard drive (except for a couple of small utility/recovery partitions) as drive C:.
>
>If you have only a single physical hard drive, and you created drives D: and E: by changing the original partitions (i.e. reducing the size of C:) then a factory restore will most likely blow away your D: and E: partitions. On the other hand, if those partitions are on a separate physical hard drive that you added later (not present when you purchased the computer) then the factory restore would know nothing about them and you should be OK. Or, if D: and E: are on an external drive (USB or eSATA) then you could even disconnect the drive during the restore process to be sure those volumes can't be damaged.
>
>Another thing to bear in mind - typical factory restore media (usually DVD these days) is not Windows OS installation media. Usually it's an image stored on the DVD, and the DVD is made bootable so the computer boots to an image restore utility. Such a DVD will not usually offer you the option to try to repair your existing Windows installation.
>
>Since it would save you a lot of time and grief, I would try hard to do a Windows repair reinstallation first. For that you will need Windows 7 media for the version/platform you're currently using e.g. Pro/64 bit. It shouldn't be too hard to find such media, as it's pretty much useless without a product key (which is on a sticker on your machine). If you have such media for another machine, you could use that - they are all the same.
>
>There are some advantages to wiping and restoring the original factory configuration:
>
>- known to be free of malware if that may have been an issue
>- machine will run faster because registry etc. not cluttered with junk
>
>On the other hand, with a typical dev machine you're looking at a day or maybe even more to get back to your former state.
>
>That's another reason to make use of Windows 7's built-in image backup capability. It works well and has saved the bacon of a couple of my clients so far.
>
>>There is more to the problem that just online connection. SQL Server does not start (at it should work without internet). Office programs do not start and they should work without internet. And many other. I think Avast Uninstall hosed the registry and many other things. I cannot even go to System Restore since it does not work. Almost any program I try I get error with no access. I will call Dell to see how to restore to the Factory setting and start it all again. I have drives C: D: and E:. Most of my data is on D: and E. So hopefully the restore to Factory will not damage anything on D: and E:.
>>Thank you.
>>
>>>If it looks like Windows is a bit hosed, and you're contemplating reinstallation: Assuming you have or will obtain installation media, try this before wiping completely:
>>>
>>>http://www.pcworld.com/article/243190/how_to_repair_a_corrupt_windows_7_installation.html
>>>
>>>If everything looks OK except network adapter(s) aren't working, it would be a good idea to check in the BIOS to make sure the adapter(s) haven't been disabled somehow. To access the BIOS you typically have to press a specific key during boot. You can also press Pause to pause the boot so you can read the screen, then Enter to resume boot process. Enabling/disabling network adapter will usually be in a section named "Integrated Peripherals" or similar.
>>>
>>>>I am comparing all settings on this (my second computer, also Window 7) with the one I have a problem. In some online help I see that I need to click on "Change adapter settings" when in the Control Panel -> Network and Internet -> Network sharing Center. But on the "broken" computer, click on Change adapter settings shows empty screen :(
>>>>
>>>>>Are there any network adapters called avast or with avast in the name? If so remove them...
>>>>>
>>>>>>No, Use a Proxy Server is not checked. Thank you.
>>>>>>And no yellow flags. All drives show to be Working Properly.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>go to Start > Control Panel > Internet Options > Connections > LAN settings - make sure 'Use a proxy server' is not checked.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Start > Control Panel > System > Device Manager - are there any flags showing?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>or maybe this? https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/299357
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>I go to the Device Manager and I see several Network Adapters. All seem to be functioning. Yet, I don't what to do next.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>When I run IPCONFIG I see message about all Adapters.. Media State - Disconnected. How to connect?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>Hi,
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>I unstalled Avast AV. But it took with the installation my internet connection. (I am typing this on another computer). How do I set up my Window 7 to be connected to my router again?
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>TIA