Noug42,   Using the Recovery partition is the easiest method.Restoring Your Computer´s Software to the Factory Settings   If you used the disks, did you install the drivers in the correct order? How to Download and Install Drivers in the Correct Order     Rick
Hi, this is my first post here.  I have been looking thru the forums for a couple days, saw my problem mentioned a few times but the solutions haven't worked for me. Recently helped my father purchase an Inspiron 17R (he knows nothing about computers and I'm just a low level user).  He has wireless internet thru Comcast and there was never a problem. He downloaded some scam program, and I reformatted the hard drive.  Used the recovery disk, windows installed and remained connected thru the whole reformat process. This recovery disk was the operating system only- no other recovery disk was included. After the reformat, the computer now has no wireless capability.  After checking the forums I went to the service center, entered the service tag, and downloaded/installed every driver in the "chipset" and "network" categories. (Downloaded to a different computer and transferred with CD) Still no wireless.  When I click on the "bars" in the lower right corner, it doesn't even give me an option for wireless networks (which it used to- now it only says "dial up and VPN") I went to the device manager, the "Wireless LAN mini card" is ok, but there are 4 things underneath showing the yellow exclamation point of death: ETHERNET CONTROLER PCI SIMPLE COMMUNICATIONS CENTER SM BUS CONTROLLER UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS If you guys could offer any insight that would be great.  Thanks -Noug42      
Reformatted an Inspiron 17R- now no wifi availability