Format Hard Drive w/o Vista Disks

[bassfisher6522]

In order for it to boot from the CD you must change the boot order. Example; 1.floppy drive 2. HDD 3. CD/DVD drive. Now change the order to 1. CD/DVD drive. and leave the rest as is. This is all done in the BIOS area by hitting F2 key after a restart. Or you can simply go to my computer and manually open then CD/DVD drive and click open and then run the software from there. The easiest way is to hit the F11 key after a restart this will refortmat computer from the protected hidden partition, where the OS and drivers our stored. Once you restart computer, at the first screen just start tapping the F11 key it will bring you to the prompt screen just like the recovery discs.

 

[vf1409]

i'll right i'll try to change the boot order.

i just emailed HP saying their solution didnt work, and they told me to buy the recovery CD's. go figure.

 

[CrucialHoax]

If your laptop is a HP they should send them for free. I emailed them about a week ago and they sent them over night. Weird.

 

[lemur]

Nice support. Next time build your own pc and forget about HP!!!

 

[vf1409]

the boot order idea didnt work. the f2 key is for testing startup and other stuff. any other ideas?

 

[CrucialHoax]

F9 is to change the boot order. Tap F9 when the machine is first starting up.

 

[theog]

I've recently been struck down with a trojan. I restored my computer to factory defaults, thinking this would do the trick. It did. However, I'm at Ohio State, and they're policy is that you have to totally reformat your hard drive before you'll be able to use the wireless internet. The problem is, i have an HP HDX16, and HP does not ship with Vista install disks, they have a hidden partition. I tried doing a system restore 3 times, and it didnt work. I backed dup the system defaults to an external hard drive, if that helps any.

My question is, how do i format my hard drive without the Vista Disks?

How did you recover your PC the first?

 

[CrucialHoax]

He doesn't have actual Vista installation disks. Just recovery disks.

 

[theog]

I've recently been struck down with a trojan. I restored my computer to factory defaults, thinking this would do the trick. It did. However, I'm at Ohio State, and they're policy is that you have to totally reformat your hard drive before you'll be able to use the wireless internet. The problem is, i have an HP HDX16, and HP does not ship with Vista install disks, they have a hidden partition. I tried doing a system restore 3 times, and it didnt work. I backed dup the system defaults to an external hard drive, if that helps any.

My question is, how do i format my hard drive without the Vista Disks?

How did you recover your PC the first?

vf1409 has reinstalled once, 2nd time will be the same.

Therefore vf1409, How did you recover your PC the first time?

 

[vf1409]

i used the normal system restore. just restored it back to factory defaults.

i tried to change the boot order. the cd did boot, but it didnt give me an option to format the hard drive. it was the same exact menu as the system restore

 

[theog]

Hi vf1409

Can you get to a screen like this: (this one is from packard bell)

At bottom is the factory recovery for PB.

 

[theog]

Hi vf1409

Some links to help:

HP HDX X16-1001TX Premium Notebook PC - HP Customer Care (United States - English)

Repairing a Corrupted Installation Using HP Recovery Manager HP HDX X16-1001TX Premium Notebook PC - HP Customer Care (United States - English)

Order Recovery Discs for Windows Vista or XP HP HDX X16-1001TX Premium Notebook PC - HP Customer Care (United States - English)

System recovery HP HDX X16-1001TX Premium Notebook PC - HP Customer Care (United States - English)

 

[WirelessMouse]

Sorry, messed up on this post, read the next

 

[WirelessMouse]

DON'T USE HP RECOVERY DISKS! It only deletes and re installs vista. You need to format it to completely get rid of it. I am in the same situation as you, i have a thread started. You have a vista license (The sticker on the bottom [Laptop] or side [Desktop]) but Microsoft is being sneaky and not letting people get just the installation media, but making them buy another license. Check around and see if anybody has a vista disk you can borrow, if not, wait and I will let you know if I can find out where to get one. I thought you could just use a torrent, but someone on another thread mentioned that and an admin said it was illegal. I don't think so, but I don't like the words "You're" and "Banned" in the same sentence, so don't use a torrent.