Recovery partition

[Dzomlija]

@rive:

OH no!!! I see your point. So, now I wonder...where did HP put mine?

MY D: is 100% free space(all blue in the graph) until I insert a disc. And I do not see E: until I plug in hardware. I kinda really like it that way. But does that mean I have but one partition for everything? Or I really dunno what I am talkin' about.

Educate me!!!!

D: is then probably your DVD writer, and I'm guessing E: would be some other removable media, such as a flash drive.

Chances are, you Recovery Partition is hidden then...

 

[Joan Archer]

The main advantage Ultimate has over Premium is the "complete pc Backup" utility that allows creation of a installation image. and is updatable.
This makes repairing and reinstalling the O/S with all settings/software/files of the user intact a breeze. It also has the effect of rendering OEM Recovery partitions/cd's superfluous.

Which is why I wish I'd got Ultimate instead of just Premium

Mind you I've got Acronis TI 11, even though I'm naughty and haven't installed it yet

 

[coolnewyorker]

@Dzom: Within first two weeks of brand new HP pavilion, twice, my D: went wrong, stopped working all together...once because of one auto update, and the other because of optical drive bay looseness that needed physical tweaking.

I am basing it on my limited experience with this new notenbook. However, I just learned from Joan, that my D: is her E: Joan has no D:?

Chances are, you Recovery Partition is hidden then...

Where? C:?

 

[rive0108]

@Dzom: Within first two weeks of brand new HP pavilion, twice, my D: went wrong, stopped working all together...once because of one auto update, and the other because of optical drive bay looseness that needed physical tweaking.

I am basing it on my limited experience with this new notenbook. However, I just learned from Joan, that my D: is her E: Joan has no D:?

umm,
if your drive stopped working because the optical drive bay was loose-
than D is your dvd/cd drive (i.e., optical drive), and not a hdd drive/partition.

 

[rive0108]

@Dzom: Within first two weeks of brand new HP pavilion, twice, my D: went wrong, stopped working all together...once because of one auto update, and the other because of optical drive bay looseness that needed physical tweaking.

I am basing it on my limited experience with this new notenbook. However, I just learned from Joan, that my D: is her E: Joan has no D:?

Chances are, you Recovery Partition is hidden then...

Where? C:?

Check the "manage" utility-
If there is no drive letter assigned to your recovery partition (if you even have one) then it will not display under computer.

Tell me your brand/model of your pc, and I will tell you if you have a recovery partition, and where it is. N/M, I see you have a HP Pavilion dv7-1170us.

 

[coolnewyorker]

@rive: I think I got that now, thanks!. And so is my E:

So, that means my Rec Partition is hidden deep in my C: after I created the "only one shot" 3 Syst Rec DVD's.

Psst...I know I have...or had, because I was able to create 3 DVD's off it. 'Cept, I have no clue where it is now.

 

[rive0108]

Create a set of operating system recovery discs by following the steps below.

1. Click Start
   
   and type Recovery in the search field. Select Recovery Manager from the list when it becomes available. Allow the action to continue, if prompted. The HP Recovery Manager opens.
   Alternately, click Start
   
   , All Programs , Recovery Manager , and then Recovery Manager . Allow the action to continue, if prompted. The HP Recovery Manager opens.
2. Click Advanced options , Recovery disc creation , and then click Next .
3. When prompted, put a blank disc in the optical disc drive and follow the on-screen instructions to create the recovery discs.

After all of the recovery discs are created, label the discs and store them in a safe place.
NOTE: If the recovery discs fail during the creation or become corrupted, you can order a replacement CD or DVD with the original operating system from HP.


Uninstalling the Recovery Manager*

 

[coolnewyorker]

I already have my own 3 created Rec Discs plus the two DVD's HP sent me (up to now, I dunno why...since I never asked for them).

I am just puzzled where could be my Rec partition.

I will never ever unstall Recovery Manager. It does more than just Sytem Recovery.

 

[Joan Archer]

By the sound of things coolnewyorker did manage to make his recovery disc's. I don't have an HP machine so my recovery partition stays hidden, only to be seen in Computer Management

 

[coolnewyorker]

@rive and Joan: OK...this what happened: I had called HP customer service for probs with Quick launch...it just stopped. So, I went through two reps. The first one advised clean install which I did not do. The next rep tried to help me thru Remote assistance, spent an hour doing so, and at the last moment told me she could not solve it. Next thing I knew, I received Rec DVD's two days later (next day Fed Express).

But the weirdest thing was, as soon as we hanged up remote assistance, Quick launch just started working like there was never anything wrong with it.(Obviously, she did a good job assisting me and did not even realize it. Some rep, eh?)

 

[rive0108]

I already have my own 3 created Rec Discs plus the two DVD's HP sent me (up to now, I dunno why...since I never asked for them).

I am just puzzled where could be my Rec partition.

I will never ever unstall Recovery Manager. It does more than just Sytem Recovery.

You do have a recovery partition, but it is hidden. F11 key on start-up boots into it.
If you look at "Manage" you may see a small partition possibly formatted as FAT32 (few GB or so), with no drive label- that is it.

 

[coolnewyorker]

@rive: Aaaah! Awesome!!Thanks a ton!

 

[coolnewyorker]

@rive...OK, I tried both tapping and constant pressing F11 to boot to System Recovery and all I got was .....System Recovery F11 announcement at left hand corner of screen but no System Recovery boot. I am repeatedly booted normally.

I really want to see my Rec partition. Any other way to get there? I tried fn + F11...no luck. I tried logo + F11 and I got full screen.

 

[rive0108]

It may be corrupted and non-accessable

Starting the recovery from power up
If Windows Vista cannot open and if the Recovery partition on the hard disk drive is functioning properly, you can perform a System Recovery by performing the following procedure:

1. Turn off the computer.
2. Disconnect all connected devices (such as the Personal Media Drive, USB drives, printer, and fax), remove media from drives, and remove any recently added internal hardware. Do not disconnect the monitor, keyboard, mouse, and power cord.
3. Turn on the computer.
4. Do one of the following actions depending on how Windows Vista was installed:
   • If Windows Vista came pre-installed on your computer, press the F11 key repeatedly when the first screen opens (the logo screen), until Recovery Manager program opens on the screen.
   • If your computer was upgraded from Windows XP to Windows Vista, press the F10 key repeatedly when the first screen opens (the logo screen) until Recovery Manager program opens on the screen.
   If Recovery Manager does not open, a set of recovery discs is needed to perform a System Recovery. Follow the instructions listed in Starting the recovery from recovery discs .
   
   

 

[coolnewyorker]

I know how to go to Recovery Manager. Done it many times for original softwares and drivers re-installation, and once for System Recovery installation to factory setting using the 3 DVD's I created from the start.

What I have not figured out up to now is where my Recovery partition is. If I go to advanced options in HP Recovery manager and click System Recovery (not System Restore) and not click next, does that take me to my recovery partition?

I want to look at a window that tells me this is "Recovery partition, do not mess with it" .... or something like that.

 

[rive0108]

I know how to go to Recovery Manager. Done it many times for original softwares and drivers re-installation, and once for System Recovery installation to factory setting using the 3 DVD's I created from the start.

What I have not figured out up to now is where my Recovery partition is. If I go to advanced options in HP Recovery manager and click System Recovery (not System Restore) and not click next, does that take me to my recovery partition?

I want to look at a window that tells me this is "Recovery partition, do not mess with it" .... or something like that.

Then you dont have it anymore-
using the recovery disks overwrote/deleted it from your hard drive When Windows wa reinstalled. That is why F11 no longer works for you , there is no longer a recovery partition to boot into. You have now whatever features HP recovery manager offers, and your recovery disks, and the disks you got from HP.

 

[coolnewyorker]

Oh no...I was so afraid of that. But all that makes sense, rive. Although in a way, it might be smartly designed by HP (or is it Microsoft?)to save a few GB's (I heard as much as 10?) on something that I might really have no need for anymore. Anyway, I have 5 System Recovery DVD's: 3, I created and 2, HP did.

So...on to W7?

 

[Joan Archer]

If it was me CNY I wouldn't worry about it anymore, you have the disc's and you know they work so that is all that is important, you have a way to reinstall your OS to the way it came to you from the factory so HP have stood by their agreement with Microsoft and you to provide the means to put the machine back to how it was when you bought it

 

[coolnewyorker]

I know, I know....except I wanna have my own Rec partition just like everybody else. I feel sooo deprived...no rec partition. Goodness!!

 

[BIGTUNA690]

i need to access this partition to delete the hpcd.sys file to allow me to make a second set of recovery disks. But i cant figure out howto access it.