W520 - Using the recovery partition without a bootable OS installed

I've got a W520 with a hard drive that has been completely wiped aside from the Q/Recovery partition.
Is there a workflow for using the recovery partition to rebuild the factory Windows 7 install?
Solved!
Go to Solution.

1. Grab ImageX from Microsoft (somewhere).
2. Get a bootable USB with Windows 7 setup
3. Boot into the USB and enter repair tools (Command Prompt)
4. Navigate to the recovery partition, FactoryRecovery folder.
5. Note the size of sdrivebackup.wim
6. Use DISKPART to create a partition of at least this size. Make sure it is the first, it is active, and set to bootable.
7. Use ImageX to apply sdrivebackup.wim to this partition.
The command should be: ImageX /apply [recoverypartition]:\FactoryRecovery\sdrivebackup.wim [newpartition]:\
8. Then use DISKPART again to create an appropriately sized Windows 7 partition (presumably all the remaining space).
9. Again, use ImageX to apply cdrivebackup.swm to the newly created Windows 7 partition.
The command should be: ImageX /apply [recoverypartition]:\FactoryRecovery\cdrivebackup.swm [newwindowspartition]:\
Ideally this should make it work. If it doesn't, try a Startup Repair from the Windows install USB to fix any bootloader issues.
W520: i7-2720QM, Q2000M at 1080/688/1376, 21GB RAM, 500GB + 750GB HDD, FHD screen
X61T: L7500, 3GB RAM, 500GB HDD, XGA screen, Ultrabase
Y3P: 5Y70, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, QHD+ screen

Similar Messages

Re: Unable to use the recovery partition on Satellite L505D

Hello.
I am trying to help a friend with their Satellite L505D that had a serious virus issue(s). I was not able to run/install any programs with the virus on it. I used a Microsoft tool to remove the rootkit trojan, but I still had virus issues. I also lost most of the programs on the machine. All the folders were empty (except for some games), so I could not access any tools that way. I could not get the machine to load any Toshiba restore utility by pressing Zero while powering on. I accessed some recovery options using F8 during bootup, and had a link to restore to Toshiba's original setting, but clicking that choice did nothing other than pause for a few seconds. I waited several minutes, clicked it again, rebooted and tried again. Nothing. As a side note, once during all this, the restore partition was visible from explorer.exe. Not before, or since.
So I then Reformated the computer with a Win7 Home Premium 64bit upgrade disk (leaving the restore partition intact), and entered the key for the system. Supprise supprise, it is asking me to activate within 3 days.
My basic question is, can I access that recovery partition in a different manner to attempt to use it? IE copy it's contents, or boot to some comand prompt to log to e:?
Thank you in advance for any suggestions.

> Is a recovery disk from another computer using Win7 Home Premium 64-bit usable?
Generally speaking yes BUT this second notebook must be 100% identical with same model number (PAxxxx).
> Or if not, am I left with either ordering recovery media from Toshiba, or wiping the entire HDD and installing another licensed version of Win7?
Exactly. To be honest better option is to order original Toshiba recovery disc.
You can order it under https://backupmedia.toshiba.eu/landing.aspx
For 30 euro you will have original disc that you can use anytime you want. This disc has OS with valid licence, all necessary drivers.
It is also simplest way to have all properly installed. With 5 mouse clicks and after 2 hours only notebook will have factory settings again.

NB500: How to use the Recovery DVD without a DVD drive in the netbook?

Background:
I have a Netbook NB 500 which came with a Win7 Starter. I upgraded to Win8 but didn't like it as the screen resolution wsn't high enough to open Apps. As the system became slower and slower over time, I decided to reset the unit back to original settings using the Win8 function.
The progress on this process was extremely slow and after seven hours (about 60% done) I got a fright that the content of my HDD might be copied somewhere onto the web (NSA cloud? :) ) .
I switched the unit off and from there nothing would work anymore. I bought recovery software with WIN7 Starter from Toshiba Support as I couldn't find an ISO file for WIN7 starter, but it arrived on a DVD...
I do have:
+ NB 500
+ Toshiba Recovery DVD
+ Bootable USB stick (I created this)
+ Product Key for Win7 Starter
Question:
What files are necessary in order to install Win7 from scratch (move files from DVD to bootable USB stick)?
Will this procedure delete the old data from HDD or will it still take up space?
Regards
LS1-d

It is not simply as you think it is. As far as I know you cannot manipulate recovery data and work on your own bootable media.
Best and simplest way for you is to obtain somewhere external USB ODD and use it for recovery image installation. I have NB520 and I have bought external BD ODD and can use it for different actions like software installation for instance.
Im really wondering you didnt create recovery USB stick. It was my first step after I bought this machine. Product key that you have on Microsoft sticker is useless. You cannot use it for OS installation if you use own OS version and you dont need it if you use original recovery image.
After recovery image installation preinstalled Windows version will be properly activated.
> Will this procedure delete the old data from HDD or will it still take up space?
Yes. The whole HDD will be deleted so before you start with recovery image installation back-up all your important data.

Thinking of reloading Vista on my machine. Proper steps to use the recovery partition?

Hi, I have:
HP Pavillion DV9700 Entertainment Notebook
Windows Vista 32 SP1
I'm thinking of reloading Vista from scratch and want to make sure of the proper steps to use for the on board Recovery partition that HP put on here for me.
It is called: HP_RECOVERY (E Total Size: 12G, Free Space 1.97G
Any advice.
I may not do this, but if i can't fix my issues i will have to do this and want to know how.
This question was solved.
View Solution.

Hi,
Please use the following instructions, it will bring your machine back to day 1 (given no hardware problem):
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00809678&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=3552675&rul...
Regards.
BH
**Click the KUDOS thumb up on the left to say 'Thanks'**
Make it easier for other people to find solutions by marking a Reply 'Accept as Solution' if it solves your problem.

Can't create a factory recovery disk using the recovery partition that came with my computer

When I push the Q: recovery drive> Create recovery media, I get a message saying
"Windows cannot find 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Lenovo\factory recovery\recovburncd.exe'. Make sure you types the name correctly, and then try again."
How do I go about fixing this and creating a recovery disk?

You can purchase replacements from AppleCare:
Apple Store Customer Service at 1-800-676-2775 or visit online Help for more information.
To contact product and tech support visit online support site.
However, you might want to consider upgrading to Snow Leopard - $29.00 at any local Apple retailer or the Online Store. This may actually be less costly than purchasing replacement discs, although the replacement discs will have the Apple Hardware Test that is not going to be on the Snow Leopard DVD, nor will any of your pre-bundled software.

Why does Mac force boot to the recovery partition even when an external recovery option is selected? This disables the option of reformatting the internal drive because it is in use running the recovery partition.I have yet to find a viable solution.

To make a very tedious story short, My Mac decided that it would crash and not reboot the OS. I decided to bite the bullet and just reformat, sacrificing my very important data. I have tried just about every trick in the book. There is one one major problem I am facing. When I try to reformat the internal HDD using Disk Utility. It fails to unmount. "Make sure that all applications and files are closed on this disk.", Suggesting that the computer is ignoring my command at startup to boot from my external recovery drive, and using the Recovery partition on the problem drive, making it impossible to reformat the drive. When the internal drive is removed and connected by another method it is not recognized.
I failed to read the fine print on the box that suggested I purchase another Mac to fix problems with my primary Mac because any utility with the potential to fix the problem can only be run on a functioning Mac.

Booting to any version of the Recovery system, the built in partition on the internal drive, a recovery partition on an external drive or from the Online internet system will not stop you from formatting the Macintosh HD partition on the internal drive. So your problem is not that you are booting from the internal Recovery HD partition. It is probably your internal hard drive has problems, failing.
You could try booting the system from the Online system. At startup hold down the Option/Alt + Command + r keys and keep them held down until you see a globe on the screen. That will boot the system from across the internet from the Apple servers completely removing the internal drive as a boot source. If you still can't erase and format or repartition and format the internal drive then your drive has problems and will need to be replaced.

Restoring Vista's MBR so F11 actually loads the recovery partition?

Hey guys, I have a Pavilion m8277c that came out of the factory with Vista 32-bit. I know from experience that by dual booting and installing another OS, either with another version of Windows (newer or older) or Linux, overwriting the MBR will cause F11 to not work in loading the recovery partition at startup (in fact, in the past I tried a Windows 7 beta and when I decided to wipe my hard drive clean some time after that, I had to use the recovery disks that I thankfully made before doing this experiment, as my recovery partition was nonfunctional). Right now I have a triple boot of Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Ubuntu Linux, with Linux's bootloader (GRUB) occupying the MBR, which could load any of the three OS's.
Now, I decided to get rid of Linux altogether and wipe my hard drive clean again (I keep all my files on an external hard drive and I don't have much software to reinstall, plus I like keeping my system as lightweight as possible). I know that I can't use the recovery partition again this time, but I was wondering, that since from now on, I'm only going to be booting a Windows OS that's older than the factory preinstalled one, I can use Vista's bootloader to select between Vista and XP. I know that since Vista was preinstalled and so the recovery disks install it first, XP has to be installed afterwards. XP's bootloader will occupy the MBR and will not recognize Vista and also will cut off the link to the recovery partition again. I've heard of this program called EasyBCD that has been updated to support XP and restore Vista's boot record (source) so I believe I could actually restore Vista's MBR without having to use the recovery disks to fix them.
I just want to know that if I were to restore Vista's bootloader by running EasyBCD, would that also fix the link to the recovery partition so that when I press F11 on bootup, the recovery partition would load? Or would I have to run my recovery disks to restore a custom MBR, or is it not possible at all to restore the recovery partition's functionality after a second OS has been installed after Vista? I could try it out since I believe my recovery disks are still functional, but I don't have much time right now for troubleshooting, so it would be better if someone else has already confirmed that it works and I could go ahead without issue.
Thanks!
(by the way, I know that Microsoft doesn't like it if we make more than one copy of a recovery disk, since they can install Windows on a blank HDD on any computer, but will copying a recovery DVD with a DVD burner allow the new set to work? I've had my old set for a while and I fear that they'll fail soon. Maybe there's a way to hack HP's recovery disk creation program so that we could make a second set?)

Making a copy of your Recovery Disks is a good idea.I have done it myself and can verify they work. I have also used EasyBCD on a dual boot machine and found it quite easy.However I don't know whether F11 for Recovery is restored.I tend to doubt it,since F11 is looking for partition 2 of 2 partitions to boot from and there are 3. It would be an interesting experiment-let me know if you try it.
Another option that usually works is using Disk Management to mark the recovery partition as active>>
1.Right-click on "Computer" icon and select manage.
2.This will launch the Microsoft Management Console.
3.On the left side of the MMC, click on "Disk Management" and it will show you all of the partitions.
4.Right-click on the "HP Recovery" partition and select "Mark as Active Partition."
5.When the warning prompt appears, select "Yes" - Reboot and it will automatically boot into the Recovery Manager (without pressing F11).
******Clicking the Thumbs-Up button is a way to say -Thanks!.******
**Click Accept as Solution on a Reply that solves your issue to help others**

New HD: Restoring the recovery partition

Hi,
I am trying to upgrade my 3000 N200 hard disk to a larger, faster disk (250G).
I find the recovery function (Lenovo care key at boot) to be very useful, as I am a computer tech and my system deserves to be reinstalled often.
My question is: How do I migrate the recovery partition to my new disk.
I used Symantec Ghost to clone from disk to disk (I put both in a desktop PC and copied straight from 1 to the other), but let ghost change the size of the data partitions (to my knowledge, ghost kept the exact same size for the hidden recovery partiton).
But when I attempt to boot into the recovery partition, i just hangs after the F-key choice (where I pressed F11) on a blank screen.
I saw one can make some disks and restore from disks, but I would like to use the recovery partition as it is self contained and always with the computer by definition.
Is there a way to get things to work on the new disk. I do have access to the old disk as it is still working OK, if slow.
Thanks for information
Marc
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Welcome to the forums
The recovery disks will also make the service partition during installation process
Cheers and regards,
• » νιנαｿѕαяα∂нι ѕαмανє∂αм ™ « •
●๋•کáŕádhí'ک díáŕý ツ
I am a volunteer here. I don't work for Lenovo

I have a mac book pro with Boot Camp that also runs windows. I upgraded to Lion and somehow it crashes the mac side peridoically. I am told I need to "clean" it and reinstall lion using the recovery drive. will that delete the windows partition too??

I have a mac book pro with Boot Camp that also runs windows. I upgraded to Lion and now the mac side crashes/freezes periodically, especially iphoto. I am told by the genius' that I probably need to "clean" it and reinstall lion using the "recovery drive" which resets everything back to default and reinstalls the lion operating system. My question is will this also delete the "windows" partition drive and all that data too. If so that will be a huge pain in the ___ to back up and reinstall boot camp and windows. I want to shoot the lion.

There is no system like Acronis for the Mac platform. You can try using the buiilt in Disk Utility to create an Image of the complete Mac drive but I have found that this does not work very well as on tryiing to restore it gives errors sometimes.
You can use SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner to create a bootable Clone of your system partition. But that is only for the System partition and not the complete drive.
If you use Boot Camp to install Windows on your Mac neither of those two programs will clone the Windows side.
Neither will Disk utility as Mac's can not create or write to a NTFS partition. So some other program is need for that.

Windows 8.1 clean install in GPT hard drive style without loosing the RECOVERY partition

Always i try format my windows partition, i get the following error:
Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk is of the GPT partition style.
So i would like a clean install Windows 8.1 without chnage the hard drive style or loose my RECOVERY partition.
Obs.: I just can perform boot after disabling UEFI and Secure Boot.
This question was solved.
View Solution.

@lucasc ,
Hello and thank you for posting on the HP support forums. You will not be able to do this without damaging the recovery partition. If you want to do a fresh install on your system use the system recovery.
If not you will install the operating system of your choice. Before doing so make sure the notebook came with the operating system and you have supported drivers for the OS you want to install.
If not you may not be able to find supported drivers and end up with hardware issues. The drivers are built for the notebook based on the OS that it was released with and they are proprietary.
I hope this helps. Thank you again for posting and have a great day.
Please click the "Thumbs Up" on the bottom right of this post to say thank you if you appreciate the support I provide!
Also be sure to mark my post as “Accept as Solution" if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others who face the same challenge find the same solution.
D5GR
I work on behalf of HP

HT4718 No 1. I can not activate Filevault : FileVault can't be turned on for the disk "Macintosh HD". Some disk formats don't support the recovery partition required by encryption. To use encryption, reinstall this version of Mac OS X on a reformatted

I have TWO PROBLEMS
No 1. I can not activate FileVault. It displyas as follows :
FileVault can’t be turned on for the disk “Macintosh HD”.
Some disk formats don’t support the recovery partition required by encryption. To use encryption, reinstall this version of Mac OS X on a reformatted disk.
No 2. I can not activate Find My Mac service. It displays as follows :
Find My Mac requires a recovery partition
Some configurations, such as software or hardware RAID, do not support a recovery partition and can't be used with find my mac

Restart holding down the option/alt key and see if you have a Recovery Volume.
Recovery Partition – Recreate Without Reinstalling
Recovery Partition – Recreate Without Reinstalling (Requires Installer)
Recovery Drive – Restore Missing
Recovery Disk Assistant

How do i use the recovery disks and backup and restore my laptop in a new HDD without losing OS lic?

I am running a HP-DV6 6090ee laptop with windows 7 Home Premium 64bit OS. This problem started from last evening.
I am getting a "Smart Hard disc error" error message before boot and ater booting windows saying that my HDD is having problems and i need to backup and check the hdd.
After checking i found that i have a corrupted hdd and i am going to replace with a new one.
I need to know the following :
> How do i restore my windows license and my antivirus license in the new hdd?
> i dont currently have a OEM HP OS cd. can i use any windows 7 cd??
> at what stage should i use the recovery disk i created from the recovery partition be used? Whats its specific use?
I really appreciate any quick response as my current HDD is running out of life.
Regards
A

See these 2 Links...
Syncing to a New Computer...
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3141
Recovering your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3991

How can i reformat my harddrive using the recovery disk stored in partition drive?

hi guys! i need help. i need to reformat my harddrive and i will do this for the first time. however, i was not ablt to make the recovery disk since i purchased the tx2 1275dx laptop last july 2009. what i have is a recovery disk stored in a partition harddrive. how can i reformat my cpmputer using the recovery disk in partition harddrive? my OS is windows vista. thank you...

Hi,
Shutdown the notebook. Tap away at f11 as you start to access Recovery Manager which you can then use to reinstall the Operating System.
Regards,
DP-K
****Click the White thumb to say thanks****
****Please mark Accept As Solution if it solves your problem****
****I don't work for HP****
Microsoft MVP - Windows Experience

Is there an option to use MBR partitioning when you use the recovery media?

I need to switch to MBR partitioning.
I have a satellite C55D-a5240NR. I have my recovery media and I am going to back up my data.
Using the recovery media I see that you can reformat and partition your drive but I dont see any documentation beyond that. If you go that route is there an option to use MBR?

Satellite C55D-A5240NR
Using the recovery media I see that you can reformat and partition your drive but I dont see any documentation beyond that. If you go that route is there an option to use MBR?
No. When you restore the hard disk to its original out-of-the-box contents, all the bits are laid down as they were. So you get GPT partitioning.
NB When you upgrade to Windows 8.1, follow these instructions.
How to Update from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1
-Jerry

HP Pavilion [Dv600/Dv6700] Recover The Recovery Partition Using Undelete Software

Hey what's up,
My mum bought a used HP Pavilion Dv600/Dv6700 from a friend at work. It came pre-loaded with Windows Vista installed. I wanted to load and restore a backup of her previous laptops operating system which is Windows XP but I'm having difficulties sourcing drivers etc.
I'm not all that familiar with laptops but I've not experinced these troubles before. My dad's laptop came preloaded with windows Vista but he took it into a shop to get windows xp loaded onto it. It screwed up several months later and I did a clean install of XP and had no problems with drivers is this just related to HP or Laptops in general ?
I've looked at the step by step guide on downgrading & upgrading hp notebooks but I don't have the recovery partition to copy my drivers. Can I use software like Supergrub to recover the deleted partition or can I use WIndows Vista 32Bit install disc on a 64bit AMD processor ? It says it supports HP Pavilion dv6700 but read HP release 3 or 4 different discs for similar versions with different chipsets, gpu & processors..
Is it easyier if I just install a fresh copy of Windows 7 to avoid some incapablitys of windows xp. Thanks
Some additonal information if this helps:
Product: HP Pavilion dv6700
s/n: CNF8282WPH
p/n: FF751EA#ABU
model: dv6810em
It's AMD Turion-x2 64bit processor. Not sure which copy of Vista it came with.. I have since done a fresh install of windows xp. I had no network adapters in device manager when I recovered from Acronis backup so I installed fresh and still no network adapters.. is this due to the missing device drivers ?

The chipset drivers install Ethernet, SMBus, SATARAID and more>Nvidia chipset, here
Nvidia Video graphics drivers GeForce Release 179.48, here
Broadcom Wireless, here
MS UAA must be installed before Audio.
MS UAA , or MS UAA for XP SP3, here
Conexant High-Definition SmartAudio 221 Driver here
Unzip to a folder..use Device Manager,right click "Audio Device on HD",choose Update driver,
Say No to connect, choose Install from a list or specific location,
Select Don't Search, I will choose the driver to install,
For the Hardware Type select 'Show All Devices'
Remove the check from "Show Compatible Hardware" and click on "Have Disk".
Next...browse to the unzipped folder and choose the "WiSVHe5.inf".
Ignore XP when it complains, Reboot.
******Clicking the Thumbs-Up button is a way to say -Thanks!.******
**Click Accept as Solution on a Reply that solves your issue to help others**

W520 - Using the recovery partition without a bootable OS installed

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for