No Recovery available for WIndows 7

design01

Member
Ok I screwed up my pc! This is a HP i5 (core) 32bit Laptop with Windows 7 Professional installed.
It is still working fine BUT I would like to restore it to its original installation as screwed up the HP patches big time and cannot clean them up properly.
Unfortunately since I shrunk & then expanded the windows C; drive, I no longer have access to the HP Bios F11 key which is needed to the restore windows 7 to original installation.
I know the Recovery (Volume 1) is there but I cannot access it from the Bios Menu or from within Windows 7 sending the Advanced Recovery Command.
So the big question is will NeoSmart's "Windows Recovery Disk" be able to access to the Recovery Volume AND/OR will EasyBCD be able to fix the F11 problem in the Bios?
Needless to say I have no windows 7 system disk as HP kindly put a copy on Volume 1 of Hard Disk.
Any help/sugestions gratefully received.
Tony
 
Sorry, mate.

The recovery disc doesn't have any way of reinstalling Windows.

Maybe EasyBCD can get your recovery partition back, it depends if it's physically still there or not. Can you post a screenshot of Control Panel | Admin Tools | Computer Management | Disk Management?
 
Computer Guru, Thanks for replying so fast. Yes I apreciate a recovery disk won't re-install windows but just wondered if it would access my invisable Recovery Partition.
Anyway here is the screen capture stuff you asked for + a bit more info...

1st Pic is the Computer Managment Screen Shot you requested.
If I assign a Drive letter to the Recovery Volume above (in wiindows), I can see the volume files & directories. So have added further screen shots..

Picture "recovery volume" is the root files & Sub-Directiory view.
Picture "system.sav/util" sub directiorys view.
Picture "boot Directory" shows files in that sub-director viewy.
The "Recovery" sub-directory is empty.

I note that in the system.sav/util sub-directory is a file called HPFactory.wim" of 10.4 GB which I assume is the basic Windows system OEM fileI need to re-install ??
I note that all but one of the file date stamps have not changed since I got the computer 3 months ago so are the origionals.

Regarding my other query about recoverying the F11 key ,should I post my previous query in EASYBCD forum?
Many Thanks Tony
 

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Regarding the above I have found by manipulation of an old copy of "Partition Manager" that under the HP-RECOVERY subdirectory called "RECOVERY" there are a further 3 sub-Drectories as follows..
Logs Containg 1 file called Reload.xml
"WindowsRE" Contaiong 2 files called boot.sdi
& winre.wim
"System32" Containg yet another sub-directory called "Recover"
& in that "Recovery" sub-directory 1 file called "ReAgen.xml"

All these files are dated as origional 2 Feb 2010 However I cannot read their size other than they are definately occuping space on the disk and I can't normally see these files using Windows or DOS.
So back to my origional question...
Is my Windows 7 recoverable to it's origional instaltion ? And if so how.
(Previous inforation provided still applies).

Any assistance gratefully received.
Thanks TonyLast edited by design01; Today at 04:51 PM.

Computer Guru, Thanks for replying so fast. Yes I apreciate a recovery disk won't re-install windows but just wondered if it would access my invisable Recovery Partition.
Anyway here is the screen capture stuff you asked for + a bit more info...

1st Pic is the Computer Managment Screen Shot you requested.
If I assign a Drive letter to the Recovery Volume above (in wiindows), I can see the volume files & directories. So have added further screen shots..

Picture "recovery volume" is the root files & Sub-Directiory view.
Picture "system.sav/util" sub directiorys view.
Picture "boot Directory" shows files in that sub-director viewy.
The "Recovery" sub-directory is empty.

I note that in the system.sav/util sub-directory is a file called HPFactory.wim" of 10.4 GB which I assume is the basic Windows system OEM fileI need to re-install ??
I note that all but one of the file date stamps have not changed since I got the computer 3 months ago so are the origionals.

Regarding my other query about recoverying the F11 key ,should I post my previous query in EASYBCD forum?
Many Thanks Tony
 
  • Give the HP recovery partition a drive letter
  • Open EasyBCD > Add New Entry
  • Under Portable/External Media, WinPE tab, browse for the .WIM image on the recovery partition and add the new entry.
  • Reboot, select the entry, and perform the factory restore.
 
Hi, i know this is an old thread but im desperate!

Im trying to do exactly what the original poster was trying to do.

I downloaded EasyBCD and i followed the instructions above, i reboot, when i choose the new option it gives me this:

0x0000017 (ramdisk device creation failed due to insufficient memory)

I tried copying the contents of the Restore partition into a usb stick then following the same directions above but then i got an "innaccecable device" error...

Im really desperate here .. any help would be awsome

thanks
 
Hi, i know this is an old thread but im desperate!

Im trying to do exactly what the original poster was trying to do.

I downloaded EasyBCD and i followed the instructions above, i reboot, when i choose the new option it gives me this:

0x0000017 (ramdisk device creation failed due to insufficient memory)

I tried copying the contents of the Restore partition into a usb stick then following the same directions above but then i got an "innaccecable device" error...

Im really desperate here .. any help would be awsome

thanks

Necroposting ...

I'm having the exact same problem with the exact same HP no doubt... Assigning a drive letter to the HP_RECOVERY partition screwed the pooch somehow, long story short I'm trying to perform as JustinW posted:

  • Give the HP recovery partition a drive letter
  • Open EasyBCD > Add New Entry
  • Under Portable/External Media, WinPE tab, browse for the .WIM image on the recovery partition and add the new entry.
  • Reboot, select the entry, and perform the factory restore
... and I get the insufficient memory 0xc0000017 error. Haven't wasted time on windows for over a decade so I'm stumped where to go from here.

Computer Guru you say
The recovery disc doesn't have any way of reinstalling Windows.

If this is true, exactly what the **** is the point of this HP_RECOVERY partition then? Any ideas?
 
If this is true, exactly what the **** is the point of this HP_RECOVERY partition then? Any ideas?

The Recovery Disk we offered previously was used for 2 reasons. 1. To fix boot issues and 2. To get into a Restore Point or Command Prompt. That is what it was used for. It was not Offered by HP or anyone else for that matter. It was created by us for use to fix a broken boot system, not to set your system back to factory settings or reinstall your OS. That is not the purpose of our site or the software we offer.

The point of the HP_RECOVERY partition is to do the factory reset. Manufacturer's dont offer the media anymore so they have to offer another method to get the machine back to factory settings. Contact HP for support on how to get their recovery methods to work.
 
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