HP Support Forum

[#1]

Hi.

Booted tx1217cl with recovery disc (F11 not working for some reason). 

Under "Advanced options" two of the choices are:

-System Recovery (Recover your computer to its original factory condition)     and

-Factory  Reset (Recover your system to its original factory condition)

Does anyone know what the difference is between those two options?    I am looking to do a destructive recovery and don't know which one of those options would do that, if either.

Thanks 

[#2]

Don't know about those jargons.  I'd make the recovery CDs, zero fill the hard drive with Copywipe or equivalent, then reload windows with the recovery CDs.  Use a commercial imaging application like Bootit NG or Ghost to create an image file of your OS.  No more need for the recovery CDs.

[#3 · Accepted solution]

System Recovery will format only C drive, whereas factory reset will format the whole disk. 

[#4]

Good to know what those options represent.

It appears that neither of those recovery options actually wipe the hdd (zer0 fill) before reinstalling the media.  But I noticed that a destructive recovery option *is* available when using recovery media on my hp desktops.  That  option is accessed, with first recovery disk inserted in drive,  via a seekrit manufacturer menu, by pressing ctrl+backspace at the blinking cursor at startup.  That option not available on the tx1217cl laptop or these.  So no destructive recovery option available using the recovery disks for hp laptops?  No hp mechanism to completely wipe the hdd (zero fill) before reinstalling media?

[#5]

Factory  Reset will format the entire hdd before reinstalling from the disks, which amounts to a Destructive Recovery.

[#6]

I have used the factory reset option on my computer and now need to use it again and its gone?

Is this only available to be used once? I call HP tech support and they didnt even know what factory reset was....

then after I explained to him and showed him this thread and some other stuff online he tells me I have to buy recovery disks from him.

For some reason the recovery disks that you generate with the new laptop don't have this option in them?

What really is bizarre to me is that is was there before, I used it and now its gone in the advanced options tab.

[#7]

System Restore from cd and hard drive failed.  If I choose "factory reset" will I need the Vista Key Code?  My grandaughter peeled it off the laptop.  Can't read it.

[#8]

@123ejd123

You will not need the key to install from Recovery set, no matter which option you choose. However, since Recovery failed  both from hdd partition and disks I am not so sure Reset will work either.

If Reset fails too, enter BIOS setup ,F10 key immediately after power, run the hdd diagnostics.

[#9]

Thanks, I'll give it a try.  I was starting to wonder about the hard drive too.  Seems to be nearly complete on the reinstall.  It gets all the way through the recovery disks to reboots and intsalls HP pre-install software package 1 .  It then hangs up on HP Preinstall software package 2.  

So I'm hoping that that the "factory reset" might do it.

Again

Thanks