No Recovery Partition on dv6 Notebook

[jbxcpa]

I have a Pavilion dv6-3155dx with windows 7 Pro SP1 64 bit.  I removed my recovery partition and now want it back.  I did make recovery disks but since then I partitioned the hard drive and it now has System, C:, HP Tools and 9MB unallocated.  I'm sure I did something wrong to wind up with the 9MB unallocated partition. How do I get rid of the 9MB partition?  Hard drive is 500GB.

I tried to recover my hard drive to factory but it didn't create the recovery partition and there wasn't an option for factory reset or minimized installation.  It just immediately loaded files and put Windows and programs on the C: drive.  So my question is how do I get the recovery partition back?   If I were to format the entire 500GB would I be able to boot from the recovery DVDs and would I be able to get the recovery partition back?  Or do I need to buy the replacement Disks from HP and if I do will those disks create the Recovery Partition in addition to the other partitions as originally from the factory?

I want the Recovery Partition back as I would like to pass this laptop off to someone and make it easy for them to recover windows if it becomes necessary.

Thanks for any help or advise. 

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

You can try just making the one partition, and using the disks you made, but I think the only way you are going to get the recovery partition back, is to purchase the HP-supplied recovery disks.

If you purchase the HP factory recovery disks, and you have no intentions of purchasing the same model, you may as well sell/give them to whomever acquires your PC in the future.

You can also forget the whole thing, make one big partition, use your self-made recovery disks and give them to whomever acquires your PC in the future.  They should also work on a new hard drive if it is necessary to install one as long as it is the same size or larger than the one you have now.

Paul

[jbxcpa]

Thanks Paul for your interest and advice. In the near future I will buy the Envy model. I am not selling this laptop, I am giving it to a relative and will certainly pass off the recovery disks. If I am reading correctly, if I buy the recovery disks from HP those disks will give me the Recovery Partition back. Will these disks format the entire 500GB and install as from factory? Is there a step by step guide and maybe screenshots which would show me where to select the appropriate options? And what options are included in the replacement disks? Or do I just have to take my chances, buy the disks and follow on screen prompts? Sorry for all the questions.

John

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi, John;

That is correct. Th HP recovery disks will restore the PC to its "out of the box' condition including recreating the recovery partition.

You can see if this FAQ has the info you need regarding instructions to use the recovery disks.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01883653&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en

Basically some disks allow you to do a complete recovery (OS, all programs and features installed) as well as an OS only recovery for those that don't want all the extra junk.

Some you have no option. It is all or nothing.

All the recovery disk sets I have ever used gave me no options. 

So, there wasn't much to figure out. Pop in the boot disk, and follow the prompts.

Paul

[jbxcpa]

Thanks Paul. I will buy the disks and post back to let you know how I made out.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome, John.

Please do, as your feedback is important in how I reply to anyone else posting with similar questions.

Paul

[jbxcpa]

The HP replacement discs did reformat the entire hard drive and restored to "out of box" including the Recovery partition, Tools, System and C:, of course. But it did not offer me the option of Minimized Recovery. It took 3 hours to get to desktop and receive an update from windows for the graphics card. I stopped there, restarted and tapped F11 key for Recovery. I thought it was worth the try and sure enough, F11 offers Minimized Recovery. So I went for it. Turns out that it reformatted C: and used the Recovery partition to copy files needed to restore the operating system to C: and installed just the essential HP software. No trials, games, etc. This process went much quicker, it only took one hour and 15 minutes to get to the desktop and the first windows update. The computer feels much lighter and faster now.

Thanks again, Paul for all your help.

John

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome, John.

Glad you got it set up the way you wanted.

Best Regards,

Paul