Where to find System Restore physical disc replacement?

[Kissker]

Alright so I got an older model Notebook/Tablet PC and Tried Windows 8 on it, since Win8 is really App Intense and set up for Touch Screen type interface and all that.

Well... fingerprint reader and lots of other things simply don't work. Tried all the work arounds I could as well and it's just a no-go.  So I figured "hey let's use that fancy Restore Drive"

Well... restart PC, hit F11 and.. nothing happens. It just boots normally.

So I got into bios and extend the time, thinking it didn't catch, and then try again... and again.. and again....

No Luck... Curious, I open up the D:/ and there is only 1 file seen....

&drvmig&     1Kb in size...

But the D:/ says it uses up over 40Mb.... so that's.. highly unusual.

Since I didn't set up a Windows Vista/Windows 8 Dual Boot...   I am stuck on 8, with a mostly non-working system.  Even the wifi is having problems. (Had to wait and get home to the Desktop to write this)

Anyway.... to sum up the story... I have been trying to find the "restore Your System" disc the paper it came with was referring to - since the Discless option is apparently a No Go (unless maybe someone else has something to try?)

The paper says I can order a replacement disc blah blah.  I know it's  a few years old and all - but the discs have got to still be around.  I have to have my Wacom Drivers fully functional - as well as the fingerprint scanner (which appears to not want to install at all - even after multiple tries.)

[CherylG]

Your laptop had software on it to burn a Recovery Disk set. Are you sure you didn't do that and maybe put them away when you first got the laptop?

They should still be available for a small fee>> Contact HP

You can also try this which has worked for many>>>

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).

[Kissker]

I would try this, except for the fact that the D: (the one set aside for recovery) :

Only has 46.1Mb used.

Only shows 1 file "$drvmig$"  of 4Kb in size

I am worried that if I set it to the active - it won't  do anything (from missing data) and I won't be able to boot at all.

If that is all it is supposed to have.. .then I'll give it a shot - but otherwise I'd rather have a disc to go off of.

And the unit was purchased Pre-Owned - there were no discs with it at all - and it's from the previous owners... use... that I want to reset it.  Sadly it looks like during the use the D: may have lost data.... or simply F11 isn't working right when it's supposed to.

[Kissker · Accepted solution]

EDIT:.

Tried anyway - it did nothing. It booted as if I had not changed a thing.

It doesn't appear that there is a order option either, HP support is terrible, worse then I had ever imagined.  They should be ashamed of themselves for cutting so many corners.

The Tablet I purchased is a known defective system.  It's design has many flaws that cause it to fail usually within 1 year and 2 months of use.  Sometimes sooner given climates.

HP refused to make it a public known thing and refused to give it a recall - instead they keep blaming it on other things and never getting the issue resolved.

I expected 4 years after the last models were made - they would at least acknowledge this problem - at least fess up to it.   This is not the case.

I came to the Support forums to see if my problem could be fixed.  HP apparently doesn't care at all.     

I will move on to illegal ways to settle my problem - since HP doesn't care about my system anyway, as well as take the chance -every chance I get - to notify everyone interested in a HP to simply Not buy instead.     We'll go Dell or Toshiba depending on our needs. 

HP certainly needs to be shut down.   Bad products, bad support, and skirting around solutions so fingers won't be pointed at them for making a mistake.

Mistakes happen, HP.    What makes other companies so good compared to you - is they fess up to the mistakes and try to make it better for those effected by them.  This doesn't mean giving away millions of dollars - simply stating "We messed up,  but here is how you can fix the problem once and for all" - is all that is needed.

In my particular model of Tablet, there is some sort of "fuzzy carpet" on one of the die, and the GPU has a thick thermal pad connecting it to the heatsink.  These are the first problems.     Replace the thermal pad witha  1mm or 1.2mm thick pure copper plate, and use some good thermal grease such as arctic silver 5 on both of it's sides.  If you want it really secure- use some high temperature silicone caulk around it's edges like a frame so it bonds it in place and won't slip.  Replace the carpet with new grease as well, and your connections to the heatsink should be perfect.

Drops temperatures up to around 30C.   Since the system has been known to hit over 100C frequently - and cause irreverseable damage - dropping 30C is a major victory.

I want you to keep in mind this "fix" requires almost No knowlege of computers, around $8 in supplies to buy everything (with shipping and handling and inflated ebay prices), and less than 1 hour of work to do.

So why, exactly, couldn't HP fix their own models 4 years ago?  It was simply the thermal pads they used! They didn't remove enough heat, and actually cuased heat build up on top of the CPU and GPU!  Copper to Copper connection allowed the heat to flow up and out of the system as it was intended, and solved overheating once and for all!

Microsoft had a similar issue with their original Xbox360's, The RROD.  The heating problem was fixed by - you guessed it - fixing the spacing between the GPU and CPU's contact to the heat sinks.  This was another "1mm" fix.

Obviously quality control slipped in both cases - however Microsoft is still booming because they flat out replaced the defective systems (sometimes with brand new systems depending on when you did it) and said "we are sorry."

HP however, has not.  This is why you fail HP. This is why people are upset.  If there wasn't a problem - we wouldn't be finding ways to modify the systems to fix them.  But still.. you won't admit there are problems that YOU over looked in manufacturing.

Confess you made a mistake.   At this point in time (4+ years after the model was released) No one is going to care much if they can't get replacements.  That's what Ebay is for.  You won't be out money. You will simply do what you have needed to do the entire time- which will HELP your customers stay loyal.

HPs new motto should be "Go cheap, and don't care, we do."

[CherylG]

Recovery Media can usually be ordered from your models driver page.Use the button at top of this page titled "Support & Drivers" to find it. You will need the full model number or P/N as listed on the Service Tag attached to bottom of laptop.

Or post back with the info from Service Tag if you need more help.