I ruined my recovery partition I think HELPPPPP MEEE

[krisshp999]

n

[krisshp999]

When I go on my computer,  the icon for my drive called RECOVERY (D)   is MISSING

AND SOME IMPORTANT FILES ARE ALSO MISSING 

WHICH I PROBABLY WILL NEED ONE SAD DAY for ecovery

[DavidPK]

Hi,

If you use your Recovery DVDs to reinstall the operating system  they will also re-create the Recovery Partition on the Hard Drive - just insert the first disc and restart the notebook to begin the process. Remember to back up all your personal files etc before starting this process.

If you don't have any, you can order a replacement set of Recovery Discs using the link below - I believe there is a small fee for this.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00810334&cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en

If you have any problem with this link, order them directly from HP Here.

Regards,

DP-K

[krisshp999]

BUT if I use those discs  ALL my programs will get removed

[DavidPK]

Hi,

Yes they would all be removed.  However, the only way to re-create the Recovery Partition is to use your Recovery Discs to reinstall the OS.  As long as you have a set of Recovery Discs, the fact that the Recovery Partition is missing is less important as you can always use these Discs to reinstall the OS should you ever need to.

Regards,

DP-K

[thinkren]

krisshp999's concern is not trivial.  I was similarly worried when my Presario suffered some serious problems a while back.  Among the software I would have needed to reinstall was one which required activation using an email I no longer had.  Among the system maintenance tools and options I looked into, creating a custom "system image" disc directly based on my existing machine seemed most promising.  But HP tech support informed me that the image only included essential system files and data and excluded user files and user installed programs.  But if that is the case, what is the difference between using a "system image" disc and a "system recovery" disc made from the recovery partition?  I finally made use of a Linux-based live CD called "Clonezilla".  However, I have not yet been able to test if the Linux back-up can be succesfully restored.

[DavidPK]

Hi,

If you use Imaging Software to create an image of the Windows partition, this will include all your files, programs, Windows Updates etc up to the point the Image was created - so if you created an Image a week ago and then the Hard Drive crashed, if you restored this image, your computer would be in the state it was in one week previously.  System Recovery discs are a bootable copy of the Recovery Partition and if used, will reinstall the operating system to the state it was in when you bought the PC - so although you have your OS back, you would lose all your installed programs, files etc.

However, as I stated in my previous post, if the Recovery Partition has been damaged or erased and you really want it back, the only way to restore this would be to use the original recovery discs.  Again, as I mentioned before, the loss of the Recovery Partition is less important if:

1.  You have created a set of Recovery Discs

2.  Have used Imaging Software to create a System Image

In fact, there is an option in the Recovery Manager software to delete the Recovery D Partition if you don't require it - obviously you need to create your Recovery Discs before doing this.

Regards,

DP-K

[thinkren]

thanks for clarifying.  

[DavidPK]

Hi,

You're welcome, it can be confusing as the terms are so similar and yet do quite different things.

All the best,

DP-K