Can I install new disk drive (C) and do factory reset from the recovery disk to reinstall OS?

[NJwiseguy]

My HP Pavilion p7-1420t CTO Desktop PC is showing an Error message when turned on:  No boot disk has been detected or the disk has failed. I do not want to loose any data on my disk drive (C). When I start the HP Pavilion Recovery CD, it asks if I want to perform a "Factory Reset". If I do the "Factory Reset" will my data on the disk drive be deleted and the new OS installed? Or, will this process only re-install the OS and leave the existing data on the C drive intact?

If the "Factory Reset" deletes my data, can I first switch out the C drive with a new disk drive and then run the "Factory Reset" to re-install the OS on the new C drive? Can I install my old drive as a second physical drive to access my old data?

[WAWood]

@NJwiseguy 

The Factory Reset starts by removing ALL the partitions from the drive and completely reformatting it -- so everything you have now is gone when you do that.

While you can certainly use a new drive of the same capacity, the reset program is stored on the old drive -- so without that in the PC, you would not be able to run the reset.

However, there are two ways to do this using external media:

- Factory reset using external HP image you make
- Factory reset using external HP image you buy

Each of these is discussed in some detail below ...

---------- Factory reset using external HP image you make ----------
HP provides a Cloud Recovery tool that you can use, together with a 32GB USB stick, to create your on HP reset media.

Here is the link: https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c06162205

This works the same as the factory reset described above.

---------- Factory reset using external HP image you buy ----------
For those PCs not supported by the Cloud Recovery, in some cases, HP offers Recover Media for sale. This can not be downloaded; instead, it must be ordered from HP.

HP Recovery Media is a set of DVDs and a CD, or USB stick, that will erase the hard drive (removing all data, settings, and applications, reinstall the original OS, drivers, and some HP Utilities.

In some cases, you may be able to order a USB stick instead of disks.

You can look online for Recovery Media starting with the linked paged: http://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers

Once there, input your Product name or number. On your Software and Drivers Download page, select your Operating System and and Version. Click &quot;Update&quot;.<br><br>If HP Recovery Media is available for your machine, down near the bottom of the page, you will see an entry for Order Recovery Media-CD/DVD/USB. Click the &quot;+&quot; symbol to expand that entry and click on Order Media for details.

Or, if you prefer, you can do the same by contacting HP Customer Support.

HP contact info: https://support.hp.com/us-en/contact-hp?openCLC=true

If HP no longer carries the media you need, another site you should check for HP Recovery Media is: http://www.computersurgeons.com/

These work the same as the factory reset described above.

[TheOldMan]

It might be a lost cause for the data but do not do anything with the disk if you are wishing to save the data.  Replace the  "failed hard drive" and install the Windows OS to the new drive, then you can try to save the data from the old drive.  That PC has room for more than one hard drive and, depending on the configuration, it might be alright to mount the old drive in a spare drive bay to see if you can save any of the data.  Once the new drive is in place and Windows is functioning OK, connect the old drive on a spare SATA port to see if Windows can retrieve the data.  It might require trying with a different OS than Windows, as Windows does not have the ability that other OS's have.  I like to use a Linux Live OS to try data retrieval when Windows cannot do it.

If you wish to try that, research using a Linux Live OS that can look at the disk contents without changing the new drive's Windows install.

Sorry @WAWood , posting while you were replying.