System Recovery option greyed out when using recovery disc to reset to factory default

[ewei]

Dear experts,

Please help me on this as I have been seaching for a solution for about 4 hours now...

Somehow my recovery partition is damaged, so I use the recovery disc which I created when I bought the computer. 

I used the disc to start the computer, and after loading files and everything, in the Recovery Manager menu the "System Recovery" is greyed out.  Note that I haven't changed any hardware on the computer.

Please help!

Thank you!

[Jay_101]

Greetings,

Trying to jog my memory. I have not performed an HP recovery in years.

I have one question, what precipitated the recovery? It is possible you may have a hardware problem such as a failed HDD. I have never run into this situation using the HP recovery routine so I don't know what happens. 

Assuming the recovery discs you made are good,and your HDD is good, carefully check for any additional response you must initiate to begin the recovery process after booting to the first recovery disc .

You may have to accept or decline backing up data/ files before the recovery process will initiate.

You can order an HP Pavilion p6506f recovery disc set here if your disc set is bad.

Any additional information you provide should help in resolving your problem.

Cheers!

[ewei]

I think my disc is good as I made it when I just bought the computer following the creating recovery disc process. 

Here is what I see when starting from the disc:

1. Windows is loading files... (it took a while here)

2. System Recovery Options: Select Language, Select a keyboard input method => next

3. System Recovery Options

     The only Operating System listed there is the recovery disc, which shows as this:

      Operating System: Windows 7

      Partition Size: 352975 MB

      Location: (E: ) OS

     =>Next

4. Choose a recovery tool => Recovery Manager

Then under the "I need help immediately" column, two options are available: Microsoft System Restore, Microsoft Startup Repair Tool", but the "System Recovery" is greyed out.

There is no warning or error message the whole time. 

Any suggestions? 

[Jay_101]

Hi,

Please see this HP Support document.

It appears you are booting to the Win 7 Recovery Environment.

Select "Recovery from Recovery discs' option in this document for instructions on booting to the HP Recovery media.

Jay

[ewei]

Hi Jay,

Sorry I forgot to answer this in my last post - the reason I wanted to reset the computer to factory default is that over the years of using it, it has become extremely slow. It still functions but it's a pain to wait for it to start, to start an application or open a webpage. I have done routine clean up but it doesn't seem to help much. The antivirus software doesn't detect any virus either. 

Since the computer still works,  I think the HDD is good. I assume the recovery disc is good as I made it following the process when I first bought the computer, but I never used it.

I follow the document and here are the steps I took after inserting the recovery disc and shutting down the computer and removing all connected devices and cable:

1. Power on the computer and repeat pressing on ESC until select boot device menu comes up

2. Select "SM-hp DVD-RAM GH60L" => ENTER (I only have one CD/DVD drive)

3. After a second or two, the screen shows "Press any key to boot from CD or DVD...", so I press a key on the keyboard

After that everything is the same as before:

4. Windows is loading files... (it took a while here)

5. System Recovery Options: Select Language, Select a keyboard input method => next

6. System Recovery Options

     Select an operating system to repair.   

     The only Operating System listed there is the recovery disc, which shows as this:

      Operating System: Windows 7

      Partition Size: 352975 MB

      Location: (E: ) OS

     =>Next

7. Choose a recovery tool => Recovery Manager

Then under the "I need help immediately" column, two options are available: Microsoft System Restore, Microsoft Startup Repair Tool", but the "System Recovery" is greyed out.

There is no warning or error message the whole time. 

I don't understand why in step 6 it can't detect C drive. Isn't it supposed to do so? 

I don't know if it matters, but the only thing I have done to the drive was that I partitioned the original C drive, to create another drive F.  This was done just after I bought the computer. But C is still the OS.

Thank you!

[Jay_101]

Hi,

The HP or self created factory recovery kit is a set of three to four discs.

You only have one disc. Is this true?

You are booting to the Win 7 recovery environment.

There is a link to order an HP recovery kit in my first response. I think you will have to order a recovery kit from HP.

Jay

[ewei]

It's true that I only have only one disc. So it looks like I didn't do it right when creating the recovery disc.

Besides ordering recovery kit from HP, would a clean upgrade to Windows 10 be a viable option? I saw it mentioned somewhere but don't know if it will help in my case.

Thanks! 

[Jay_101 · Accepted solution]

Hi,

You did do the right thing. But you created a Win 7 Recovery disc, not the HP Recovery disc set.

You can upgrade to Win 10 clean.

You will need to use the 25 character Microsoft product key from the COA sticker affixed to your PC's chassis.

Example COA Images:

Don't do a clean Win 10 install if you can't read the Win 7 product key on the COA.

Win 7 PC's sometimes have problems upgrading to Win 10. 

I really think you should get HP Win 7 Recovery media. If the Win 10 upgrade fails you can always go back to Win 7 if you have HP's Win 7 Recovery media.

Your Choice.

Jay

[ewei]

Hi Jay,

I'd like to know if I use the HP Win 7 Recovery media to reset to factory default, would it wipe out the F: drive that I partitioned from the original C: drive, or it will only reset C: (the OS)  and 😧 (the recovery drive)?

Thanks!

[Jay_101]

Hi,

An HP factory image installation will reformat the entire HDD.

Back up any important stuff on the (F) drive before using HP recovery media.

Jay