recovery manager

[Ambico]

OS Windows 7
Pavilion P6 2003W
Reinstalling media with recovery manager

Hello to everyone. It's been a while since I've visited the community and have run into the above stated problem. In short, I preformed a factory reset backing up all files on DVDs. To be more specific, I used separate DVDs for each file...ie music, videos, pictures, and documents. The videos required 4 DVDs and that is where the problem is. The first DVD has the executable file for recovery manager, however the icon does not fully develop. I am not able to start reinstallation of videos. I suspect that the first DVD is defective as I can see an abnormality at the outer edge. There are three other DVDs I would like to reinstall, but there is no opportunity to open the recovery manager on the remaing DVDs. Apparently the first DVD is the only opportunity for the restore program. So the question is can I, or how do I open the restore program that will include the media on the last 3 DVDs? I guess the media on the first DVD is toast, but I'm hoping I can restore media on the other 3. I searched Google on this problem fo a while , but didn't find anything which surprised me because I'm sure it's not the first time this has happened. Thank you for any advice on this minor problem.

[CF4]

Hi

What program / method did you use to make the DVD's?

DVD's read/write from the centre outwards, so if you have 120 mm disc or an 80 mm disc both start in the same place.

So the problem may not be the disc, but the format the data was written in.

[Ambico]

Hi and thank you for the reply. I am not sure what program or method the P6 2003W HP uses. I will have to check. I should have mentioned that I was able to reinstall all of the other media except the video files...ie documents, music, and pictures. Those particular files used only one DVD each. The video files alone is what took up 4 DVDs. All DVDs were the same type and brand, but the initial DVD I burned for the "video" media does not fully develop and that is the only one of the four remaining DVDs for that particular media file (videos) that has the executable icon for the restore program. Presumably once the program is opened from the initial DVD made for the "video" media, it would remian open until all video media had been installed.

Hopefully that better explains my situation. It is a little more confusing since I chose to use separate DVDs for each type of media. Again, what I am hoping is that I can open the restore program independently and insert the video files to be reinstalled.

Thanks again

[CF4]

Hi

Would the working DVD's with .docs on give a clue on what is needed to extract them?

[Ambico]

No clue. The files appear but that is all. I have been investigating Power ISO. It is recommended for WIM files. Do you have any knowledge of that software? l am also testing the free version of Mini Tool Power Data Recovery. That was recommended after a factory reset as long as there has not been anything over written since the reset, so rather than installing it on C:, I put it on a flash drive. Very slow process and I will need to pay for the full version to retrieve everything. I think I first need to decide if it is worth the trouble and expence to do this.

Thank you once again for your interest. I'm still up for any suggestions.

[CF4 · Accepted solution]

http://www.e7z.org/open-wim.htm

[Ambico]

Indeed your answers are valid. After reading your reply asking if there were any hints as to what would open the file, I realized there would be many hints on the internet if I just tried to open one of the files. I was so preoccupied with finding a way to open the files with the recovery manager, that I wasn't thinking outside the box. (a little tunnel vision problem) Unfortunately, I had already written back to you that there were no hints, so I feel a little negligent in thinking this problem out myself.

Thank you for that link. It has solved the problem. The only thing it could not do is open the files on the defective DVD. The program showed an error message indicating the DVD was damaged an unable to open. Other than that, everything went perfect.

Again, thank you for your help on this. I will post this issue solved.

[CF4]

Prego.