Booting to recovery manager

[Hubnotch]

I have an hp notebook-15-r106nia. A friend formatted it with a counterfeit Windows OS. I DON'T LIKE THAT. How can I use the recovery manager to get it the way it was when I got it newly? 

[WAWood]

@Hubnotch

If your so-called "friend" formatted the ENTIRE drive (which they might have done), that would have removed the Recovery partition needed by the Recovery Manager.

What you can do is press the Esc key repeatedly when you reboot and when the text menu appears, select the option to do the factory reset.  If the Recovery partition is still intact, that will start the Recovery Manager.

[Hubnotch]

I tried what you said above. It got to the point where I have to press f11 for system recovery, it reported an error.  "your pc needs of be repaired. A required device isn't connected or can't be accessed. Error code: 0x000000f. You'll need to use the recovery tools on your installation media.....". I don't have the installation or recovery media. What am I going to do? 

[WAWood · Accepted solution]

@Hubnotch

Based on that error message, I have to presume that your "friend" (not knowing what they were doing!) formatted the entire drive, removing the Recovery information.

Your only recourse now would be to do a total factory reset from something known as HP Recovery Media ...

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 have to order these from HP; they can not be downloaded.
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 "Update". 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 "+" 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 Service:
If you live in the US or Canada, contact information is on this page: http://www8.hp.com/us/en/contact-hp/phone-assist.html#section1
If you live elsewhere, contact information is on this page: http://www8.hp.com/us/en/contact-hp/ww-contact-us.html
NOTE: After you get through, stay on the line until you are finally able to talk to some one -- it can take a while!
If you have trouble finding a phone number, then try: 1 (800)474-6836
If HP no longer provides Recovery Media for your model, another site you can check is: http://www.computersurgeons.com
When you get the media, if it is a USB stick, insert it into your PC, pressing F9 to get a Boot menu, then select the External USB Hard Drive to boot from it.

[Hubnotch]

Isn't possible to use another hp model recovery media on a different machine that is built by hp probably the same series? That is using the same recovery media for hp 15 series. 

[CherylG]

Usually models within similiar series that are manufactured during the same quarter do use the same Recovery Media. Try booting from it to see- it will quickly inform you if the Media can't be used.

[Hubnotch]

Thanks for the information. One more thing, how do I know the models that were manufactured within the same quarter with my laptop, hp notebook - 15-r106nia?

[CherylG]

Every machine has a 'Born on Date' in BIOS.

[Hubnotch]

True. I want to know other models in the same series that was manufactured in the same quarter with hp notebook - 15-r106nia.

[CherylG]

I don't have a list. You will just have to check in BIOS of any you want to know.