Can a recovery drive reinstall Windows?

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I recently purchased a new notebook (HP 15-da0012dx). It came installed with an OEM copy of Windows 10 Home 64-bit. If I reformat or replace my SSD, I'd like to reinstall Windows with the vendor pre-installed drivers and software--in other words, perform a factory restore. Can a recovery drive (Control Panel > Recovery > Create a recovery drive) created with the "Back up system files to the recovery drive" option selected perform a factory restore on my SSD if later formatted (original paritions, including the Primary and any hidden recovery/OEM partitions, deleted)? On a new, replacement SSD? Is such a recovery drive system specific; that is, could it reinstall Windows 10 on systems other than my notebook?

[CherylG]

I would create the HP USB Recovery Media . Scroll down the page in this link to see the instructions:

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c04758961#AbT3

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@CherylG Thank you kindly for your reply. Is there a reason one would opt for the HP Recovery Manager over the "Create a recovery drive" in Windows 10? What differences exist?

I glanced at the creation and recovery process. I noticed that a user is restricted to making one set of recovery media. Is this true, and would you happen to know how it is enforced? Can the recovery media be used more than once (ad infinitum)?

[CherylG]

HP Recovery Media restores OS and all original drivers/software. I  believe with the recovery drive only OS is installed.

Recovery Media can be used as many times as you need it.

HP has a trigger on the software that marks it as done and will prevent making another copy.

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After reading a bit more thoroughly, I tried clicking on "HP Recovery Manager > Create recovery media." I found that it opens the same dialogue box as "Control Panel > Recovery > Create a recovery drive"--that is, it does not open an HP Recovery Manager window as in the linked documentation. Perhaps it is related to the link in the note near the top of the documentation:

Beginning in 2018, Recovery Manager does not come preinstalled on computers with Windows 10. If your computer does not have Recovery Manager, go to HP PCs - Resetting Your Computer (Windows 10) for more information.

I note, however, that HP Recovery Manager was (is) pre-installed on my notebook.

If relevant, I have all Windows 10 updates and am on version 1803, OS build 17134.376.

[CherylG]

I had been told that HP would be ending the Recovery Media Creation but was under the assumption it would not be until end of year or early next year. You may not have the recovery partition which holds the files for creating Media or doing a System Recovery.

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That is interesting. I also noticed that I might be missing the recovery partition. Let me first say that my notebook is quite new and that I have not made any changes to the hardware or partition scheme. My notebook has 1 drive (a 128 GB/119.2 GiB SSD) with the following partitions:

(Disk 0 partition 1) | 260 MB | Healthy (EFI System Parition)
Windows (C:) | 118.01 GB NTFS | Healthy (Boot, Page File, Crash Dump, Primary Parition)
Windows RE tools | 980 MB NTFS | Healthy (OEM Parition)

A bit earlier, I successfully used "Reset this PC" (Settings > Update & Security > Recovery). It seemed to perform a factory restore (reinstalled OS and pre-installed drivers and software). Of course, I want to guarantee I can do this if I ever reformat or replace my SSD.

I guessed that the data used for "Reset this PC" might be on "Windows RE tools" (i.e. the recovery partition), but it seems too small at only 980 MB. However, I do have the following system folders, which appear related to recovery drives (external link: https://www.tenforums.com/installation-upgrade/111700-recovery-usb-drive-vs-windows-10-bootable-usb....😞

C:\Recovery\Customizations

C:\Recovery\OEM

[CherylG · Accepted solution]

On  models with limited SSD storage space I believe HP already has eliminated a Recovery partition. You can order Recovery Media from your Support page if desired. Last item in the list of sftware and drivers:

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-15-da0000-laptop-pc/20395828/model/21837188

I don't really understand the entire concept of  replacing Recovery Media with the MS  Recovery drive so I can't explain it very well but I have been told HP is transitioning to that on all/most models. The USB Recovery Drive should have all of the files without needing to download anything. HP has worked with MS on the new method so we can only hope they have it all worked out with making the USB Recovery Drive. MS also wants all software/drivers available through the MS Store eventually. I can see problems with that if internet is not working. If/when I get a laptop with no Recovery Media option I will probably copy C:\SwSetup folder to an external location just to be sure I can get online. It has all of the driver/software installers- unless that gets removed also.

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@CherylG Thank you very much for your last post. Before I ask about it, I'd like to say that I created a USB recovery drive via Microsoft Windows 10 (Control Panel > Recovery > Create a recovery drive) with the "Back up system files to the recovery drive" option selected and successfully restored my computer from it (boot from USB recovery drive > US (Choose your keyboard layout) > Troubleshoot > Recover from a drive > Just remove my files > Recover). From a cursory observation, the result is identical to my out-of-the-box state and the results of earlier "Reset this PC" operations (Settings > Update & Security > Recovery). The only differences found were the naming of one of my SSD's partitions (from "Windows RE tools" to "WINRE") and that my Windows updates/build carried over (IIRC, the updates carried over with "Reset this PC"). I note that I successfully did this restoration twice: first with my out-of-the-box partitions still on my SSD and then after deleting all partitions on my SSD using Windows 10 installation media created with Microsoft's Media Creation Tool.

Will the restoration process work on a blank, replacement SSD (I unfortunately cannot test this)?

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@CherylG wrote:

You can order Recovery Media from your Support page if desired. Last item in the list of sftware and drivers:

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-15-da0000-laptop-pc/20395828/model/21837188

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I did see this option. I am glad it is available, though I wanted to try finding a DIY, free solution first.

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@CherylG wrote:

The USB Recovery Drive should have all of the files without needing to download anything. HP has worked with MS on the new method so we can only hope they have it all worked out with making the USB Recovery Drive.

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As mentioned above, it did seem to work out. I restored my notebook and configured Windows before connecting to the Internet, so there were no downloads, explicit or latent.

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@CherylG wrote:

MS also wants all software/drivers available through the MS Store eventually. I can see problems with that if internet is not working. If/when I get a laptop with no Recovery Media option I will probably copy C:\SwSetup folder to an external location just to be sure I can get online. It has all of the driver/software installers- unless that gets removed also.

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My factory (out-of-the-box) state comes with some bloatware, and I plan to try "Fresh start" (Windows Defender Security Center > Device performance & health > Fresh start > Additional info) or install Windows from my installation media. Afterwards, I presume I am going to need to install drivers and essential software manually and from a local copy, since my network adapter would not work, as you indicated. On my product's page (https://www.support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-15-da0000-laptop-pc/20395828/model/21837188), I found that the most recent versions of my drivers, particuarly chipset drivers, indicate they are for the Intel Whiskey Lake microarchitecture. Are these the best versions for my notebook, even though I believe my CPU (Intel i3-8130U) is Kaby Lake?

I glanced at C:\SWSetup and found drivers under ...\DRV. Do you have any more information about C:\SWSetup? Are the drivers and software inside the factory (out-of-the-box) versions? If so, would these presumably stable versions be recommended over the presumably more recent ones on my product's page? Can you confirm it does--or at least should--include all of my drivers and essential software?