Misled by HP Support About the Difference between Recovery Media and Factory Reset

[OliveVine]

I have been struggling with serious lags with this HP Stream and I have been in contact with the support team, both first level and leads, about it.  The lag is so bad that even to manually force close programs it cannot get through.  You basically live out the lags that it goes through.

I explained that I have done several factory resets and the lead representatives told me the Recovery Media will fix everything and was told that sometimes the factory reset does not fix the problem, so the recovery media will fix it.  Okay.

I do the recovery media and find that the recovery media did not erase my harddrive and fix it.  I know because I saved all my wanted files and what I did not want was found on the laptop.   In other words, it did not do anything except bring back the lagging.  I decided to do some research to refresh my memory on what the difference between the factory reset is from the recovery media.

SYSTEM RECOVERY VS FACTORY RESET

The SYSTEM RECOVERY option does the following:
Reformats the system drive. The system drive is the hard drive where the current operating is installed (such as the C: drive).
Re-installs the original operating system on the system drive.
Re-installs all original hardware drivers.
Re-installs all original trial software.
Does not remove or disrupt any customer-created partitions.
In some cases, the System Recovery process might require more hard drive space than the system drive actually has. If the system drive is part of a partitioned hard drive, one or more partitions can be de-partitioned to give the System Recovery process the space it requires. Otherwise, customer-created partitions will remain intact.

The FACTORY RESET option does the following:

• Removes all partitions.
• Reformats all hard drives.
• Re-installs the original operating system on the default system drive (usually the C: drive).
• Re-installs all original hardware drivers.
• Re-installs all original trial software.

This recovery option returns all of the notebook's software to the condition it was in at the time of purchase. Any programs installed after purchase and any files you created will be removed entirely.

After considering the information I realized the SYSTEM RECOVERY should have been the first step to fix my problems.  Since my laptop did not have a recovery media option, I did FACTORY RESETS that should have been the absolute solution.  If I am wrong please correct me, but it's going to take a lot of resources to persuade me that the information I know presently is not correct.

[OliveVine]

I should also mention, I can't do a Factory Reset anymore since using the recovery media HP sent me.

[kyle_b]

I'm not aware of a difference between restoring from the recovery media and doing a factory reset.  My Stream 11 came with Windows 8.1 however so my information may be old.  My recovery media restored the laptop back to the out of the box configuration.  I think it gives the option to retain your data, were you prompted for that?   

I first created a recovery USB, then wiped all partitions off the eMMC drive and then booted from the recovery USB and ran the utility and all factory partitions came back including the recovery partition.  The computer booted and prompted me to create my user profile just as it did when it was first unboxed.

Also, it seems you are saying you can now no longer boot from the HP provided recovery USB and do a restore?  Did it get damaged somehow?

If you want to do a fresh installation of Windows 10 instead of a restore, instructions are here.

[OliveVine]

There is a difference; the information from HP's website notes it.

And there lies the problem between what you did and what I did...

You had the knowledge to reset your computer before using the recovery media.  I used the recovery media without reseting to factory status. ("then wiped all partitions off the eMMC drive ")

I did not do that and it's not in the instructions to do so.  If I had wiped the hard drive prior to, I would not see files that should have been removed.

Yes, I was prompted to a choice to keep files or delete everything.  I chose delete everything as  I do with factory reset.  So to see the files come up shows that there is a clear difference from a factory reset and a system recovery.  Since the factory reset cleans the hard drive, it is noted in the HP resources that system recovery does not clean off the hard drive.

I also note that there is a new folder that I cannot get rid of "Windows.Old".

No, I did not say I cannot boot from teh HP recovery media and it is is operable condition.  All I'm saying is that there is a difference between a factory reset and system recovery as noted in their resources.  What I did say is that I cannot do a factory reset as in get to store bought condition since using the USB as the option is no longer available.

When I contacted HP about the situation the first time, the first level rep was bringing through the reset options I told him there is no system recovery option.  Only the factory reset, which I told him I had completed several times prior to contacting HP Support.

My laptop already comes with Windows 10 and there is no USB or such to do a fresh installation.

[kyle_b]

The install image for Windows 10 is downloadable from Microsoft, it is in the link I posted above.

[OliveVine]

Thanks for the infomation.  I'll use it after sending it in for repair on the battery as it is still under warranty.  They can fix both issues... Or install a new operating system.

[OliveVine]

I created a media to install a fresh installation and the F9 boot does not allow me to launch the windows 10

[kyle_b]

Try disabling Secure boot within the BIOS.  If that does not work, test booting the USB on another computer.

[OliveVine]

I should have been more patient. I fooled around with the bios, was attempting to do a reformat, and did a secure erase/delete all the data which I found actually deleted the operating system. When it would not start up and was stuck on "boot drive not found..." I finally resolved to using the recovery media while pressing F11. It's doing a software installation...

Seeing that I did not follow the instructions carefully forgetting I had the instructions, is there a difference between F9 and F11?
Also, I pulled the USB out to early, before the software installation started (so it was at "please wait", what's the worst that could happen?

I'll keep you updated.

😄

[OliveVine]

Okay, so it's scanning and repairing Drive C although it gives the option to skip to start up menu by pressing escape I let it do what it needs to do.... Still doing software installation, but it's blinking... :l