No Recovery Drive when I reinstalled Windows 10

[AndreaJJ]

Hi. I recently had to do a factory reset to fix a Windows 10 problem. After reinstalling Windows I noticed that I no longer have a recovery drive.

The support people at Windows said this is a manufacturers issue so I had to asked HP for help. I've not been able to find out how to fix this.

Thanks

[Chimney_83]

Greetings @AndreaJJ, 

Thanks for the post. 

I understand that you reinstalled Windows and lost the recovery partition, is that right?

Not to worry, I will be glad to assist you. 

May I know the exact product number of your computer? Click here. Please do not share the serial number of your computer.

If you have installed the creator update from Microsoft, it would prompt at the end to remove the HP Recovery manager and partition. 

If you accidentally click on accept or the OK button on that screen, it would delete the partition.

The only way to get the partition back is by reinstalling Windows using the recovery kit created on your computer. 

If you have not created a copy of the recovery kit, please contact our phone support to order a copy meant for your computer. 

Let me know if this helped. 

[AndreaJJ]

Hi

I'm not very techy so not sure what "recovery partition" or "creator update" mean.

I no longer have the D:Recovery drive after reinstalling Windows

The product number is E6F41PA#ABG (it's a HP Envy 15 Laptop).

I went to a computer store at a town I was temporarily in and they created a USB for me with Windows 10 downloaded on it.  I then followed the handwritten instructions from the store as to how to use the USB to reinstall windows. I'm not sure what a recovery kit is - is that what you'd call that USB.

I followed their instructions step by step so I only would've clicked on what they said to do.

I really don't want to have to reinstall Windows again as I've spent the last week restoring all of my back up files and it's taken hours and hours.

When I contacted Windows 10 they said this was a manufactuers issue ie HP but are you saying that it was the way that Windows 10 was installed that was the issue?

Thanks

Andrea

[Chimney_83]

Thanks for the reply and letting me know that you reinstalled Windows using a USB stick provided at a local store. 

Most likely you have installed a retail version of Windows. 

When you install a retail version of Windows the manufacturer settings and softwares will be removed. 

The only way to get the partition back is by reinstalling the OS using the recovery kit created on the computer or by contacting HP Customer care over the phone. 

Hope this helped. 

[AndreaJJ]

Hi

The version of Windows was one that was suggested in the forum that supports Windows. There were numerous mentions of it  - why would no one mention there was a difference between a retail version and a recovery kit?

The forums all mention the same link to create a recovery USB.

How do I check if what I have is a retail version?

Is there a way to email etc Customer Care? I'm a full time traveller and don't have access to a local phone to be able to ring Customer Care.

How important is the D Drive?  I've now finished restoring my back up files which took a week. I'd rather not have to go through that whole process again.

Thanks

Andrea

[Chimney_83]

To find the version of the OS installed, right-click on the Windows button and select System. 

This would bring up a Window and the bottom right-side, there will a product ID. 

Refer to this Microsoft post which explains the difference between OEM and retail version of OS. 

(Though the title says Windows 7, the difference is the same for all OS.)

We do not have any email support available anymore. 

You can reach our phone support in your spare time. 

D drive is the recovery partition using which you can reinstall or repair the operating system. 

Now that you have a USB stick with the OS, you can use the USB stick for this purpose. 

Hope this helped. 

[AndreaJJ]

Hi

The product ID is 00326 - 10000 - 00000 - AA664.

There wasn't a link for the Microsoft post which explains the difference between OEM and retail version of OS. 

You've confused me with " D drive is the recovery partition using which you can reinstall or repair the operating system. 

Now that you have a USB stick with the OS, you can use the USB stick for this purpose."

If I can use my UBS stick then why do I need the D drive?

[Chimney_83]

Thanks for the reply, looks like the link did not get attached. Click here. 

Customers used to loose the recovery kits, hence HP used to create a partition on the drive itself. 

Thanks for sharing the product ID, if you were using an OEM version from HP, the product ID would end with OEM instead of numbers.

Hope this helped. 

[AndreaJJ]

Thanks. The article in that link seems to deal with the ownership/transfer limitations between OEM and retail but doesn't tell me why I need to get the OEM or why a D Drive is actually necessary.

What would a recovery kit or D Drive actually do? Bearing in mind that I've reinstalled Windows 10 using neither of those things.

Thanks

Andrea

[Chimney_83]

Thanks for the reply, as I informed you earlier, the recovery partition has the OS files that can be used to recover or repair your computer. 

Hope this helped.