[Reptile_master]

Well, to make a rather long story short, my desktop was giving me an extreme amount of frustration. I ended up removing XP home (which was on it when I got the [bleep] thing) and I have ended up with XP pro.

Essentially I'd like to restore the comp to its factory state. However, I do not have the boot discs from that time. Is there a way to retrieve the data from the backup partition to allow me to do this?

Thanks

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Hi! What is the make/model of your desktop? Does it have a recovery partition built in? If it does, usually there's a button you press on startup to access recovery. Which one depends on the brand and model. Please note that if you do restore to factory settings you will lose all your data. Good Luck!

[stillwaters]

Hi! What is the make/model of your desktop? Does it have a recovery partition built in? If it does, usually there's a button you press on startup to access recovery. Which one depends on the brand and model. Please note that if you do restore to factory settings you will lose all your data. Good Luck!

[phillipcorcoran]

Although the backup partition may still be intact, the actual recovery program will probably have been on the C drive when the PC was new and had Windows XP Home pre-installed on it.

Since you've wiped the C drive and replaced XP Home with XP Pro, the factory recovery program will no longer be there, so essentially the backup partition is unusable and just wasted space.

Usually with a new PC which has a backup partition, the pre-installation includes a program to make your own recovery discs which you should do before modifying the C drive. That program no longer exists on the C drive so it's too late.

You could contact the PC maker and ask if they can supply a recovery disc or discs but they will charge you.

[rshaffer61]

Before you proceed here is a easy way to find out what the other partition really is. The File System on the other partition is formatted with FAT32 it will normally tell you what it really is.
Go to Start then to Run
Type in compmgmt.msc and click Enter
On left side click on Disk Management
On right side you will see you hard drive.
Now I need you to take a screenshot and attach it to your next reply. Do the following to take a screenshot while the above is open and showing on your desktop.

To do a screenshot please have click on your Print Screen on your keyboard. It is normally the key above your number pad between the F12 key and the Scroll Lock key
Now go to Start and then to All Programs
Scroll to Accessories and then click on Paint
In the Empty White Area click and hold the CTRL key and then click the V
Go to the File option at the top and click on Save as
Save as file type JPEG and save it to your Desktop


Attach it to your next reply

Edited by rshaffer61, 13 January 2010 - 05:31 PM.

[Reptile_master]

Here is the screenshot.

Comp is an E-machine c3060. its a couple of years old.
I tried tapping f11 during bootup prior to the wipe, to bring up the restore menu, but at that time it was not working. now tapping f11 still doesn't do anything.

[rshaffer61]

Partition H is the recovery partition
This means everything you need should be on that partition to completely recover the system. Your recovery partition may only be accessible through the bios.

Edited by rshaffer61, 13 January 2010 - 01:57 PM.

[dsenette]

User Guide for your computer states that the instructions for recovery should be included in the recovery media booklet (which you didn't get if you didn't get recovery disks) you can order recovery disks from Emachines Here (though i don't know how much they cost)

Edited by dsenette, 13 January 2010 - 02:09 PM.

[Reptile_master]

The recovery leaflet is useless. I do have the darn thing. it says to tap f11 during bootup to go to the recovery menu.

I was trying to avoid dropping more money (i think its about $20) as I'm a poor college student and money is a little tight.

[Reptile_master]

I have another HD from an older comp that runs ME. If I were to drop it in and set the ME hard drive as the master, would it be possible to use the partition on the other?

[rshaffer61]

Probably not as the ME drive would have to update with the drivers for the different mobo and possibly even may want you to reactivate ME since it is a entirely different motherboard or MOBO.

[123Runner]

I ended up removing XP home (which was on it when I got the [bleep] thing) and I have ended up with XP pro.

Where did you get the XP pro to install?
If the restore partition is not accessible (I have found that a lot lately on e machines)then why not re-install the XP pro by doing a reformat?
If you choose that option, you should get the drivers for the computer before you do.

[Reptile_master]

My dad has a copy of professional that I used to put it on my pc. The thought was that I could get into the recovery by tapping f11 once I did that and then use the partition to restore factory defaults.

Basically, I had encountered a problem that eventually exploded into windows not being able to boot at all. At that point I became very frustrated with the whole thing and wiped it. In retrospect, it probably was not a good idea.

[rshaffer61]

Now the question is can you borrow a copy of XP Home so that you can reload the OS?
You should have a sticker somewhere on the system with your reg key.
That is the important piece of this issue to be able to reload.

[Reptile_master]

I've been looking around the house trying to get one. My comp wasn't the only one running home, if i recall correctly. Hopefully one of my little bros still has their disc.

[rshaffer61]

And the reg key on the side or bottom of your system?