Hardware

Ask something
Question Locked

Problem with HP Recovery Process

0 helpful
15 replies

by tom.eng

Closed to new repliesThis discussion is closed. It stays readable, but it takes no new replies.

Hi,

I have an HP Pavillion 514C Computer that is having trouble with the HP Recovery CD Process. The Disks are original HP Recovery Disks.

I am at a total lost for words as to why the HP Recovery Disks do not work.

I get the message of 'No operating system installed or a partition corrupted Press 'R' to perform a full system recovery'.

I press 'R' and then I get the message of 'Preparing Recovery Partition - Please Wait'

It then shows a message of 'Starting Recovery' and then is followed by the message of 'Starting HP PC System Recovery'.

After this the screen then goes on to display the HP Invent Logo in black and white. At this point then nothing happens. I even let it sat for a couple of hours to see if there is any response. I read on the Internet that the Recovery can take a couple of hours.

I have even gone as far as deleting all the partitions and then reformatting the hard drive but I still get the identical result.

I tried loading Windows 98 and it loads perfectly with no hitches. I even tried loading an Authentic XP disk and I get as far as the Windows Setup where it says that the 'Setup is starting Windows' and then it just freezes. In both cases, I reformatted the hard drive before each install.

Does anybody have any suggestions as to what is happening? I tried just about every tip regarding HP Recovery Processes and nothing. Very frustrating.

Thanks in advance!!

regards,

Tom

15 replies

by prettybalcony

hi tom i was googling my problem and found yours - after several emails back and forth to hp tech support they have just sent me this .....

do not press 'r' !!! ...Press and hold the ctrl key, and press the Backspace key. The
Manufacturer Menu is displayed. ....read below

so far it is working on mine after selecting option 6 has been half hour so far but looks encouraging...good luck !!

Lynn,
Firstly, I appreciate the efforts you have put in to resolve the issue.
I see that when you reboot the system it goes to the recovery option.

I will look forward to provide you with the appropriate information.

Lynn, please follow the steps below to Prepare the Hard Drive for
Recovery Using Recovery Discs (Manufacturer Menu). Make sure that you
have created a back up.

1. Enter the system BIOS and select the Boot menu.

2. Change the startup (boot) order so the computer starts from the first
optical drive (CD-ROM/ATAPI CD-ROM/DVD). You may need to enter a
sub-menu called Boot Device Priority.

3. Insert Disk 1 of the System Recovery disk set in the first (top)
optical drive.

4. Press F10, then press Enter to save the changes and restart the
computer.

When the PC restarts, it reads from the Recovery CD, and displays a
screen of options (typically R, F, and Q.

5. Press and hold the ctrl key, and press the Backspace key. The
Manufacturer Menu is displayed.

=== Manufacturer Menu ===

<1> boot from drive 0X80

<2> start the Windows PE on the CDROM>

<3> boot Floppy a:

<4> clear the partition table of drive 0X80

<5> erase the Master Boot Record of drive 0X80

<6> wipe all sectors of drive 0X80

<7> create a primary partition on drive 0X80

<8> Install ST Master Boot Record

restart the CDROM

6. Select option <4> clear the partition table.

7. The following message appears: No Operating System Installed or
Partition CorruptedPress "R" to perform a full system recovery.

Do not press R. Instead, press and hold down ctrl, then press Backspace
to bring up the Tools Menu.

8. Select option <5> erase the Master Boot Record of drive.

The following message appears: No Operating System Installed or
Partition CorruptedPress "R" to perform a full system recovery.

NOTE: If there are no partitions, the following message appears: No MBR
or master boot record found.Continue using these steps.

Do not press R. Instead press and hold down ctrl, then press Backspace
to bring up the Tools Menu.

Select option <6> wipe all sectors of drive.

An Erasing Hard Drive progress bar will appear. This process will take
approximately from 15 minutes to over one hour, depending on the size of
the hard drive.

When the hard drive is completely erased, the following message is
displayed:

No Operating System Installed or Partition CorruptedPress "R" to perform
a full system recovery

9. Press R to begin the automatic System Recovery process.

To resolve the start up issues, please click on the link below and check
if you have performed all the troubleshooting steps.

good luck !!!

by prettybalcony

Hi Tom

nearly an hour in and my recovery disks are finally loading - hope this works for you too.....

by prettybalcony

Still had to do process a couple of times but got there in the end my pc is now back to brand new...shd work for you too.....

by crazyozarka

Let me just start out by saying that I have been staring at my computer screen for about 9 hours trying every possible thing I could think of, EVEN trying to boot into another operating system like the first Comment....

(I had a 7gb HD with win98 on it, how weird)

After about half a pack of cigarettes, and much lost hair, I finally came across this website..

Who would have known that there was a hidden menu locked away by pressing CTRL BACKSPACE..

No one thats who.

Thank You For This Valuable Information, I will be etching it into my Tower later on today to prevent 9 hours of future productivity from going down the toilet.

by prettybalcony

I was so relieved to be told this info from HP although I did have to drag it out of them !!! ...after... like you many hours of frustation of what to try next I thought it would be handy to share......and more to the point it actually works !!!

by revilosopmac

Hi, regarding your post on recovery. I followed all instructions as they where given, and after the 9. Press R to begin the automatic System Recovery process, happens restarts, does it's normal windows media center process, goes to a black screen with an hour glass and it freezes, or it goes to a blue window with ms win xp logo and it freezes, any pointers would be greatly appreciated :-)

by prettybalcony

The only thing I can suggest from my experience with this issue is to just keep restarting the pc and keep repeating the steps and eventually it shd work- Something is wrong with the pc in the 1st place to have to go to these lengths to get into recovery so I guess it may take a few attempts for it to work - I had to try quite a few times before it worked but in the end it did .

by tom.eng

Hi,

How many times did you have to run the process before it actually worked? I tried all the steps a week ago and got no where. HP Support walked me through the same process you identified. During the Recovery Stage, did you get the b/w HP Invent Logo showing? If yes, how long did it actually take before the recovery process started reading from the Recovery Disk? I let it sat for a couple of hours and nothing happened. HP thinks I have a set of corrupt Recovery Disks and I have since ordered. Will let you know how it works out. I should be recieving them today. Thanks.

regards,

Tom

by prettybalcony

I thought my Disks were faulty too as I kept getting a message saying it could not find certain files etc I even sent my disks off to be lasered so they were spotless (again ..I had used them sucessfully upon receipt last year and put them aside carefully but this time they just would not work ) but it still didn't ever get past that stage - when i did the CTRL backspace steps it went straight thru to the partition recovery and flew past my previously dodgy bits where it couldn't find files but twice came up with new things it couldn't find this time so i just kept repeating the steps and then it went back to black screen offering me R F Q whereas before i was only getting R I chose F and followed the steps again and again and it works fine now - I only got the BL/W hp logo with blue block underneath for a few secs/mins and I now...finally have it back to how it was.

Sorry didn't realise you knew the CTRL backspace bit...seems i have not given you the breakthrough i had hoped - it was like pulling teeth getting the CTRL backspace info from HP ... in converstions with them about my concerns about the disks being faulty they said I could buy more (if avaialble) but they would not swap them - so this was my last resort ..luckily for me it worked.

by tom.eng

Hi,
Thanks for sharing your experience. Once I get the recovery disks, I'll let you know how I make out with the install.

Oh - just one additional tidbit - HP did not have Recovery Disks available for my model and had to refer me to the Computer Surgeon website to order. The cost was about $35 US.

regards,

Tom

by prettybalcony

I had to buy mine from SITEL in Belgium I think it was - who are part of HP somewhere down the line they cost me ?34.90 plus p&p last year - not cheap and you would expect them to work !!!

They should come as part of the pc package I think !!

by crazyozarka

Uhh Ohh...

New Problem.

Now that I have completed these steps.
I am now back at the HP System Restore tool.

It does not give me any options, it just simply asks me to "Insert Disk #1" (thats what its basically saying)

Well, I insert disk #1 of the Recovery CD that I made while the computer was operational..And it sort of hangs.

I dont mean hang like not doing anything, but, I click "OK" and it does nothing.
The window doesn't dissapear or anything, it just reads the disk, and then ejects both the CD and DVD drive.

I am familiar with the restore process, and I find it a little odd that it is not asking me to select any options because I can see them all on the side of the screen.

It simply jumps to the copying phase and will not go to anything else.

The disks are spotless, and brand new so im not sure why this isn't working..

Any advice would be neccessary.
Help me get some sleep lol.

by prettybalcony

Mine were recovery disks bought from Hp ....and I literally followed instructions I was given on the CTRL Backspace bit - I have no solution for you as I have no experience at all in computer stuff I just shared what I was told as it worked for me and Tom seemed to have the same problem so I hoped it might help....Sorry - Hopefully someone else can come to your rescue....The only thing I can say is I did have to keep repeating the process to get mine to respond and eventually it did - perhaps you could just try repeating all the steps again ?

by crazyozarka

Well, after repeating the process a few times, I still keep running into a brick wall.

It now gives me a new error.

NTLDR Missing
CTRL+Alt+Del to restart

Sooo I have a whole new set of problems that have evolved through using these silly recovery disks....

Well Thanks for the help.
I shall be going elsewhere for further assistance since this is a completely different matter.

This discussion is closed to new replies.