Persistent (and frustrating) error message on ASUS G50V-X1

I recently purchased newegg's version of the X1 (better than the BB one), and wanted to upgrade its OS from Vista Home Premium to Vista Ultimate. So I popped in the disc, did a clean install only to find the error message "Cannot find C:/RECOVERY.DAT" followed by the word ERROR in huge red letters.

I searched Google for answers and some recommended deleting the recovery partition, and some recommended formatting the partition and trying again.

After trying the second method about 4 times, I gave up, because I didn't think deleting the recovery partition (which is hidden when I view it in Computer, after using the restore disc).
My questions are:
1. Has anyone succesfully upgraded their ASUS G50V to a higher version of Vista?
2. Is the error I'm getting due to a mistake I made?

I just got this laptop a few days ago and haven't been able to appreciate it because whenever I get time to use it, I spend it trying to get Ultimate to work. Any and all help is appreciated. Also, does this mean that I won't be able to do a Vista/Ubuntu or Vista/XP dual boot?

EDIT: I was also wondering how to recover from the recovery partition. I was doing it from the discs and the the driver disc, and it took a very very long time.

 

Met exactly the same problem as yours.

Now, I have successfully upgraded from Vista Home Premium to Vista Ultimate in the following way.

Boot your computer into Vista Home Premium. Put the Vista Ultimate installation DVD into the DVD drive. A Vista installation window will appear. Select “Install Vista”. The installation procedure will start now. Choose “Upgrade to Vista Ultimate”. Your computer will be upgraded to Vista Ultimate smoothly.

Enjoy!!

 

If you want to have dual boot with Vista and XP, you must have 2 partitions (C: and D in your hard disk.

Keep the pre-installed Vista in C: and install XP in D: After the XP installation is completed, you can only use XP at this stage.

Download the program VistaBootPro from here

http://www.vistabootpro.org/

Setup and run VistaBootPro under XP

In the page of System Bootloader,
Select Windows Vista Bootloader
Specific Drive C:
Click Install Bootloader

In the page of Manage OS Entries,
Select Add New OS Entry
Set OS name: Windows XP
Set OS Type: Windows Legacy
Set OS drive: C:
Click Apply Updates
Close VistaBootPro

Restart your computer. A selection menu will appear every time when you start your computer. You can choose to get into Vista or XP.

Enjoy!!

 

Thanks so much! I did that, but I think when I did the restore from the previous errors, the recovery partition was deleted anyways

At least now I'm running Vista Ultimate, now I just have to find my old XP discs to dual boot.

Does anyone know whether deleting the recovery partition voids any type of warranty?

 

It shouldn't. I did it on my computers (2 out of 3) and they never complained about it.

 

heys i wanted to ask, i have home premium and i try using anytime upgrade to ultimate, after the installation i try to start up my system, then in huge writing (red) ERROR appears with can not find C:\RECOVERY.DAT on the top left, how did you resolve your issue? please if you can reply to [email protected]

 

I have the same problem. I bought M50 with xp home premium, but i wanted to install a ultimate version. The installation goes well but after i tried to activate it with a tool, it won't restart anymore. I keep getting the message error can't find recovery.dat Anyone can help me? Does it have to do something with the recovery partition?
Many thanks,
Fabian

 

same problem here...

 

May be your tool wasn't good?

 

Same problem here installing TinyVista rev02... so finally does anybody know how to solve it without deleting the recovery partition? Damn, one can not install the OS he prefer stuck on Vista Home Premium..

 

Ok, after calling the Italian help desk and spoke with very silly (blond?) girl ) who was trying to give me random answers before listening to my question, I decided I have to solve the problem by myself. So here's the solution.

To those who don't want Windows Vista on their Asus laptop but prefer a light version like TinyVista, after the instalation you will face that big red ERROR and "can not open file c:\recovery.dat" on the screen. To solve the problem, after the installation, do not allow the system to restart, maybe just closing the DOS window that says it's going to restart. Now insert your lovely USB key and install the program EasyBCD. Click on "Manage Bootloader", check the "reinstall vista bootloader" and click on "Write MBR".

Here we go, restart your system and forget that ERROR message! The problem was right there with the MBR.

Sorry I can not give very technical information about it, I just know how to make things work

PS: Please Asus, tell Veronica who spoke with me on the phone on Friday 26# June at 15.40 it's not really helpful to be so rude with a customer that calls for info, even if you "just support users that use Windows Vista" or "you're not allowed to give help to those who want to change the native OS in their notebook" or "does the notebook works with Windows Vista? Ok, that's all". Remember dear asus and you, dear veronica, that I DID NOT WANTED TO BUY WINDOWS VISTA when I bought my lovely L50Vn, but I had no chance, so PLEASE, GIVE HELP IF I WANT TO INSTALL A DIFFENENT OS! )

Best regards!