HP recovery

sorry,i'm newbie here just need one answer
today i bought HP Compaq 6820s,and it looks great...
but i faced one problem,there are three partitions,one is windows partiton,
and second is OS tools, another one is HP_recovery,
so friends i have one question, does it matter if i repartition my hard drive like C and D drives?i nearly know what's system recovery is for,but i think i'll never use it 'cos i dint know exact meaning.
and one more question,there is a product key on the bottom of my notebook, so if i perform a clean installand use this key(vista home basic OEMaqt hp product key) will my system be officialy registered.
i will be happpyif you carefully read my thread and answer my questions,
thanx

 

Whatever you do, before touching any partitions, burn off recovery DVD's/CD's using the application included with your HP!

If you don't, and you get rid of the recovery partition, you won't be able to recover your system without either buying a Vista disk or buying HP recovery disks from HP.

Once you burn off the disk's (or you ordered them with your HP) you can do whatever you want as far as partitions go.

About the product key-you may have to activate windows again if you use the key found under the notebook. Use the instructions in this thread to find the key that HP used-plug that in during the installation process. You can also use the previously mentioned thread to walk you through the reinstallation process. Good Luck!

 

application included with your HP! <<>>??
how do i do that?

 

what if i just repartition my hdd during clean install an use the product key located at the bottom of my laptop

 

Sorry that I couldn't see your posts sooner. Here's how to create the recovery disks: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...product=3224055&rule=21603&lang=en#WhenCreate

Anyway, you may have to call into Microsoft and activate your copy of Vista if you use the key under the laptop. Following the guide lets you avoid all of that.

Good Luck

 

One question regarding how to recover using recovery DVD's??? If I want to recover the PC to original state using recovery DVD's that I created, how do start the process?? Should I just put first recovery dvd in drive and restart the laptop???

 

Basically all you have to do open the drive put the disc in power off the notebook and power it back on. The recovery manager should come up and allow you to recover the NB.

 

I am curious if I delete recovery partition then I wont be able to use F11 key at boot to open recovery manager?

 

Yes that is correct. If you want to delete the recovery partition, my best advice is to create the recovery disks and make a copy of them. Optical media is very fragile, because 1 scratch that takes off a portion of the label or a deep scratch at the bottom is enough to make it unreadable. I mean you can always order recovery disks from HP, but you'll have to waste money to get them.

 

I also deleted the recovery partition.Called HP and told that I accidentally deleted the HP recover softer and the partition so the send me OEM version of installation VB

 

Well, the HP Backup and Recovery software allows you to create the recovery discs as ISO images, which is what I usually do. With ISO images, you can easily store as many copies as you want and burn them onto a CD when you want to use it.

 

Just also make sure you config your BIOS to boot from DVD drive, by default some systems are setup to boot from HDD first, either way it will boot in device sequence untill it finds bootable media. I have had numerous issues with HP recover disks they send, its better to make from your own pc before attempting anything destructive. Then another issue I discovered during all my trouble shooting attempts, it seems the disks HP send are OK in fact (I have 3 sets). For those guys out there just check your HDD 1st and if you have a Samsung HDD I can almost guarantee your recovery will fail, not suggesting Samsung makes less than industry standard drives, but I have had numerous issues with these drives. I suggest replacing the HDD with Seagate, WDigital or Toshiba. After I replaced the HDD did a recovery from the HP supplied discs and they actually work, just time consuming. Oh yes and just for good measure also write the sw_setup folder in the root of C: to disk, it contains most of the softwares you got with your pc. Check the HDD 1st. Good luck

 

Remember when responsible manufacturers INCLUDED recovery disks with your computer? Talk about cheap. You spend several hundred or more $ on a new computer and they can't include a few CDs that might cost them 25 cents. Another unfortunate consequence of some MBA bean-counter with a "great new cost-shaving" idea that makes the next few quarters look great. Then all those thousands of calls start flooding support, re. recovery partition problems. Can't change back though, because that might make the next two quarters look bad..and no exec wants that pinned on him (and of course the bright and shinny, rising MBAs don't go near the backwater of support). That's when the decision to cut support costs kicks in...farm everything out overseas, screw traininig, and of course support quality plummets. I guarantee you this is costing them a lot more in terms of support expense. Maybe this is a partial factor in the downward spiral of HP support (rated dead last in Consumer Reports June 2008 issue). Or maybe it's just they can't be bothered with adequate personal lines support - more money to be made on the business side.

I know, it's all probably pointless anyway. If they included recovery disks and freed up the recovery partition, they would probably just cram that space full of bloatware and adware. Looks like we can't win.