Got a Satellite P305

Hi people! Glad to have joined this forum.

So, my mum brought me a p305 from NY here to Brazil, for both of us to use it. But I'm a little worried about some things:

First, although I have some experience with desktops, it's my frist laptop ever, and I made a stupid mistake: I didn't went through the whole PDF manual once I turned it on. I already knew that, since laptops don't come with Installation/recovery CDs/DVDs anymore, the System image is located somewhere in the HDD, in a partition not spottable when browsing Win Vista. I started using the laptop, instaling some apps, games, watching some movies and stuff... and now, the only visible partition, C:, has approximately 70 out of the 288GB filled. I'd like to backup my system because I've been told there is no support for it here in Brazil (there is a subsidiary company of Toshiba in here that produces some low-end laptops, only), and, in the worst case scenario, I'd like to format the drive, when necessary.

In the given conditions, what should I do?

And, if I make a recovery "group of" DVDs (last time I started toshiba recovery application it asked for 3 DVDs, today things might be a little bigger), will all files in the C: partition (meaning the OS, installed programs, created documents and whatsoever) come along, or is it designed to make the backup of the OS only?

Thanks for any help, because I'm nervous!

 

Refer to page 62 on the .pdf manual for recover disc info
http://cdgenp01.csd.toshiba.com/con...es/su2077580/GMAD00164011_SatP300_08Apr24.pdf

 

Yes, I read it already!

"the hard drive recovery" means:
1- The hard drive when it was at the time the notebook was bought;
or
2- The actual current state of the hard drive, including things that were not shipped, but installed by me?
I ask because I've read elsewhere that "the computer can be restored to the original state, like you've just purchased it."

 

Number 2- is correct Just run it you'll be all set.
This is the way it is on many computers. The hidden recovery partition contains the factory image.

 

Thanks so far! But how can access the factory image? Can it be Burnt to DVD or it's just for the ordinary-direct recovery process? Can I back it up on my main (desktop) computer?
Perhaps I'll recover it since I might have messed up some things... e.g. my Fn key is no longer working -- possibly because I disabled some processes to reduce the hog... but I don't know which one Do you know?

 

You can't copy the recovery partition directly do a DVD.
You must use the program to make your discs.
Restart the laptop, that should restart the process you ended.

 

No sir... it hasn`t. Probably because that was a service I stopped, stupidly, at services.msc. However every service that begins with "Toshiba" or "Intel" are started.
Also, the intel tray icon from which I could solve some graphic configuration is gone too.

 

Double-click the Recovery Disc Creator icon on the
Windows® desktop. You can also launch the application by
clicking Start, All Programs, and then Recovery Disc
Creator.
2 Select DVD (to create Recovery media on DVDs).

 

Thanks. But, before I do such a solution, is there a way to take back those functions? what is the responsible process/service/program for the Fn key?

 

Anyone? Just need to know the process or service responsible for the Fnkey...

 

Check if you disabled fn-esse.exe. If you lost a bunch of functions you could also try reinstalling the Value Added Package. Another option would be doing a system restore to a point before you changed the processes.