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Destructive Recovery

PostPosted: Wed Nov 12, 2008 11:37 am
by chris3090
My Computer is shot... idk what the heck happened to it but its never getting lent out again. doesnt seem to respond to anything and nothing will seem to really work. so i thought of a destructive recovery if im not mistaken i did this before when my sister messed up the computer and it wiped the computer clean of everything but what came on the machine when it was bought... problem is i dont remeber how to do it exactly anyone have any idea how? would be greatly appreciated. cant reformat hard drive though dont have another OS to put on it and i just want to put it back to the way it was out of the store.. any ideas ...current OS is Windows XP

Re: Destructive Recovery

PostPosted: Wed Nov 12, 2008 11:43 am
by MWISimmer
You need your recovery disk. Set the BIOS to boot from CD first, then reboot with the disk in the drive.
I'd try the repair option first, you have nothing to lose.. if it doesn't work then start over.

That's assuming you have the recovery disk of course.....

Re: Destructive Recovery

PostPosted: Wed Nov 12, 2008 12:38 pm
by chris3090
hmm i'll look around but i dont remember it coming with one.. anywere else i can get one?

Re: Destructive Recovery

PostPosted: Wed Nov 12, 2008 12:58 pm
by MWISimmer
Google your make and model number, you may be able to download one

Re: Destructive Recovery

PostPosted: Wed Nov 12, 2008 1:10 pm
by chris3090
would i need to burn it to a cd then?

Re: Destructive Recovery

PostPosted: Wed Nov 12, 2008 1:33 pm
by MWISimmer
You would, more than likely as an *iso image.

Re: Destructive Recovery

PostPosted: Wed Nov 12, 2008 3:25 pm
by pengyman89
my computer was an HP (its been very much butchered since then) but when I went to do a destructive recovery there was software already on it that did that for me. brought the PC back to the way it was directly off the shelf and that was very successful for me.

I found this option in a PC Help & Tools folder.

perhaps this will be an option for you?

Re: Destructive Recovery

PostPosted: Wed Nov 12, 2008 3:50 pm
by stevehookem
What about a system restore from a previous date that the computer was working? I just had to do that with an older PC we have.

Go to Accessories, system tools and look for "system restore". Pick an older date on the calendar that is in bold and it will go back in time. oooooohhhh, scary! haha

Re: Destructive Recovery

PostPosted: Wed Nov 12, 2008 4:53 pm
by chris3090
thanks steve i'll give that a try first... internet doesnt even wana come up and ty peng i'll look for that mines also an hp

Re: Destructive Recovery

PostPosted: Wed Nov 12, 2008 5:01 pm
by chris3090
my computer was an HP (its been very much butchered since then) but when I went to do a destructive recovery there was software already on it that did that for me. brought the PC back to the way it was directly off the shelf and that was very successful for me.

I found this option in a PC Help & Tools folder.

perhaps this will be an option for you?


Did you have to use a recovery cd or anything? or just run the program

Re: Destructive Recovery

PostPosted: Wed Nov 12, 2008 7:51 pm
by Groundbound1
If your system didn't come with any disks, and you haven't formatted the entire hard drive before, then you most likely do have a recovery partition. On startup, when you see the "F" command to enter the BIOS, you should see another for entering the system's recovery menu.

What kind of machine is this?

Re: Destructive Recovery

PostPosted: Wed Nov 12, 2008 8:26 pm
by chris3090
hp pavilion 753n with a few upgrades, 2gb exra memory, gaming lat card,800 watt power supply, Saphirre Radeon 3850 512mb agp Card, Intel pentuim 4 proccesor,cant remember all the processor stats but its not a bad one, 80gb hard drive

Re: Destructive Recovery

PostPosted: Wed Nov 12, 2008 10:22 pm
by pengyman89
all i had to do was run the program, no CD required. And I was able to do this after the hard drive had been switched to a new motherboard, etc.

Re: Destructive Recovery

PostPosted: Thu Nov 13, 2008 10:13 am
by chris3090
ok thnks alot pengy gunna try that 2night.. had to go buy another monitor  mine got broken last night  :-? dont know how that happened but i was looking for an excuse to get a new monitor :D