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windows 8 factory recovery partion


pauluk83

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hey all

for some reason my laptop was unable to boot, had to restore using a windows 8 oem disc rather then the recovery image. as it wasnt working

after getting my system up and running i am still unable to to press the f9 key on my asus k55a laptop, and reilised that its out of warenty they want to charge me for the reimaging of the hard drive

i have part got the laptop to atleast recignise the recovery image as now i have the option to create a recovery drive, but upon testing it, it still asks for the media for install

here is my reagent.xml file

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?><WindowsRE version="2.0"><WinreBCD id="{267d66e7-cac6-11e3-bf61-fbecbf5a7db4}"/><WinreLocation path="\Recovery\WindowsRE" id="0" offset="554696704" guid="{b54dddc0-5c18-434d-8691-a4e1f47971c3}"/><ImageLocation path="" id="0" offset="0" guid="{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}"/><PBRImageLocation path="\RecoveryImage" id="0" offset="978718494720" guid="{ebd0a0a2-b9e5-4433587c0-68b6b72699c7}" index="1"/><PBRCustomImageLocation path="" id="0" offset="0" guid="{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}" index="0"/><InstallState state="1"/><OsInstallAvailable state="1"/><CustomImageAvailable state="0"/><IsAutoRepairOn state="0"/><WinREStaged state="0"/><OperationParam path=""/><OsBuildVersion path="9600.17041.amd64fre.winblue_gdr.140305-1710"/><OemTool state="1"/><IsServer state="0"/><DownlevelWinreLocation path="" id="0" offset="0" guid="{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}"/><IsWimBoot state="0"/><ScheduledOperation state="4"/></WindowsRE>

windows was missing this bit so i readded it

<PBRImageLocation path="\RecoveryImage" id="0" offset="978718494720" guid="{ebd0a0a2-b9e5-4433587c0-68b6b72699c7}" index="1"/>

attatched is 2 screenshots from my info from diskpart

post-16702-0-72918700-1398304836_thumb.j

post-16702-0-37932700-1398305575_thumb.j

i hope that someone can help me to get this factory image woking

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I am not sure to understand your current situation (correct me if I am wrong in the following summming up).

  1. for *whatever* reasons your OS/PC was rendered unbootable
  2. you installed to it (temporarily) a "common" OEM Windows 8
  3. everything works now but the feature to re-install from scratch from the recovery partition (i.e. go back to factory settings) as in: http://support.asus.com/Troubleshooting/detail.aspx?SLanguage=en&m=G73Sw&os=&no=1775

Is it possible that the re-install overwrote *something* in the boot sequence that prevents you from F9 successfully.

I am not at all familiar with the Windows 8 recovery, but I presume it won't be that much different from the Vista/7 one, if this is the case, you may find some info here:

http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/128727-cant-access-repair-my-pc-option-via-f8-startup/

First thing to understand is if the F9 is something "built in the Windows 8 \boot\bcd" or it is a "special MBR code form Asus".

What happens when you boot?

Are you actually prompted for the F9 option and then it doesn't work? (ora are you not prompted anymore)?

Can you actually access the "recovery partition and list the files in it?

jaclaz

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Hy thanks for your reply. The f9 key doesn't work anymore. From asus I was told just press it when the asus logo appears on boot

There was no on screen message before about the f9 key

The laptop can boot into windows at the moment using a generic oem install

If I assign a grove letter to the recovery partition I can see that there still is the data on there

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Good :), but we still don't know if the "original" mechanism was (it can be anything of the following):

  1. "custom" Asus BIOS that provides F9 option (if a given set of conditions are met) before the hard disk is even accessed
  2. "custom" Asus MBR code that provides the F9 option before passing control to the VBR
  3. "custom" Asus change in the "standard" Microsoft Windows Recovery providing F9 option instead of the more common F8 (and this happens in the \boot\BCD, i.e. well after the MBR and VBR code have done what they are supposed to do.

Searching a bit for your issue I have seen - among the usual bunch of completely unuseful or plainly wrong threads on the matter - a couple ones hinting that the recovery partition is a bootable partition and that all is needed is to make it active and boot from it (to start the factory recovery process), but cannot say how reliable they are.

In any case, even if that works, it would mean to restore the thingy (at least the "C:\" drive) to factory settings (and most probably the F9 thingy will be back), but if the mechanism is in the MBR or elsewhere, it is very possible that only through a "full factory restore" you can get back the option.

Also it seems that pressing the F9 is particularly tricky (due to timing problems with the fastish booting machines), how exactly did you get to the:

i have part got the laptop to atleast recignise the recovery image as now i have the option to create a recovery drive, but upon testing it, it still asks for the media for install

?

Also I am not following you with the reagent.xml file.

Where did you find it?

How/why do you believe that it needed editing/adding that line?

Another of the threads I found talks of a AI (whatver it is) program and of a "changehd.exe" program that should re-connect the recovery disc making utility with the recovery image, see:

(but have no idea if this is what you are missing and/or if it is suitable to your specific model)

jaclaz

Edited by jaclaz
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There are some things I'm confused about. What OS came with the notebook originally? If it was Windows 8.1, it seems odd that it would be out of warranty already. It obviously had Windows 8.1 on it prior to installing the "OEM" version, as it is mentioned in the XML data.

Normally, when you update an 8 to 8.1, a second (bootable) recovery partition is created, but that doesn't show up in your diskpart screenshot. Was one of the recovery partitions deleted prior to this problem?

Booting into the remaining partition shouldn't be too difficult, but you'll need to post the results from BCDEDIT /ENUM ALL

You can use this thread for some reference, as there is little difference between 7 and 8:

http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/171410-how-to-repair-a-broken-windows-7-recovery-partition/

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ok here is the output from the bcdedit

OUTPUT.TXT

the laptop came with windows 8, i updated it to windows 8.1

i folowed some forums and a few people had this issue after updating the bios with windows 8.1, basically the laptop wouldnt boot , and windows couldnt even do the automatic repair

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Cannot say.

Your BCD has this entry:

Windows Boot Loader-------------------identifier {267d66e7-cac6-11e3-bf61-fbecbf5a7db4}device ramdisk=[C:]\Recovery\WindowsRE\Winre.wim,{267d66e8-cac6-11e3-bf61-fbecbf5a7db4}path \windows\system32\winload.efidescription Windows Recovery Environmentlocale en-USinherit {bootloadersettings}displaymessage Recoveryosdevice ramdisk=[C:]\Recovery\WindowsRE\Winre.wim,{267d66e8-cac6-11e3-bf61-fbecbf5a7db4}systemroot \windowsnx OptInbootmenupolicy Standardwinpe Yes

Which seems very similar to the one the ASUS AIrecovery appears to make (check the .cmd files in the ASUS.ZIP in the reference).

Looking at the names of the other files in it, and peeking in the "plain text" ones, it seems like the Asus AI recovery creates (or uses or both) a "normal" WinRE, but with a \GHOST\Winperestore.exe, which may (or may not) be connected with the good ol' Symantec Ghost.

It is VERY likely that this is the cause of the issue:

the laptop came with windows 8, i updated it to windows 8.1

but I am surprised (and deluded :(, as I usually hold the good Asus guys in the highest esteem) that they do not provide the tools to re-create the Recovery partition after the 8.1 Update (which according to the MS peeps is a sort of "compulsory" upgrade, not a "normal" update/Service Pack).

jaclaz

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