Is there a way to recreate the OEM Recovery Partition?

Ok, it appears my recovery partition is corrupt somehow. I have all the files from that partition backed up onto an external from when I first got the computer. My concern with recreating this is the ability to do a factory restore. Now I still can do a factory restore using the files on the external drive along with ImageX and it does work.....only issue I find is the option to enter system repair with F8 does not work. When you push F8 and select system repair, it just boots windows normally rather then enter WindowsRE. I've seen that you can't recreate one because most people are missing all the files for the Recovery partition, which I do have. I was wondering if an OEM partition is formatted in a different manner due to the fact that it does get listed in Disk Management as an OEM partition.

In all reality it's just another stupid thing I'm playing around with to teach myself more in depth computer skills. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

Different laptops use different recovery restoration methods.

For example, on my previous ASUS G73Sw Notebook, I have deleted the recovery partition because I hate the crapware that manfacturers pre-install on the system. But before deleting it, I did create the 5 or 6 DVD recovery media. Usually in more laptops, there is a way to create the recovery media on DVDs

So later on when I wanted to return the Notebook as I wasn't pleased with it, what I did was to insert the recovery DVDs and they restored my Notebook to factory state WITH the recovery partition.

What you can do is restore your system using the back image you have on your external HDD, then look for a recovery media creator, create those DVDs, then reboot your system and boot from the DVD 1, let it do its thing, that should restore your recovery partition back.

Please remember to backup all your files on other partitions to an external HDD before attempting to do this.

Good luck

 

If the laptop is an IBM/Lenovo, they have a download you can use to re-create the recovery partition when you install a new HDD.

Like berryracer though, I haven't used it because I don't care for the bloatware although IBM/Lenovo is more conservative in that area.

 

I have an alienware m17x, and am finding it difficult to find any way to create recovery media. The only option I think I have is to restore using the image I have, then use Dell Data Safe to recreate a new image backup and create recovery media from there. But that seems like a moot point because it will automatically revert to the same system I have (or at least I think it would). I'm a little confused as to how I would create recovery media off of all the files I have....i'm gonna try messing around some stuff...

 

The first thing I and many pros do when they buy a new laptop is delete the recovery partition and format the laptop, then install a clean version of Windows and they use the product key for Windows that came with the laptop (mostly it should be located in the sticker underneath the laptop) then install the latest drivers from the websites. You want to restore your recovery partition??? rolleyes I am shocked really!

Like Latest Intel Chipset Drivers, Latest Intel Rapid Storage Technology Drivers, Latest Intel Management Components, and Intel Turbo Boost (I Prefer v1 over v2 because v2's interface forces you to have it running in the taskbar whilst v1 only runs it as a desktop gadget), then install the latest graphics drivers then audio drivers then the remaining drivers.

Although this may seem daunting at first, once you have downloaded all the latest drivers and installed them. You will have a faster, cleaner system with none of the Alienware prebundled software that you probably don't need.

So I advice you to go to Alienware's site, and download all the drivers with the exception of the Intel specific Drivers as you can grab the latest ones directly from Intel and the same goes for the graphics drivers. If you have an nVIDIA, then you can get them from nVIDIA's website, select drivers, then select the model of your GPU, then select the version of your Windows (example: Windows 7 64-Bit), then download them. If you have an ATI driver then you are forced to get the drivers from Alienware as the ATI drivers don't allow installation on different brands of Laptops like nVIDIA does.

To make things easier, take a look at this guide I have created for the ASUS G73Sw I had earlier. Follow the guide from A to Z, it tells you how to legally download a Windows 7 DVD for installation, then you can activate it legally with your own product key, then you can install the latest drivers from that thread, obviously you only want to get the latest intel drivers and nVIDIA drivers from that thread since your laptop is different but do install the drivers in the same order. You need to download the other drivers from Alienware and install them in the order specified in that thread

ASUS G73Sw Clean Install Guide

 

I'd like to see a word of caution or a caveat in your post about deleting the recovery partition and formating a new laptop. That may work with Alienware since, as you say, they provide a Windows ISO file for download but not all manufacturers do this. So, before anyone decides to do as you advised, they should be absolutely sure the manufacturer of their system provides a free ISO download. Otherwise, the computer owner is going to end up having to spend some money to replace the deleted OS.

 

The guide I posted below provided legal download links for Windows 7 directly from DigitalRiver with verified hashes so she is not at the mercy of her notebook's manufacturer as to whether or not they provide an ISO image download of Windows.

That being said, the links in the guide below are clean images and they require you to have a Genuine Windows 7 key, which she can find underneath her laptop as long as she installs the right version of Windows 7... (example: your laptop came shipped with Windows 7 Home Premium, then download the Windows 7 Home Premium ISO 32 bit or 64 bit flavor depending on your system configuration, if you have more than 3 GB RAM then definitely download the 64 bit version and grab the latest 64 bit drivers from Alienware, if you have less than 3 GB RAM then you have a choice as to which version you install.) The key underneath your laptop on the sticker works for both 32 bit and 64 bit alike, the only thing is make sure you download the correct edition of Windows (Home Premium or whatever is written on the sticker)

 

I don't have a problem actually deleting the recovery partition, it's corrupted as is. I have a cd I created with all the drivers I need for fresh install. Now here lies my problem(s).

1) Alienware comes custom with a different splash screen, and backgrounds and themes set custom.

Now I can recreate that after doing a clean install as I have done before.

2) If I were to create a backup image after I reinstall windows will that Image contain the users I create after I install windows? Don't ask why, but I'm looking to avoid that issue.

3) Is there a way to create an image with all Alienware customizations and all drivers installed without having to create a user account?

The .wim file allows me to do that, and I'd be perfectly fine with the .wim being on an external hard drive....BUT, windowsRE does not function when I load from the external HD.

So my question now is can I somehow fix it so windowsRE works, or can I create a custom image without creating a user account?

Hopefully you guys followed what I a talking about lol....thanks in advance!

 

If you make an image of the Win7 installation for backup purposes, that image will be the entire HDD. When you restore the image, it will restore everything just as it was when it was made. If your plan is to restore the image to other computers, I can save you some headaches. It won't work. The installation is integrated to the specific hardware of the computer you are installing it to. When the hardware changes, as it would on a different machine, the system will fail to boot.

 

No I'm definitly not trying to install to a different machine, the drivers would never match up. I might be thinking of selling it though in which case I would prefer to have a factory restored system.

 

After you do the restore to sell the machine, just add a new user, I usually create one called "User". Then login as that user and remove your user name. It wouldn't take more then 2 or 3 minutes.