system recovery on xp

how to do system recovery on xp without a disc? I want to do this on somebody else computer. Just get it to its factory settings . get it to recovery console.

 

Unfortunately, you can't get to Recovery console WITHOUT the XP install CD. If it's XP Pro, ASR could have been set up but, it would have also needed the floppy that's created during the process.

 

You can go here to download the Recovery Console

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Simply Burn the ISO file to a CD and make sure the computer BIOS is set to run from CD first or tap the F12 key at start should get you the Boot menu and select CD

 

recovery console will get computer to factory settings? I wanted to wipe the hardrive at first but since I have no windows disc, I found and dowloaded a recovery console to burn on a disc but havent tried it yet. Its from the computer paramedic site.

I found another one and reading from the comments there was problems with the password and how you could not continue

 

No, it will not. You need an XP CD or a recovery partition/disks.

Not sure what that poster was referring to.

 

may2014, post the brand and exact model of computer. The computer might have a recovery partition and if you select a certain key or combination of keys, the restore/recovery partition will launch and get you back to factory conditions.

 

Obviously there isn't a recovery disk, but have you checked to see whether there is a recovery partition? If there is one you should be able to revert it to factory settings. If the system is bootable you could check in disk management to see what disks/partitions it has.

 

I will check back when i'm in front of that computer (its not mine) I just know it has xp on it I forgot the brand

 

Are you sure that "Recovery Console" you burned to CD wasn't the Automated System Recovery (ASR) CD that would have been generated by XP Pro (it's not available in XP Home)? You would also need the floppy disk that's also generated when you set up ASR.

If, in fact, the factory set up a recovery partition on the hard drive as Adrynalyne, plodr and Earthling stated, you would use that to restore the computer to factory settings.

 

its xp home on the computer, I have not burned the cd yet for the recovery console

 

Since it's XP Home, you can forget about running the F2 Recovery Console that would have been available in XP Pro.

PLEASE post the EXACT make and model of the computer so that someone like plodr can tell you how to restore it from the recovery partition if there is one.

If there isn't a Recovery Partition, then you'll have no choice but to re-install. See if your friend got CDs when they bought the computer. I ALWAYS make sure to at least get the OS CD.

 

Dell Dimension 2400 xp home edition no disc at startup i did ctrl+ f11 but no recovery console came up should i burn the recovery console iso i downloaded

 

I have a dimension 2400 running XP.
F12 gives you a boot menu and ctrl + F11 will give you a Dell Restore by Symantec window. Either click restore or tab to highlight restore.
More information here:
http://www.dell.com/support/trouble.../ArticleView?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&docid=DSN_181316

 

I have a dimension 2400 running XP.
F12 gives you a boot menu and ctrl + F11 will give you a Dell Restore by Symantec window. Either click restore or tab to highlight restore.
More information here:


I'm not at the computer now, but yesterday i pressed ctrl and f11 at the same time after the black dell screen came up and recovery never came up , it just booted normally into windows. maybe i did it wrong, but i did it 3 times. on the dell page its says press and hold ctrl first and then f11

 

I don't think you pressed the keys incorrectly if you released both at the same time as stated in the Dell instructions.

Is it possible that at some point in the past the hard drive was wiped and XP was re-installed? If this is the case, the Recovery Partition and related software for restoring the computer is gone and your only choice, now, would be a clean install.

Once again, see if your friend at least got the OS installation CD.

 

I went on a dell forum and read that in order to have the recovery feature the computer must have been purchased after july 14, 2004

I went to dell email technical support and put in the service code for the pc and the ship date is Jan. 3, 2004 so i guess it doesn't have it. I can't find the system disc either.

 

I'm glad you got that info. It means my Dimension 4500S didn't have the recovery feature either. It was purchased Dec. 2001.

As far as an XP install CD, your friend may need to purchase one from ebay. They have them starting at $17 but the one I found is $44.89 with free shipping. It comes with a product key!

If you get a Dell OEM CD, the product key on the computer will work. There are online instructions for changing the product key in XP.

Once the OS is installed, make sure to go back to the Dell Support site, enter the Service Tag number and get the drivers and downloads for that particular computer.