Setup Installation :: How Does GPT Table Fit Into Backup / Recovery Scheme
Mar 19, 2013
I will be receiving a new laptop shortly, namely the Yoga 13, whose SSD is partitioned into no less than 8 partitions from the factory. I suppose the first thing I'd like to do is backup the entire drive with all its original partitions before I start messing with it. I've heard good things about the free version of Paragon, so I think I will use that with their USB boot key. Questions:
1. Would I indeed be able to restore the factory SSD *exactly* the way it was prior to backing up the entire disk, partitions and all, from an external USB drive?
2. How is a backup/restore related to the GPT table of the GPT disk? In other words, if I plan to wipe the disk and re-install Windows 8 from media, doesn't this Windows 8 install write to the GPT table? And if so, would a restore of the factory disk also restore that GPT table?
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Feb 18, 2013
I purchased a new laptop with windows 8 and used the options in windows 8 to create recovery media and chose the usb drive option. I was wondering if I would be able to copy the files in the usb drive onto my external HD; then if I ever need them I could put them back onto a usb drive and reinstall windows 8. I took a screenshot of the files on the usb drive.
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Jan 24, 2014
I have a Lenovo Z710 laptop(see spec's)and want to make a recovery USB and also setup a backup system. This is a new machine and I don't want to make a mess of it.
I have a 32GB USB drive to make the Recovery on.Lenovo refers me to this method to make a Recovery USB :Methodology to create Recovery Media and reload a Lenovo Think system with Microsoft Windows 8 preload
Is this a good way to do this or is there a better way ?
I also need to setup a backup system, what is the best program to use for this, paid or not ?
I have a 1TB HDD in an external enclosure with 3.0 USB cable to use for the backup's.
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Jun 20, 2014
If you have a recovery drive - that includes the recovery partition - made on one computer, but have a toshiba laptop with a bad drive (but the recovery partition is ok), can you replace/copy the partition on the recovery drive with the recovery partition from the bad laptop HD?
My friend's laptop would not boot, and would not factory recover, reset, or refresh. I tried to clone the hard drive before I started messing with the disc. It would not clone, but I was able to copy the recovery partition to a USB drive.
He never make recovery discs, so could not re-install, but I can borrow the recovery drive that my aunt made for her laptop.
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May 31, 2014
My system: dell inspiron 14R 5421
O.S. Windows 8.1
Dell Backup and Recovery 1.7.1.2
All software updated
Dell Backup and Recovery software has not been able to detect or use "the second dvd blank disk" on my computer.
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Feb 18, 2013
I am trying to create recovery discs from "Dell backup and Recovery application" however when i was asked to insert the second DVD,the optical drive keeps rejecting the DVD. The application will not continue to burn the second DVD and appears to be frozen. I tried with different brands/makers of DVD and also -/+ R. Unfortunately .Issue remains. I was able to find this article 593906 Published on 2013-01-21 ( relative link [URL]... ).
Although i have done the updates ,i am still not able to create recovery discs !! Current Issue: after inserting the 3rd Disc application gives the following message "Dbr.exe -No disc found" and stays there and rejects the DVD. I spoke with Dell's Greek Support team. I was told that warranty does not cover sw support even if my unit is less than a week old. Furthermore i was informed that although "Dell backup and recovery" application says DELL is not actually a Dell product thus they can't support it. They suggested my to use windows 7 file recovery instead (which needs at least 8 DVDs !).
(Model : inspiron 15 3521) .
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Jan 28, 2013
Is it possible not to have the partition "recovery"?
Because if you look at the two tutorials:
- UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) - Install Windows 7 with - Windows 7 Forums
- UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) - Install Windows 8 with
In the tutorial to install Windows 7 in UEFI, there is not that damn partition recovery, while in the tutorial for Windows 8, we can see it.
When I install Windows 7 (MBR mode), I avoid this partition "recovery" by creating a partition with a name before installation. I install the OS on it and everything is fine, no partition "recovery" But here, since one must delete all partitions, If I create a GPT disk with a partitioning tool before installing, is that it might be appropriate?
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Jan 8, 2013
Have just purchased this; HP Pavilion g6-2210sa 15.6" Laptop - Red Deals | Pcworld Upon hearing that I was up for the challenge of setting it up myself, the sales assistant pointed out that the very first thing I must do is back up the OS (windows 8).
I asked, 'oh, is the OS on a hidden partition?' .. and he said no, its in the BIOS. And I only have one chance to make a back-up copy, as soon as I switch on. Also; if I have software issues after that point, but haven't backed up the OS, I can't claim it under the manufacturer's warranty as an issue.
I believe that the .. key? .. is in the bios now, so I never have to worry about losing it, but apart from that .. egad.
Is there an auto-prompt, or do I need to do a regular ol' back-up .. and where do I back it up to, a separate hard drive/dvd etc?
So. I have this shiny, new, laptop. In it's shiny, new, unopened box, right now. And am starting to wonder if I should have coughed up the £50 to get 'em to set it up for me..!
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Jan 13, 2014
I used to use Windows Easy Transfer to backup my settings and files before reinstalling/reimaging...etc - now that doesn't exist, and File History really doesn't cut it when it comes to apps and settings.
A system image really won't work either, as I need to reinstall windows 8.1 on a new system with different partitioning...etc.
Are there any Windows 8.1 native tools that will do it? If not, are there any freeware apps that perform the equivalent?
I have checked out Paragon Backup and Recovery (more all-or-nothing) and D7 (freeware version doesn't have automated restore - but it does create registry dumps...hmmm) but neither seems to work as simply/well as WET used to.
I have tried just saving the User profile folder, but unfortunately, that doesn't save anything that's in the registry (outlook profiles, app settings...etc).
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Nov 14, 2013
I just bought a new Gateway laptop that's come pre-installed with Windows 8.
I've just gone through the initial setup and before I use it, need to make the initial Windows 8 and system backup incase I need to restore the system should something go wrong.
I want to do this BEFORE anything (I've not even installed any anti-virus yet)...
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Jul 1, 2014
My Asus laptop does not give me an option to make recovery CD's it only shows USB as the only option. The laptop has no built in CD-DVD but I have external drive..... Can I make recovery CD's.... I did make a recovery USB but would like CD'S also,
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Jun 28, 2013
How to Backup Windows 8.1 ? I can not find the option to repair disc and system image .
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Jan 12, 2013
When i try to install 2. OS on my PC , I deleted to win 8 and recovery partitions. How can i install new win 8 ?
I couldn't install because serial problem happen. Although i have a serial i can't enter. Win 8 use embedded serial and so I can't enter another serial. What can I do ?
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Jun 29, 2014
I recently picked up an Asus laptop, a SDD to replace the the laptop's HDD, and a HDD caddy to hold the HDD in place of the CD/DVD drive. After a fresh Win 8.1 install on the SDD, I made system images of both the SDD and the HDD with the Win 8 OEM install (both stored on external drive). I also created a USB recovery drive and then formatted the HDD.
Fast forward a few weeks... It's last Friday. I'm about to leave for a business trip. I boot up my laptop and a screen comes up telling me to "reboot and select proper boot device". I pull the SDD out, hook it up to my desktop, and see that the drive shows up, but it's blank. A little googling turned up a few reviews from other people with the same issue. On rare occasion, it will wipe itself. Using the USB recovery drive and the Win 8.1 system image, I got things up and running again.
Now for my question, instead of constantly carrying around the 2 USB drives holding the recovery and system image, can I create a recovery partition on my HDD that I can boot too if my SDD wipes again? (Could I copy or clone my Recovery USB to a partition on my HDD?) Then I could just keep the SSD system image on the HDD in case I need to restore it, right?
Disk 0: SDD disk that wiped itself
Disk 1: HDD that I'd like to have a recovery partition and system image on
I also have: Win 8 OEM system imageWin 8.1 system imageRecovery USB drive (8.1)Win 8.1 USB Install drive
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Jan 6, 2013
I bought a new PC the other day, and it has Windows 8. It advised me to make recovery disks, so I started the Setup Wizard. However, when it tried to actually burn the first disk there was an error, and it didn't complete.
Now, when I try to do the recovery disks again, right after it has prepared the files, the following error comes up: "Unhandled Exception: cannot create a file when that file already exists.".
So i'm a bit stuck. Is there a way to get my recovery disks done?
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Oct 18, 2013
I run 3 HDS. 1 SSD, and 2 normal drives.
I just clean formatted my SSD and installed Windows 8 on it, which I always put on that drive.
However I am seeing a bunch of partitions, 4 recovery partitions. Are these normal? If not, how would I get rid of them?
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Jun 15, 2014
One of the first things I did when I had my new PC last year was to make a set of recovery discs. Now having used the free upgrade to Windows 8.1 I would like to make a set of backup discs for this version, however, my pc say that a set has already been made and I can only make the one set.
If things stay like this, when I want to do a recovery using either the hdd partition or the discs I made, it installs Windows 8 and then I have to install what seems like a million updates before I then have to go back to the store and do the upgrade to 8.1.
Is there a way I can make a recovery dvd's for the 8.1 version ?
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Nov 15, 2013
OK, my company has a licensing agreement with MS with Software Assurance, so i downloaded the US English Win 8.1 Pro ISO.
Details on the ISO below:
MD5 (SW_DVD5_Win_Pro_8.1_64BIT_English_MLF_X18-96634.ISO) = ae933ae02925d6ece7f325ca93dcb118
First I tried installing on a late 2013 27" iMac running Mavericks. I ran the Boot Camp Assistant and tried installing multiple times, both options: 1) with a DVD (which was verified when burned) and USB drive for the Apple drivers, & 2) with a USB drive only, that Apple extracts the ISO to and loads its drivers on. Each time I got the following message:
RECOVERY
Your PC needs to be repaired
The operating system couldn't be loaded because a critical system driver is missing or contains errors.
File:windowsSystem32DriversNtfs.sys
You'll need to use the recovery tools on your installation media. If you don't have any installation media (like a disc or USB device), contact your system administrator or PC manufacturer.
Press Enter to try again
Press F8 for Startup Settings
If I simply power off the iMac and boot it back up, it goes straight into OS X. If I run Boot Camp Assistant again, it prompts me to remove Windows & resizes the disk back to all OS X.
So I decided to try on an old DELL that uses a BIOS and is already running Windows 8.1 Pro. It fails if I try to run setup.exe from within Windows, & if I boot with the DVD I get the exact same message I get on the iMac.
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Nov 10, 2013
After upgrading from 8.0 Pro to 8.1 Pro, the "Windows 7 Recovery" desktop app had disappeared. How can I recreate the "Windows 7 Recovery" in 8.1 Pro?
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Oct 21, 2013
My son's laptop (Windows 8) failed, and despite F9 options to reset or refresh, and CHKDSK was unable to recover the system due to bad disk sectors. I bought a new disk , but as I had made no recovery media, and the OEM doesn't supply any, I have no way of reinstalling Windows 8.
However I did mange to install Ubuntu Linux on the new disk and the Laptop is now working fine. Out of curiosity I connected the old bad disk via a USB enclosure, and lo and behold Disk utility was able to read the OEM Recovery and Restore partitions. I have made several copies of these on a Win 7 laptop, USB and LInux partitions, and all look good (as far as i can tell).
My issue is that as the OEM recovery partitions seem fine, I reckon they should be installable onto the new disk, but I am at a loss as to how I can use this data to reinstall Win 8 onto my laptop. Most of the advice I can see assumes a working copy of WIn 8 or having a retail Win 8 ISO, which of course I do not have. Remember , unlike Win 7, WIn 8 has no product key identifiable as it is contained in the BIOS somewhere, but I reckon it should recognise the OEM's recovery partition if I only could manage to load it.
I now have a sketchy knowledge of lots of new terms (mounting , partitioning, MBRs, boot sequences etc ) so exactly what to do. [ The tutorial on this form requires a retail win 8 ISO]. I did find a Linux method involcing DD, DDRESCUE , PARTPROBE etc ) which I have tried but all to no avail - I am sure I was close though! ]
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Dec 14, 2013
Basically, I upgraded from windows 8 to 8.1 a few weeks ago and since I could barely run any games, they have compatibility issues and all sorts.
I tried updating my drivers, it says they're all up to date I spent countless hours looking for solutions on how to downgrade All the solutions require me to have a disk, but I lost it I also looked up on how to set it back to it's factory setting, but it doesn't work
I was told to press F8 or F9 (can't remember at them moment) as soon as the computer turns on until the recovery screen pops up, but it never does.
I'm using an Alienware x51. Is it even possible to reset my computer without the disk? if not, then where can i get another disk that came with the computer?
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Dec 20, 2013
I am sure I have recovery images. Factory, and refresh. Asus shipped no recovery media. I obtained a copy of windows 8. I found out what my product key is. I have attempted every which way i can think of to get my system to recognize my recovery images exist. If i try to use "reset your pc" option it tells me unable to reset your pc. A required drive partition is missing.
If i choose system image recovery, hit cancel because it thinks the partition that definitely exists, doesn't, choose select a system image. Gives me a blank list. Choose Advanced...install a driver (you don't need to install sata driver as it recognizes my hard drive and Is listing it to choose a driver from should need be) i get an error installation had failed.
Internal error occurred (0x8007054F). No matter which driver IM trying to install. Usb, sata, dvd etc... So can't get my system image from my 32 gig stick, or my hdd.Image won't fit on dvd's. Worried i won't be able to do a clean install, as Asus's backups seem do reliable in mysituation(sarcasm) that i will lose all functionality like DVD playback, smart gesture touchpad, and some driver related setbacks.
I have checked and rechecked, and i have three system images to choose from. Total of six partitions.
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Jul 16, 2014
i installed monitoring and filtering software on the computer. my kids just restarted the computer and choose refresh and it was gone. in win 7 i set a new restore point and deleted the previous ones solving that problem. i know that there is a way to not allow using the system refresh with group policy and regedit hacks but i would not like to have to go down that road.
how can i control what the restore and refresh settings do?
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Aug 6, 2014
I have some problems with my laptop ASUS K55VD. I had windows 8, but with the store of windows I have updated to windows 8.1.
I have tried to use the recovery partition, but every time I try appears a message. Failed to reset your computer. A partition of unity necessary is missing.
For that reason I have looking for some information, and with CMD commands like "diskpart". I have noticed that I have 8 volumen.
And in Computer Management appears this.
Then googling recommend to use EaseUS Partition, and some many things change. In the beginning, I had the same 3 partions in red and I don't know what happened.
But in diskpart change too, and I only have 4 volume, and it have dissapeared the recovery partition, and I don't know why?
Before to use EaseUS partition I have created a USB booteable with 9.79gb, and I had this:
But, in this days I have tried to create the USB booteable again, but I can't. And everytime I have tried to run the usb, appears to select the language, the keyboard, and then appears the same windows with troubleshoting and turn off (it returns at the previous windows in blue)
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Jul 25, 2013
My daughter brought her Gateway NE71B laptop to me because it was running like a snail. She had NO anti-virus software so I plugged in an external HDD and created what I thought was a Recovery Partition. When I had the computer boot to the external drive I tried the auto repair twice and failed both times.
When I tried to recover from the external drive I got an error message that said I/O error that could be caused by the fact that a portable device needed to be plugged in to continue.
Didn't know what to do so I unplugged the drive and tried again. No bootable devices found. Plugged the external drive back in and got the same I/O error. So I thought I'd just order the recovery media from Gateway. The day it arrived, I put the System Recovery disk in, It booted to the recovery screen with 3 options; Full recovery (original factory setup), Full recovery after removing data and Exit. I've tried both the first 2 options and up pops a window that says; Recovery must be done in Legacy Mode.
So I changed the bios from UEFI to legacy, restarted the computer with the Sys. Disk still in DVD tray, It start to load the recovery screen and up pops a window that says; Recovery Can Only Be Done In UEFI Mode.
If I were to guess, I would say I have an MBR virus and it's playing tricks with me. I've ordered a new identical hard drive to install when it arrives and hope to be able to get the recovery media to get back to normal.
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Jan 27, 2013
I have a brand new system with an OEM version of Windows 8 installed (Core not Pro)
ASUS CM 6870
2 TB HD
16 TB RAM
ASUS P8H77-M Pro Motherboard
The new system works well but I have also purchased an OCZ Vector 256GB SSD and intend to install it as my primary hard drive.
ASUS didn't and will not supply a recovery disk.
ASUS provides an activation key for a downloadable version of Acronis True image. I tried that but their version is not compatible with Windows 8. I managed to get a newer version but it didn't recognize that the SSD was installed.
Next, I used Win 8 to make a recovery drive USB drive thinking that I would be able to do a clean install of Win with it. I had the 2TB HD disconnected and the SSD installed but the recovery drive refused to install Win 8. I either got the message "The drive where windows is installed is locked. Unlock and try again." or "The drive is too small to format" (the wording on the last may not be exact)
I was able to "find" a Windows 8 ISO file. I burned it to a DVD and was able to install Win 8 but it was not a UEFI installation. There were only 2 SSD HD partitions: 1. System Reserved - 350 MB NTFS. 2. 238.13 GB NTFS Healthy.
I then deleted these volumes and followed the UEFI installation instructions in the thread:
UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) - Install Windows 8 with
Windows installed but it was not a UEFI installation. I got the same partitions as above. At step 6, I only saw the 2 partitions. I tried this process twice with the same results.
The USB stick was prepared using the instructions in this thread:
UEFI Bootable USB Flash Drive - Create in Windows
I think that the USB drive should have had 4 partitions on it but it only has one:
7.47 GB FAT32 Healthy.
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Aug 22, 2014
All of a sudden I can't reliably play any video media on my Win 8 64bit computer -- was working fine yesterday and AFAIK nothing (other than perhaps Windows automatic updates) changed. My first thought was to try and restore but even though I'm sure I created a restore point it tells me there isn't one. Sigh.
Okay, so then I try to perform a reset (but keeping all my files) and it tells me some files are missing and to insert my recovery media. All well and good, I actually have that (and know where it is) but when I insert the disk it tells me it is NOT a recovery disk.
It is, of course, precisely that -- a Windows 8 Recovery Media for Windows 8 Products 64 bit. I am running an official copy of Win 8 (well, 8.1, but I have no media for that since it was a free update). Yes, it's OEM (Dell) but that shouldn't make a difference. And, more importantly, what I am to do now?
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Jun 8, 2014
So I'm using linux on my hp laptop where was previously windows 8. I have made backup of Windows 8 with HP recovery manager on a dvd and completely formated hdd. Now I want to install windows 8 but only on external hdd. I have tried using official windows 8 iso but it says that my key cannot be used to install retail version of Windows 8.
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Sep 15, 2014
I have a dell laptop with winows 8 preinstalled on it. Soon after the purchase of my laptop I created recovery disk. It had only a single partion that time (Only C drive). Later I created a new partition 'D' from the existing space in C drive. Now my question is , can I still use the windows recovery disc that I created at the time when I had just one partition (just C drive)??
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May 18, 2014
After a upgrade from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1, I seem to have lost my ability to use the recovery partition. Every time I go and use it I get an error message Unable to reset your PC. A required drive partition is missing.
I have contacted ASUS for recovery DVD's however I was told to go to a authorized repairer to have it fixed for a fee. My last laptop was able to burn recovery DVD's but not this one.
I understand that Windows 8.1 creates a new recovery partition for itself however I did read on this forum it is possible to get it back to default settings.
Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE) and system reset configuration
Information:
Windows RE status: Enabled
Windows RE location: ?GLOBALROOTdeviceharddisk0partition2RecoveryWindowsRE
Boot Configuration Data (BCD) identifier: ba08d678-3e5b-11e2-b26a-a34ba04e3737
Recovery image location: ?GLOBALROOTdeviceharddisk0partition5RecoveryImage
Recovery image index: 2
Custom image location:
Custom image index: 0
Partition ### Type Size Offset
------------- ---------------- ------- -------
Partition 1 System 300 MB 1024 KB
Partition 2 Recovery 900 MB 301 MB
Partition 3 Primary 372 GB 1201 MB
Partition 4 Recovery 350 MB 373 GB
Partition 5 Recovery 20 GB 373 GB
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Jun 25, 2014
I installed Ubuntu 14.04 a few weeks ago and I was happy about it, but I need to sell this PC and I need to install Windows in it. The problem here is that I erased the recovery partition by accident and I can't install Windows with a CD because my computer doesn't have a disk case, the model of my PC is Lenovo Yoga 11s.
I tried to make a booteable Windows 7 USB with Unetbootin, but the BIOS doesn't let me boot from the USB slot. My BIOS configuration was in Legacy Support and my USB was the priority to boot. My USB was formatted in NTFS. When I open the boot menu it take me to the Grub of Ubuntu.
I don't know what else to do... I just need to install Windows, it doesn't matter if is 7 or 8.
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