I have been asked by a friend to remove some files from his laptop and reset it to how it was when he first got it.
All files removed and deleted, but how do I reset it to first time use.
It is an Acer Aspire 8930g running Vista Home Premium
I know Google is my friend but can't find what I am looking for
Jim
IIRC Acers come with a restore disc. If your friend still has that, you should be able to just stick it in the drive and turn the machine on
And the disc "scrubbed". Deleting a file only raises a flag to say the disc space maybe reused by the filesystem it does not remove the data from the disc. It can be a trivial exercise to recover a "deleted" file. Plenty of cheap/free data recovery programs out there, also plenty of cheap/free disc scrubbers.
Scrub the disc partitions that have been previously used then reinstall the OS, followed by repeated application of updates until it says it's "up to date". Be aware that you don't want to scrub the parition that has your "recovery" copy of the OS on, unless you have the required discs and keys to install from that, not likely these days.
The first thing you (should) do with a new PC is make a recovery disc(s) so that you can scrub the recovery partition.
MBQ
Beware that the original Windows may be on the hard disk. Recovery disks often only act as a conduit to re-install Windows from the hard drive location. If you delete those files, format the hard drive, or even alter any partitions, you could be left with no operating system at all.
First boot the computer and check the screen for any function keys marked for recovery (or check the original documentation that came with the machine). Then re-boot and press that function key.
Acers tended to leave the customer to produce their own recovery disk and usually even provided 2 DVDs for this purpose. However, a lot of people have not understood the importance of those DVDs.
If you have already wrecked the OS files on the hard drive, you are left with two choices:
1 Buy a new copy of Windows 7 (around £75 from eBuyer) or 2 Install a copy of Ubuntu (free).
Aye, I'm aware of that and I *think* that is what two recent (last year) Vista machines do. Just gives you boot disc that allows access to the hidden OS partition, you can also access that via the boot process without any discs but I'd have to read the instructions .
I'm not convinced that the created recovery discs contain the full OS and even if they do I'd expect them to be tied to that particular HD and/or CPU and/or motherboard. Change any one and you have a whole stack of hoops to jump through.
Sounds more like the old "recovery disc" that would fit on a floppy and allow you to format the HDD and install CDROM drivers to allow you to re-install the OS.
None of the machines I have came with boot or recovery discs. You make your own, using the provided utility, which include the full OS. The instructions are quite clear that you can then recover the hidden partition for normal use should you so wish.
MBQ
Sounds more like the old "recovery disc" that would fit on a floppy and allow you to format the HDD and install CDROM drivers to allow you to re-install the OS.
None of the machines I have came with boot or recovery discs. You make your own, using the provided utility, which include the full OS. The instructions are quite clear that you can then recover the hidden partition for normal use should you so wish.
MBQ
Thank you for all your suggestions.
The recovery system was on a partition not seen by windows or at start up.
What you have to do is go into Bios, make sure that D2D is enabled, then restart machine and as it is starting up, press ALT + F10. This then starts the recovery process and it wipes the main drive and puts it back to factory settings.
The bit above is good to jot down should I have another one to do.
Regards,
Jim
but I'd have to read the instructions
Disgusting language. :-)
I shall have to have a dig about and see if I can find this utilty, it's certainly non-obvious. Control Panel > System and Maintence doesn't have it shown even in the small print. Typing "recovery" into the search box doesn't find it, quite a bit of mention about the supplied installation disc, that wasn't suplied. Or the "System Recovery Options" menu that I can't find either...
It's specific to the PC manufacturer. Do you have a directory of pre- loaded utilities? There's usually anti-virus, etc. On an IBM laptop it's part of the IBM utilities, "Access IBM" I think. You only get one chance to make a disc, presumably due to licensing. In effect, you are creating the install disc that used to be supplied with the machine.
MBQ
I try to avoid anything that is a freebie/optional/preloaded. Native OS then add what *I* want not Norton etc...
I've dug out the instructions that say press F8 during boot to get the recovery options menu. Except it doesn't do anything, at least not when booting from "restart"... Just got to the "Repair my PC" screen after F8 from a cold start but when you get to the menu there it doesn't offer a "create recovery discs" option of any form.
In article , the_constructor scribeth thus
A copy of Linux to replace that Virus you have there;!...
Have you already done it in the past, or was your machine secondhand? I ask because you only normally get one chance at creating the recovery discs. It's a one-time operation and then the disc creator utility sort of self-destructs (reminiscent of Mission Impossible but with out the magic smoke).
there
New machine and I haven't done it. It's been on the tuit list since I got it. B-)
It is an Acer utility program. They usually put a floating toolbar (basically green) on the desktop. You then click on one of the icons (I thing it is the third one from the left but am not certain) to make the recovery disk.
I does self destruct but if you re-install Windows from the hard drive you get another shot at it.
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