Using recovery discs

andymor
andymor Member Posts: 16 Troubleshooter
edited March 1 in 2020 Archives
I have a pack of 4 Acer discs labelled Base 1,2 & 3  & a disc labelled bootable. What discs do I need to use to restore PC to factory settings?

Best Answers

  • laurent_14
    laurent_14 ACE Posts: 10,297 Trailblazer
    edited April 2020 Answer ✓
    Hello,
    The video is old but the order is the same: bootable and after 1,2 and 3. First you have to change the boot order in the bios utility.
    France
  • andymor
    andymor Member Posts: 16 Troubleshooter
    Answer ✓
    Wow success. I need to thank everyone who responded to my dilemma but more so billsey who very patiently walked me through the process.
    I am disabled and shielding so was not able to bring anyone in. Once again a huge thank you it's much appreciated.
  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,101 Trailblazer
    Answer ✓
    Great! I love it when things finally come together. :)
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
«1

Answers

  • laurent_14
    laurent_14 ACE Posts: 10,297 Trailblazer
    edited April 2020 Answer ✓
    Hello,
    The video is old but the order is the same: bootable and after 1,2 and 3. First you have to change the boot order in the bios utility.
    France
  • andymor
    andymor Member Posts: 16 Troubleshooter
    Thanks for that, very helpful, will try it over the weekend.
  • andymor
    andymor Member Posts: 16 Troubleshooter
    Tried the restore. When I say that I would like the bootable disc to restore to factory defaults Acer management says that I need to delete all programs/files from my hard disk, can't perform task while there are still files on hard disk. I click ok and PC boots into windows. Have tried a few times with the same outcome.
  • ttttt
    ttttt Member Posts: 1,947 Community Aficionado WiFi Icon
    Dear andymor,

       Are you trying to repair the Windows or trying to restore? I just did a restore a few days ago (check  my post July 17 under "Deleting unwanted OS in UEFI BIOS"). Do you know how to delete all files from the HDD or formatting it?
  • andymor
    andymor Member Posts: 16 Troubleshooter
     Thanks for the reply. I am trying to restore to factory settings.
  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,101 Trailblazer
    @andymor can you show us a picture when that message is displayed? Normally you boot from the boot disk, tell it to restore to factory, and the restore process wipes all the existing data from the drive for you.
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • andymor
    andymor Member Posts: 16 Troubleshooter
    Thanks for the reply. I will try for a photo tomorrow.
  • andymor
    andymor Member Posts: 16 Troubleshooter
    Managed to get some photos this morning, in the first photo there is only one option to choose, when I click on this I get the message in photo two. When I click ok as in photo two PC just boots into Windows. 
  • ttttt
    ttttt Member Posts: 1,947 Community Aficionado WiFi Icon
    Dear Billsey,
           Seems like andymor's problem now is because this Acer restore disk is not smart enough to format the hard disk before restoring. 
             I believe it is a good idea to create a repair disk from Windows first.

    Control Panel -> System and Securities -> Backup and Restore (Windows 7) ->  Left panel select create a repair disk.

    Andymor, before you do something first, be sure you know which partition you want to format (usually the bigger size partition, the smaller partition is probably a recovery partition, or the recovery partition may not exist, since you have separate recovery disks) under "This PC". Note the drive letter , usually drive C:

    With the repair disk in, start the PC, go to the boot menu and select to boot from the DVD drive. Let it boot up. Try to find the "Command Prompt" section. Once in, type " Format C:", whereas C: is the partition/HDD to be cleaned.

    Once formatted, the HDD/partition should be clean. Shut down. Change for your set of restore disks and try it again.

    For me, I prefer restoring from a previously stored image  with an external HDD or flash drive to a factory reset.This will retain the recent files. Probably your need is different, so you want a factory reset.

    Tell us if it works!
  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,101 Trailblazer
    OK, yes it looks like the recovery package is trying to make it hard for you to screw up and fully wipe stuff. :) Since you are trying for a full wipe you don't need to backup your old data. There are two methods to get it wiped, the one ttttt suggests just deletes why is on the C: drive, the other wipes all partitions and has the recovery disks recreate them as needed. For that you use the same command prompt to run an an application called diskpart:
    diskpart
    list disk
    (this will give you a list of the disks that are mounted, likely disk 0 will be the disk with the C: partition, check to be sure)
    select disk 0
    (or 1, or 2, which ever is the main disk you identified before)
    list part
    (this gives the list of partitions on the disk. Your machine is an older one, the partitions might be setup for the newer stuff with three or four partitions or might be for the older with only one or two partitions)
    clean
    (That should wipe all the partitions and give you a clean, empty disk for the install to use)
    You can verify it's been successful with another "list part".
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • andymor
    andymor Member Posts: 16 Troubleshooter
    ttttt said:
    Dear Billsey,
           Seems like andymor's problem now is because this Acer restore disk is not smart enough to format the hard disk before restoring. 
             I believe it is a good idea to create a repair disk from Windows first.

    Control Panel -> System and Securities -> Backup and Restore (Windows 7) ->  Left panel select create a repair disk.

    Andymor, before you do something first, be sure you know which partition you want to format (usually the bigger size partition, the smaller partition is probably a recovery partition, or the recovery partition may not exist, since you have separate recovery disks) under "This PC". Note the drive letter , usually drive C:

    With the repair disk in, start the PC, go to the boot menu and select to boot from the DVD drive. Let it boot up. Try to find the "Command Prompt" section. Once in, type " Format C:", whereas C: is the partition/HDD to be cleaned.

    Once formatted, the HDD/partition should be clean. Shut down. Change for your set of restore disks and try it again.

    For me, I prefer restoring from a previously stored image  with an external HDD or flash drive to a factory reset.This will retain the recent files. Probably your need is different, so you want a factory reset.

    Tell us if it works!
    Hi ttttt thanks for your post. When I try your solution (a few times) I always get the message "An incorrect volume label was entered for drive C:"
  • ttttt
    ttttt Member Posts: 1,947 Community Aficionado WiFi Icon
    Dear Andymor,

       Seemed the restore disc looks for a certain volume label to put the contents in it. Formatting the hard disk had the volume label erased too. Do you remember what volume label was on it originally? If not, try to ask someone who has a similar model and take note of it, with the hope of entering it back to he drive C with Command Prompt.

    I hope you have an image file saved previously, in he worst case you still can go back to the original state.

  • ttttt
    ttttt Member Posts: 1,947 Community Aficionado WiFi Icon
    Dear Andymor,

    Originally, under "This PC", did you just see C: and nothing else following it?
    In command prompt, can you see the C: drive now? If not, we can assign it back.
  • andymor
    andymor Member Posts: 16 Troubleshooter
    ttttt said:
    Dear Andymor,

    Originally, under "This PC", did you just see C: and nothing else following it?
    In command prompt, can you see the C: drive now? If not, we can assign it back.

    ttttt said:
    Dear Billsey,
           Seems like andymor's problem now is because this Acer restore disk is not smart enough to format the hard disk before restoring. 
             I believe it is a good idea to create a repair disk from Windows first.

    Control Panel -> System and Securities -> Backup and Restore (Windows 7) ->  Left panel select create a repair disk.

    Andymor, before you do something first, be sure you know which partition you want to format (usually the bigger size partition, the smaller partition is probably a recovery partition, or the recovery partition may not exist, since you have separate recovery disks) under "This PC". Note the drive letter , usually drive C:

    With the repair disk in, start the PC, go to the boot menu and select to boot from the DVD drive. Let it boot up. Try to find the "Command Prompt" section. Once in, type " Format C:", whereas C: is the partition/HDD to be cleaned.

    Once formatted, the HDD/partition should be clean. Shut down. Change for your set of restore disks and try it again.

    For me, I prefer restoring from a previously stored image  with an external HDD or flash drive to a factory reset.This will retain the recent files. Probably your need is different, so you want a factory reset.

    Tell us if it works!
    Hi ttttt thanks for your post. Sorry so late but just had a couple of days in hospital. I recovered PC to windows with no Acer add ons thinking that a fresh edition of windows might boot into Acer recovery discs but no such luck. The volume label now is DATA (C:) but I honestly can't remember if this would be the original.


    Hi Billsey, I can try your solution tomorrow, am just going to rest up today. I am glad of the suggestions from both of you.
  • ttttt
    ttttt Member Posts: 1,947 Community Aficionado WiFi Icon
    Dear Andymor,

        I hope you recover your health and get well. Do not bother with the PC for the mean time.
  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,101 Trailblazer
    And keep us informed as to your progress when you do get back to it.
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • andymor
    andymor Member Posts: 16 Troubleshooter
    Thanks for your good wishes> 
  • andymor
    andymor Member Posts: 16 Troubleshooter
    Billsey. Tried your fix and everything was ok until I enter list part and then I get this message "There is no disk selected to list partitions. Please select a disk and try again" I select Disk 1 option which shows a drive with 2794GB mine is 3TB so this is obiously my C drive. 
  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,101 Trailblazer
    You missed the select disk # command was all. When you list partitions it only can show you them for the selected disk, and if none is selected it throws that error. Just select disk 1 to be looking at that 3TB disk.
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • andymor
    andymor Member Posts: 16 Troubleshooter
    Hi billsey, still no luck.
    This is the sequence I have used.
    diskpart > enter
    list disk > enter
    disk 1 > enter
    list part > enter
    Here I get the message "There is no disk selected to list partitions.  Select a disk and try again" and after this I get the diskpart prompt again.

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