Iconia W700 Recovery Partition

My unit came with three partitions on the SSD drive, Acer C:\, the EFI System Partition and the Recovery Partition.

It also came with four DVD's, the System DVD, a Recovery DVD, Recovery DVD Disc 1 of 2 and a Revocery DVD Disc 2 of 2.

I have a USB3 DVD/CD W/R drive and when I place anyone of the discs into the drive, I'm told that the disc isn't compatable or is invalid.

So my questions are....

If the W700 came with 4 Discs for recovering, what is the Recovery Partition used for?

The Recovery Partition doesn't show a drive letter, and "Disk Management" only shows the "Help" when I right click on the partition. What do I need to do to add a drive letter to the Recovery Partition?

If I have the 4 disc for recovering the computer, do I still need the Recovery Partition?

and if not, how do I free up the disk space?

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most

Hi Harvey,

Can't wait to see any helping replies here. Got a similar issue where I cannot recover the system Form my Set of discs after installing a new mSATA SSD (was taken from a laptop with a preinstalled Win7).

Just to make sure: Did you enter the EFI and changed the boot disc prio so that your USB CD comes first? Mine does boot from the system DVD but after some minutes it tells me to boot in Legacy BIOS Mode. If I change that, it tells me to boot in UEFI Mode. So always the Otter mode. This is where I'm stuck and wld appreciate some help.

Anwers to your question might help me as well...

Tnxx

Harvey

Most,

Yes, I made the changes to the BIOS. The computer will boot to a CD/DVD but.... and that is a big BUTT..

when I attempt to read from any one of the four DVD's that came with the computer as well as a Windows8 Recovery disk that I created using the tablet, I end up with the dang error message that the Disc isn't valid.

I'm at the point where I could say...."Most people have less problems with their drug addicted children than we are having with this dang tablet."

Harvey

I just ordered a replacement for my CD/DVD RW. The one that I was using is a ASUS, and the one I ordered is a Samsung. Maybe the problem is with the optical reader.... When I get it, I'll post the results here.

most

Well I figured out that you need to boot it with the system DVD.
BE PATIENT!
It takes a few minutes while the Acer keeps displaying the boot logo, but you should hear the drive spinning. Initially, I turned it off cause I thought it wouldn't work, but after reading some posts I gave it a try...
So, nothing...?
Btw, I have a Samsung DVD drive, however I tend to believe it doesn't matter
Good luck!

most

Harvey

Thank you, Most.

What I experienced was this....

When asked to insert the DVD Recovery media the drive would speed up, the light would flash for a moment and then the screen would indicate that the media wasn't valid. All four original disks produced the same error message. Interesting also is that I created a recovery disk on that drive using the Tablet's software to create it and it too produced the same error message.

That is why I ordered the Samsung drive, to see if the ASUS drive is defective.

Harvey

Isn't it interesting how few responces are being posted by the Acer Support team?!!!?

most

well, on the one hand youre right. imagine, they wd reply on any other post. its like opening the boarders... and not long before people get demanding...

actually, me as an Acer mgr, I would just sit back and let the children play and only get active if someone gets hurt.

and this is what I can see.

????

Harvey

OK, folks. So here we go.

I purchased a new Samsung USB3 external DVD RW. Plugged the Iconia W700 into the cradle. To the cradle I added a Microsoft USB Wireless 3000 mouse, a USB keyboard and the Samsung DVD drive. I then plugged the power supply into the cradle.

The Windows 8 Recover disk that I made from the ISO image, booted. I had access to the tools on that disc.

I then attempted to boot to the original System DVD that came with the tablet. After around a minute or two, I had access to the tools on that disc. With this information, it appeared that the external drive functions.

I then booted back into the tablet, and from the Charms menu, I clicked on Settings. Then "Change PC Settings". I then clicked on "General". I then scrolled down to "Refresh your PC without affecting your files" and followed the instructions. I then attempted to read the Recovery DVD's. All four DVD's failed with the same error message..."The media inserted is not valid."

Two USB3 DVD drives and both come up with the same error message. How can this be? Is the fault within the Iconia W700 or the Recovery media?

So here is a challenge to any employee of Acer....

If the Recovery Partition can't be booted into under Windows 8, why was it created in the first place?

If the Recovery media (the DVD's) present an error message when the Recovery software is attempting to read from them, what was the point in even providing them with the computer?

If the Recovery Partition can't bo booted into and the Recovery media doesn't function, how are the users supposed to recover from problems without needing to send the unit into the service department which is not free for units older than three months? We have to pay for shipping back to the service department. What "Bull Roar!"

Acer..... What the hell is going on? Why aren't any of your tech support personel reading these forums?

Cory-Acer

Harvey wrote:
Acer..... What the hell is going on? Why aren't any of your tech support personel reading these forums?

This community forum is setup to allow for an exchange of ideas and information from other Acer users. I can assure you that we are reading the forums, we have many discussions on the content of what we see. While the community is an alternative to our standard support options (Phone, Email or Chat), it is a peer to peer design, and not a replacement for Acer warranty support.

To address your issue, it sounds like you're trying to use the recovery media within Windows, and receiving this error. I would start by reviewing our FAQ on how to recovery the W700. https://acer.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/29959

Harvey

Acer-Cory,

Thank you for the response. It helps to know that Acer Support personel are reading these posts.

Now on to my problem. I re-read the link that you posted above. Yes, I am trying to use the recovery media within Windows as the instructions say that I can.

From the Charms menu, I clicked on Settings. Then "Change PC Settings". I then clicked on "General". I then scrolled down to "Refresh your PC without affecting your files" and I followed the instructions. They tell me to install the Recovery DVD's and when I do I end up with the error message. All four DVD's failed with the same error message..."The media inserted is not valid." If the instructions within Windows tells me to install the media, shouldn't the media be capable of being read especially since the media is from Acer? Should I be contacting Microsoft to solve this problem since it appears that the problem is a Windows Recovery issue?

Also, according to your support-Answers...

Using Acer Recovery Management to Refresh Windows 8
How do I refresh Windows 8 using Acer Recovery Management?

You can refresh your Windows 8 operating system from your computer's hard drive using the Acer Recovery Management software. This will refresh your operating system, but will not erase your data.

SOLUTION

Use the following steps to refresh your computer.

Press the Windows () key + C, or swipe in from the right edge of the screen to open your Charms.
Click Search, then type Recover.
Click Acer Recovery Management.
Select Customized Restore (Retain User Data).
Click Next.
Select Refresh. (The program never shows this option. When I click on the next button, the computer goes through a reading process and then displays the following message. "Insert Media. Some files are missing. Your Windows Installation or Recovery media will provide these files."
Click Reset. (The only other option is to "Cancel.")
Your computer will restart and begin the refresh process. ( Never goes here.)