HP Recovery partition

[John]

Hello. A family member recently got a laptop, which she's more or less been
abusing (e.g. not shutting down properly). It's call HP Pavilion dv6500
Notebook PC. Follwoing are the epcifications:

AMD Athlon 64x2 Dual Core PRocessor TK-55 1.88 Ghz
32 bit operating system
Windows Vista Home Premium
140 Gb hard drive

When I right-clicked My Computer or whatever to get the specifications, I
noticed an icon indicating (I presume) another hard drive that had the
description:

HP Rocevery 1.81 GB free of 8.42.

Then presuming that this was a recovery file full of junk that had collected
there on account of her improperly shutting down the computer (e.g. when
programs are still running), I right clicked it, when I got the following
disconcerting message:

Recovery Partition warning: Area HD files used for PC recovery. Don't delete
or alter files. Any change to partition could prevent any recovery later.

Obviously, I didn't do anything when I got this message. However, it doesn't
make sense to me that this "partition" or whatever it is would be almost
full when she hasn't had the laptop for that long, and hasn't used it
extenisvely.

So, with that said, my question is whether the situation I'm describing to
you is normal. If it's not, what do I need to do in order to fix it?

 

[Earle Horton]

This is something used to restore the computer to factory condition, i.e.
just like it was when brought home from the store. It is in fact another
partition on your main hard disk. The one on my Dell had a bootable copy of
Vista and a program called PCRestore.exe, or something like that, that
restored everything to new condition. It also has the side effect of wiping
out all user files and changes made since the computer was first used by the
owner.

It sounds like a fully normal situation. You can ignore the recovery
partition until things get real desperate. If your family member keeps "not
shutting down properly" that won't be long now.

Cheers,

Earle

 

[AJR]

The partition was created by HP - it contains an image of the computer when
sold. The size is set at the "size" of all programs/files/applications
originally installed.

It is not to be utilized for any other purpose except for emergency recovery
in case of a "crash" or other catastrophe.

You will notice that as the computer boots, there is a momentary message
reading something like "For System Restore hit F11...." - selecting this
option puts the computer back in original state, however any changes or
applications installed since purchase are lost - unless backed up.

HP provides an utility to copy the recovery partition to removeable media
(DVD/CD) and to reclaim the partition space and remove the MBR
modification.. Just deleting the partition does not remove the MBR (Master
Boot Record) modification that presents sthe Hit F10(11) message.

Most likely a Vista DVD was not received and recovery presents the only OS
restorataion.

BTW - This is all detailed in the "manual" provide by HP on a CD.

 

[oscar]

Don't touch that partition!
Go to Help and Support on Start Menu. Find the HP User Guide that came with
the computer and search for information about Partitions and Recovery. Leave
the recovery partition alone.

 

[John]

I'm just going to leave it alone. I thought it had something to do with the
way she's been shutting down the computer. Thanks for the info.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Hello. A family member recently got a laptop, which she's more or less been
abusing (e.g. not shutting down properly). It's call HP Pavilion dv6500
Notebook PC. Follwoing are the epcifications:

AMD Athlon 64x2 Dual Core PRocessor TK-55 1.88 Ghz
32 bit operating system
Windows Vista Home Premium
140 Gb hard drive

When I right-clicked My Computer or whatever to get the specifications, I
noticed an icon indicating (I presume) another hard drive that had the
description:

HP Rocevery 1.81 GB free of 8.42.

Then presuming that this was a recovery file full of junk that had collected
there on account of her improperly shutting down the computer (e.g. when
programs are still running), I right clicked it, when I got the following
disconcerting message:

Recovery Partition warning: Area HD files used for PC recovery. Don't delete
or alter files. Any change to partition could prevent any recovery later.

Obviously, I didn't do anything when I got this message. However, it doesn't
make sense to me that this "partition" or whatever it is would be almost
full when she hasn't had the laptop for that long, and hasn't used it
extenisvely.

So, with that said, my question is whether the situation I'm describing to
you is normal. If it's not, what do I need to do in order to fix it?

Yes, it's normal. It's full because it came that way from the factory.
It's what HP provides instead of a Windows CD to use if you ever need
to reinstall the operating system.

It's good that you didn't delete it. Check the documentation to see if
they give you instructions on how to make a CD from it. If so, please
do so.

 

[John]

You have the same model? Do you have any idea where to find the users guide.
For some inexplicable reason, the person's parent has decided to keep the
paperwork that came with the computer. I was hoping that it would be
installed on the computer. However, I didn't see anything.

 

[DL]

Guide & instructions on HP site

You have the same model? Do you have any idea where to find the users
guide. For some inexplicable reason, the person's parent has decided to
keep the paperwork that came with the computer. I was hoping that it would
be installed on the computer. However, I didn't see anything.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Hello. A family member recently got a laptop, which she's more or less
been abusing (e.g. not shutting down properly). It's call HP Pavilion
dv6500 Notebook PC. Follwoing are the epcifications:

AMD Athlon 64x2 Dual Core PRocessor TK-55 1.88 Ghz
32 bit operating system
Windows Vista Home Premium
140 Gb hard drive

When I right-clicked My Computer or whatever to get the specifications, I
noticed an icon indicating (I presume) another hard drive that had the
description:

HP Rocevery 1.81 GB free of 8.42.

Then presuming that this was a recovery file full of junk that had
collected there on account of her improperly shutting down the computer
(e.g. when programs are still running), I right clicked it, when I got the
following disconcerting message:

Recovery Partition warning: Area HD files used for PC recovery. Don't
delete or alter files. Any change to partition could prevent any recovery
later.

Obviously, I didn't do anything when I got this message. However, it
doesn't make sense to me that this "partition" or whatever it is would be
almost full when she hasn't had the laptop for that long, and hasn't used
it extenisvely.

So, with that said, my question is whether the situation I'm describing to
you is normal. If it's not, what do I need to do in order to fix it?

Recovery from the recovery partition is started on an HP by pressing F11 at
the time the computer is first powered on. A recovery partition will always
be almost full because there is no point in allocating any more drive space
for it than is needed to run the recovery software. The files in the
partition are the same as on recovery media. The numbers you quote are
exactly right for what is needed to recover a Vista installation to factory
condition. Some space is left for working area during the restoration.

 

[Pete Stavrakoglou]

I have an HP desktop that also has a recovery partition. It was in use by
my son for about eight months when I took it from him after getting him a
laptop. When I tried to create the restore DVDs I wasn't able to. I
contacted HP tech support and was informed that it has to be done within 90
days (I believe that's the right figure) of first use. After that, you
can't make the recovery disks. The odd thing is is that after SP1 for Vista
was released, I intalled the full service pack and then the option to create
the disks was functioning again.