win8 PRO Back To Win8-No Recovery DVD's

Hi,

I do not have a Recovery CD from the Acer Recovery Software that you make to reset the pc back to factory default settings.And I then :

1) installed win 8 pro from dvd - and found I could not create a recovery dvd to reset pc back to factory default settings
2) reinstalled win 8 (not pro) which required the win 8 pro dvd to be put into the cd/dvd drive
3) when it was completed,i found that the acer software had all been deleted,and I still could not create the recovery dvd's after installing the acer software as there was message that said that the Hard Drive Configuration Is Not Set To Factory Default, for all options ....to create recovery dvd's or reset etc [as I guess the hdd has the os from the win 8 pro dvd and not the version from the factory.

And when I used the Repair CD
I) there was a message that a system image cannot be found.
Where is the OS that is in the hidden partition [from factory] that can be used to get back to factory settings???
that can be used to reset up win 8 with all the acer software??

I managed to make the repair cd and a copy of the drivers and applications of the acer software but there was no option to create the recovery dvd's as mentioned earlier.

Is there a way to get back to the factory state without sending the pc back to acer??

And now it also wants a key that I don't have,as I now have win 8 installed from a win 8 pro dvd

thanks in advance

Welcome to EightForums.

You can a Microsoft Recovery USB Drive
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/5132-recovery-drive-create-usb-flash-drive-windows-8-a.html

I would recommend you making the OEM manufacturer's Recovery DVD's or USB drive.
or
You can order the Microsoft official OEM Recovery disks from the OEM manufacturer's website.


How to make Acer Recovery disks.
ACER video's.
Windows 8 - Create a Factory Default Backup - Acer Recovery Management - YouTube
Windows 8 - Create a Drivers and Applications Backup - Acer Recovery Management - YouTube
Click here::ar: Windows 8 - Restore Windows With a USB Recovery Drive - YouTube

This may help or not.
It works for me.

If you can get into the BIOS enable the boot menu which will enable the F-12 key at startup which will pull up the boot menu.

You can press F-10 for other options, where you choose Trouble Shoot & the option to reset to factory specs should be there.

hi,

I have created the recovery drive on a usb stick but it does not boot.I have no idea how to get the pc to boot from the usb stick.
And the Copy contents from the recovery partition to the recovery drive

box was greyed out.

​

I have not deleted the recovery partition on the hdd.its still there,unless it was deleted by the warranty service guys.And i have reinstalled windows a couple of times succesfully back to factory settings prior to it going to warranty service

how do i access the bios to get it to boot from the usb stick?
how do i tell if the factory recovery software is still in the hidden partition so that it can be used to reinstall windows??

thanks

Acer video in post 2.

To Theog,

I have tried that,to create the recovery dvd's from the acer recovery management,got into the bios;also managed to restart and booted the laptop from the dvd drive,also got to the same options from winthin windows as well as from the first login page.And i have now finally spoken to Acer,and after having gone through all the above again.I am told that the win 8 pro deleted the recovery partition contents that had the factory default settings on it.
I see that other people have reverted back from win 8,but was it from the Pro version back to the Win 8 version only ??? Or is there something different about my laptop's settings that made the win 8 pro dvd delete the factory default settings from the hidden partition???

If you have used the "add features" option to just enter your pro product code and upgrade, instead of doing it from the CD, you likely would have been able to do the factory restore (Windows 8 Reset) back to windows 8. The add features option does just that, it adds the features that are available in the Pro version to your 8 core install. It just unlocks them. Doing the install/upgrade from the DVD likely overwrote the boot loader and other system files. Doing that likely broke the link to the hidden OEM recovery partition. The only one Windows sees now is the small one Windows 8 creates. The OEM recovery partition is likely still there, there is just no way to access it. When you upgrade though add features non of that gets touched. That's likely how other people have reverted back but you can't. If the hidden OEM recovery partition is still there, there might be a way to recover from it. Maybe from the command prompt. I don't have the skills for that though.

Your other thread.
http://www.eightforums.com/general-...-partition-used-recovery-factory-default.html

win8user2013 said:

2) I have discovered that my laptop which came with win 8 which i upgraded to win 8 pro with a dvd, has had the contents of the hidden partition deleted in the upgrade process [as told to me by acer][that is i can no longer go back to factory default settings ever!].The hidden partition is going to be returned to original condition.So i would like to copy the image of that hidden partition somewhere,where i can copy it back onto the hdd hidden partition should this ever happen again for whatever reason.But not onto a dvd,either a externall hdd or usb stick if its possible.

Click to expand...

theog said:

DO NOT USE THE DVD TO UPGRADE, as you will make the Recovery Partition UNUSEABLE.

Use Windows 8 Pro Pack.

To upgrade Windows 8 core, you need to use the Pro Pack.
To upgrade to Pro Pack
No install files needed.
Only the Upgrade key is need.
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/6673-add-features-windows-8-a.html

Click to expand...