W8-created recovery disk restore back to resized system?

floepie

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I've created a recovery disk using the built-in recovery disk generator and selected the option to copy the contents from the OEM recovery partition. This is not a "normal" system image, which creates an image of the current C drive.

1. Will booting from this recovery drive followed by a restore will restore back to factory conditions?

2. Is is possible to restore back onto a re-sized system partition? Or, is it necessary to re-create the recovery disk *after* the re-size of the system partition? Or, is there something specific on the OEM recovery partition which states it *must* be restored to the partition size the way it shipped?

Thanks.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Core
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus UX302LA
What computer are you using?

1. Unfortunately, I have never tried what you mention. But, I think the answer would have to be yes.

2. I am not sure how the recovery disc generator works. But, I guess that it would create a recovery disk that would work after resizing (I assume you are talking about shrinking). I guess the unallocated space created by shrinking would be allowed for somehow, but definitely don't know. And, what would happen if a dual boot of, say, another Win8 had been installed in the unallocated space?

Not exactly what you are thinking about, but consider using this tutorial after resizing the system partition (before or after installing software): Refresh Windows 8 - Create and Use Custom Recovery Image.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win7 Ult on DIY; Win8 Pro on MBP/Parallels; Win7 Ult on MBP/Boot Camp; Win7 Ult/Win8 Pro on HP
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    DIY Rig; MacBook Pro (MBP)/Parallels/Boot Camp; HP Pavilion dv6500t Laptop
    CPU
    Intel i7-2600K (sometimes OC'd to 4.8 GHz)
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8P67 Deluxe Rev B3
    Memory
    16 GB Corsair Vengeance
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 570 SC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Gateway
    Hard Drives
    Dual Boot:
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on OCZ Revo x2 and
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on Caviar Black SATA 3's
    PSU
    Cooler Master Silent Pro 1000W
    Case
    Cooler Master 932 HAF
    Cooling
    Zalman CNPS9900MAX-B CPU Fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Mouse
    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Internet Speed
    20 Mbps Download/2+ Mbps Upload
    Other Info
    Pioneer Blu-ray Burner/DVD Burner
What computer are you using?

Sorry, I've updated my profile - Lenovo Yoga 13

1. Unfortunately, I have never tried what you mention. But, I think the answer would have to be yes.

According to this tutorial - http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/5132-recovery-drive-create-usb-flash-drive-windows-8-a.html - in the "Note" - how to create the recovery drive and *include* the recovery partitions's contents - this drive *cannot* be used to reinstall windows. Makes me wonder why Windows would ask if you would like to copy the contents of the recovery partition then if it can't be used to reinstall windows.

Not exactly what you are thinking about, but consider using this tutorial after resizing the system partition (before or after installing software): Refresh Windows 8 - Create and Use Custom Recovery Image.

OK, thanks for the tip. Yeah, I plan to make a new image after the fresh W8 install.

But, I simply want a way to go back to what's on my OEM's recovery partition. Lenovo's W8-compatible backup/restore software cannot generate a set of DVD's to repartition and restore the entire hard drive, but rather, only restores the recovery to the system drive, but the system drive *must* remain untouched as far as re-partitioning goes, and that would surely happen when I install generic W8 from install.

Perhaps that tutorial at the link above is wrong after all.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Core
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus UX302LA
1. Unfortunately, I have never tried what you mention. But, I think the answer would have to be yes.
According to this tutorial - http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/5132-recovery-drive-create-usb-flash-drive-windows-8-a.html - in the "Note" - how to create the recovery drive and *include* the recovery partitions's contents - this drive *cannot* be used to reinstall windows. Makes me wonder why Windows would ask if you would like to copy the contents of the recovery partition then if it can't be used to reinstall windows.

Note that what I said in 1 is not related to your above comment.

Haven't looked at the tutorial yet; I'll read it later and get back to you--but off to the gym right now.

Edit: I have looked at the tutorial now. Note that a more complete quote from the tutorial would have been

"
A recovery USB flash drive cannot be used to install Windows 8 unless this is an OEM PC that came with Windows 8 preinstalled, and you checked the Copy contents from the recovery partition to the recovery drive box at step 5 below."

So, a recovery USB created via the tutorial can be used, given one's selection, to install (refresh or reset) Windows 8.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win7 Ult on DIY; Win8 Pro on MBP/Parallels; Win7 Ult on MBP/Boot Camp; Win7 Ult/Win8 Pro on HP
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    DIY Rig; MacBook Pro (MBP)/Parallels/Boot Camp; HP Pavilion dv6500t Laptop
    CPU
    Intel i7-2600K (sometimes OC'd to 4.8 GHz)
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8P67 Deluxe Rev B3
    Memory
    16 GB Corsair Vengeance
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 570 SC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Gateway
    Hard Drives
    Dual Boot:
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on OCZ Revo x2 and
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on Caviar Black SATA 3's
    PSU
    Cooler Master Silent Pro 1000W
    Case
    Cooler Master 932 HAF
    Cooling
    Zalman CNPS9900MAX-B CPU Fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Mouse
    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Internet Speed
    20 Mbps Download/2+ Mbps Upload
    Other Info
    Pioneer Blu-ray Burner/DVD Burner
I am in a very similar situation. I have two SSD drives I plan on installing in my laptop. I'm waiting for a drive caddy for the second drive bay to arrive. I'm thinking you can use the Recovery drive, mine is a 16 GB thumb drive, to reinstall Windows. You do a Reset and it uses the install.wim file that's on it. It "should" restore it back to factory condition. I'm not sure what happens if you try it on a blank drive but at some point I may find out. I also have the option of cloning from one drive to the other. One of my Crucial drives came with a transfer kit. At this point I think I'm going to try the transfer kit first. If that fails I'll boot from my Recovery drive and try a reset. I also have an image I created with the Windows 7 File Recovery utility. If none of that works I'll do a clean install.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
This is a tutorial by Lenovo using the Windows 8 USB Drive Recovery app.

Methodology to create Recovery Media and reload a Lenovo Think system with Microsoft Windows 8 preload


Lenovo said:
NOTE: From this point forward in the recovery process, the choices for actual operating system recovery depend on the existing state of the computer hard drive.

Below are the instructions if there is an existing Microsoft Windows 8 install on the hard drive.
1.Select the target operating system of Microsoft Windows 8 to reload over existing Lenovo preload.
2.Select "Yes" to repartition the drives or "No" to keep existing partitions. For a clean install, the drives should be repartitioned.
3.Select "Fully Clean the drive".
4.Click Reset to begin the process.
5.The reset/recovery process takes approximately 90 minutes.
6.Once the reset/recovery is complete, the system will reboot into Microsoft Windows 8.

Below are the instructions if the hard drive is blank.
1.Select "Yes" to repartition the HDD or "No" to keep the existing partitions.
2.Click either choice, but these instructions follow the repartition scenario.
3.Select "Fully Clean the drive" as this will take several minutes to complete.
4.Click Reset to begin the process.
5.The reset/recovery process takes approximately 90 minutes.
6.Once the reset/recovery is complete, the system will reboot into Microsoft Windows 8.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    ME, XP,Vista,Win7,Win8,Win8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    Notebooks x 3

    Desktops x 5

    Towers x 4
According to this tutorial - http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/5132-recovery-drive-create-usb-flash-drive-windows-8-a.html - in the "Note" - how to create the recovery drive and *include* the recovery partitions's contents - this drive *cannot* be used to reinstall windows. Makes me wonder why Windows would ask if you would like to copy the contents of the recovery partition then if it can't be used to reinstall windows.
Note these comments at the start of the tutorial:

"This will show you how to create a bootable recovery (system repair) USB flash drive in Windows 8 to use to boot to the system recovery options that can be used to help recover Windows 8.

This is basically the same thing as a system repair disc, but is on a bootable USB flash drive instead."

In this regard, a system repair disc can be used to do a refresh or reset. Not sure what happens if you try a refresh or reset on an OEM preinstalled Win8. Would the bloatware not be installed? Don't see how it could persist through a refresh or reset.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win7 Ult on DIY; Win8 Pro on MBP/Parallels; Win7 Ult on MBP/Boot Camp; Win7 Ult/Win8 Pro on HP
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    DIY Rig; MacBook Pro (MBP)/Parallels/Boot Camp; HP Pavilion dv6500t Laptop
    CPU
    Intel i7-2600K (sometimes OC'd to 4.8 GHz)
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8P67 Deluxe Rev B3
    Memory
    16 GB Corsair Vengeance
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 570 SC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Gateway
    Hard Drives
    Dual Boot:
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on OCZ Revo x2 and
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on Caviar Black SATA 3's
    PSU
    Cooler Master Silent Pro 1000W
    Case
    Cooler Master 932 HAF
    Cooling
    Zalman CNPS9900MAX-B CPU Fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Mouse
    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Internet Speed
    20 Mbps Download/2+ Mbps Upload
    Other Info
    Pioneer Blu-ray Burner/DVD Burner
This is a tutorial by Lenovo using the Windows 8 USB Drive Recovery app.

Methodology to create Recovery Media and reload a Lenovo Think system with Microsoft Windows 8 preload


Lenovo said:
NOTE: From this point forward in the recovery process, the choices for actual operating system recovery depend on the existing state of the computer hard drive.

Below are the instructions if there is an existing Microsoft Windows 8 install on the hard drive.
1.Select the target operating system of Microsoft Windows 8 to reload over existing Lenovo preload.
2.Select "Yes" to repartition the drives or "No" to keep existing partitions. For a clean install, the drives should be repartitioned.
3.Select "Fully Clean the drive".
4.Click Reset to begin the process.
5.The reset/recovery process takes approximately 90 minutes.
6.Once the reset/recovery is complete, the system will reboot into Microsoft Windows 8.

Below are the instructions if the hard drive is blank.
1.Select "Yes" to repartition the HDD or "No" to keep the existing partitions.
2.Click either choice, but these instructions follow the repartition scenario.
3.Select "Fully Clean the drive" as this will take several minutes to complete.
4.Click Reset to begin the process.
5.The reset/recovery process takes approximately 90 minutes.
6.Once the reset/recovery is complete, the system will reboot into Microsoft Windows 8.
Interesting. The instructions seem clear. Just checking to be sure. Apparently, doing a refresh or a reset using the Lenovo instructions would reinstall whatever bloatware came on the computer too, right? Would it work at all if the system partition had been shrunk?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win7 Ult on DIY; Win8 Pro on MBP/Parallels; Win7 Ult on MBP/Boot Camp; Win7 Ult/Win8 Pro on HP
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    DIY Rig; MacBook Pro (MBP)/Parallels/Boot Camp; HP Pavilion dv6500t Laptop
    CPU
    Intel i7-2600K (sometimes OC'd to 4.8 GHz)
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8P67 Deluxe Rev B3
    Memory
    16 GB Corsair Vengeance
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 570 SC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Gateway
    Hard Drives
    Dual Boot:
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on OCZ Revo x2 and
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on Caviar Black SATA 3's
    PSU
    Cooler Master Silent Pro 1000W
    Case
    Cooler Master 932 HAF
    Cooling
    Zalman CNPS9900MAX-B CPU Fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Mouse
    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Internet Speed
    20 Mbps Download/2+ Mbps Upload
    Other Info
    Pioneer Blu-ray Burner/DVD Burner
Sorry, I've updated my profile - Lenovo Yoga 13

1. Unfortunately, I have never tried what you mention. But, I think the answer would have to be yes.

According to this tutorial - http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/5132-recovery-drive-create-usb-flash-drive-windows-8-a.html - in the "Note" - how to create the recovery drive and *include* the recovery partitions's contents - this drive *cannot* be used to reinstall windows. Makes me wonder why Windows would ask if you would like to copy the contents of the recovery partition then if it can't be used to reinstall windows.

On a non-Pre-install Windows 8 PC's, the option to copy Recovery Partition is greyed out.

drive-2-2.PNG
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    ME, XP,Vista,Win7,Win8,Win8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    Notebooks x 3

    Desktops x 5

    Towers x 4
Screenshot from a ASUS manual for Pre-Install Windows 8.

Capture.PNG

Problem is, it is for Windows 7.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    ME, XP,Vista,Win7,Win8,Win8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    Notebooks x 3

    Desktops x 5

    Towers x 4
I am in a very similar situation. I have two SSD drives I plan on installing in my laptop. I'm waiting for a drive caddy for the second drive bay to arrive. I'm thinking you can use the Recovery drive, mine is a 16 GB thumb drive, to reinstall Windows. You do a Reset and it uses the install.wim file that's on it. It "should" restore it back to factory condition. I'm not sure what happens if you try it on a blank drive but at some point I may find out. I also have the option of cloning from one drive to the other. One of my Crucial drives came with a transfer kit. At this point I think I'm going to try the transfer kit first. If that fails I'll boot from my Recovery drive and try a reset. I also have an image I created with the Windows 7 File Recovery utility. If none of that works I'll do a clean install.
When you say "Recovery drive" above, are you talking about using this tutorial: Recovery Drive - Create with USB Flash Drive in Windows 8. Or, does ASUS give instructions for creating a recovery drive (USB) as apparently Lenovo does? I am interested in the ASUS procedure. Please see this thread (post #3 is where I mention ASU): Anticipating Dual Boot with Blue with Safety Net.

That is what I did, using the "copy the contents of the recovery partition to the recovery drive. The manual for my ASUS laptop was out of date, basically written for Windows 7. Eventually it was pointed out to me that the instructions were way at the back of the Windows 8 user manual that also came with the Laptop. This manual mainly dealt with how to use Windows 8 so I only read the first couple of pages and put it aside. This a thread I started on it. http://www.eightforums.com/installation-setup/21897-new-asus-laptop-has-no-recovery-disk-utlity.html
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
Screenshot from a ASUS manual for Pre-Install Windows 8.

View attachment 18758

Problem is, it is for Windows 7.
Thanks very much theog. Very helpful even though part related to Win7--perhaps only. I have had some frustration trying to gather sufficient pertinent info from the ASUS site. FYI, I just deleted my post where I mentioned ASUS because I realized that I had misinterpreted alphanumeric.

I am sure you would do extremely well whatever, but, personally, I am finding the whole OEM-preinstalled-Win8/How-Can-I-Get-Done-What-I-Want?/Predicting-What-Will-Happen-If-I-Do-It combination to be stultifying and inertia producing. Fortunately, for MS and the OEM's, the vast majority of consumer computer purchasers are happy if they can just get a computer that doesn't break, one way or another, before a reasonable useful life has been reached. And, for me, too bad I currently am not interested in building another computer.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win7 Ult on DIY; Win8 Pro on MBP/Parallels; Win7 Ult on MBP/Boot Camp; Win7 Ult/Win8 Pro on HP
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    DIY Rig; MacBook Pro (MBP)/Parallels/Boot Camp; HP Pavilion dv6500t Laptop
    CPU
    Intel i7-2600K (sometimes OC'd to 4.8 GHz)
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8P67 Deluxe Rev B3
    Memory
    16 GB Corsair Vengeance
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 570 SC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Gateway
    Hard Drives
    Dual Boot:
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on OCZ Revo x2 and
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on Caviar Black SATA 3's
    PSU
    Cooler Master Silent Pro 1000W
    Case
    Cooler Master 932 HAF
    Cooling
    Zalman CNPS9900MAX-B CPU Fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Mouse
    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Internet Speed
    20 Mbps Download/2+ Mbps Upload
    Other Info
    Pioneer Blu-ray Burner/DVD Burner
I am in a very similar situation. I have two SSD drives I plan on installing in my laptop. I'm waiting for a drive caddy for the second drive bay to arrive. I'm thinking you can use the Recovery drive, mine is a 16 GB thumb drive, to reinstall Windows. You do a Reset and it uses the install.wim file that's on it. It "should" restore it back to factory condition. I'm not sure what happens if you try it on a blank drive but at some point I may find out. I also have the option of cloning from one drive to the other. One of my Crucial drives came with a transfer kit. At this point I think I'm going to try the transfer kit first. If that fails I'll boot from my Recovery drive and try a reset. I also have an image I created with the Windows 7 File Recovery utility. If none of that works I'll do a clean install.
When you say "Recovery drive" above, are you talking about using this tutorial: Recovery Drive - Create with USB Flash Drive in Windows 8. Or, does ASUS give instructions for creating a recovery drive (USB) as apparently Lenovo does? I am interested in the ASUS procedure. Please see this thread (post #3 is where I mention ASU): Anticipating Dual Boot with Blue with Safety Net.

That is what I did, using the "copy the contents of the recovery partition to the recovery drive. The manual for my ASUS laptop was out of date, basically written for Windows 7. Eventually it was pointed out to me that the instructions were way at the back of the Windows 8 user manual that also came with the Laptop. This manual mainly dealt with how to use Windows 8 so I only read the first couple of pages and put it aside. This a thread I started on it. http://www.eightforums.com/installation-setup/21897-new-asus-laptop-has-no-recovery-disk-utlity.html
Thanks very much alphanumeric. Given what you have to say, I am extremely glad you apparently were replying when I deleted the post quoted above. I deleted it because I had misinterpreted something you said. Your information is very useful to me--and consistent with what theog had to say about ASUS information. I will look at the thread you started; seems very pertinent to me.

Edit: Just read through your thread quickly. All very interesting--at least if one might entertain buying an ASUS laptop. My reaction went from "good grief" to, well, an ASUS laptop might be workable. I just keep coming back to the idea that if I got one, then I'd just give up on the factory install and use the system builder software. Under the criteria I set up for me, in Anticipating Dual Boot with Blue with Safety Net, I'd insist on having just one drive (i.e., no hybrids or HDD's with "helper" SSD's. Do you think I am on a reasonable track here? Also, I noted that you were planning on installing only the ASUS utilities you like--which would apply to me too. Where I want to go eventually is to have a dual boot with Blue.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win7 Ult on DIY; Win8 Pro on MBP/Parallels; Win7 Ult on MBP/Boot Camp; Win7 Ult/Win8 Pro on HP
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    DIY Rig; MacBook Pro (MBP)/Parallels/Boot Camp; HP Pavilion dv6500t Laptop
    CPU
    Intel i7-2600K (sometimes OC'd to 4.8 GHz)
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8P67 Deluxe Rev B3
    Memory
    16 GB Corsair Vengeance
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 570 SC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Gateway
    Hard Drives
    Dual Boot:
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on OCZ Revo x2 and
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on Caviar Black SATA 3's
    PSU
    Cooler Master Silent Pro 1000W
    Case
    Cooler Master 932 HAF
    Cooling
    Zalman CNPS9900MAX-B CPU Fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Mouse
    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Internet Speed
    20 Mbps Download/2+ Mbps Upload
    Other Info
    Pioneer Blu-ray Burner/DVD Burner
Screenshot from a ASUS manual for Pre-Install Windows 8.

View attachment 18758

Problem is, it is for Windows 7.
Thanks very much theog. Very helpful even though part related to Win7--perhaps only. I have had some frustration trying to gather sufficient pertinent info from the ASUS site. FYI, I just deleted my post where I mentioned ASUS because I realized that I had misinterpreted alphanumeric.

I am sure you would do extremely well whatever, but, personally, I am finding the whole OEM-preinstalled-Win8/How-Can-I-Get-Done-What-I-Want?/Predicting-What-Will-Happen-If-I-Do-It combination to be stultifying and inertia producing. Fortunately, for MS and the OEM's, the vast majority of consumer computer purchasers are happy if they can just get a computer that doesn't break, one way or another, before a reasonable useful life has been reached. And, for me, too bad I currently am not interested in building another computer.

That procedure listed in the screenshot does not work on my ASUS Windows 8 Laptop. I get a totally different menu. It's all mentioned in the thread I linked to. I haven't tried to do a factory recovery yet. I have plans to try it just before I switch to my SSD drives. I'm just waiting on a part for my second drive bay from ASUS.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
Znod, the quote from Brink's tutorial is actually:

A recovery USB flash drive cannot be used to install Windows 8 unless this is an OEM PC that came with Windows 8 preinstalled, and you checked the Copy contents from the recovery partition to the recovery drive box at step 5 below.
Maybe you caught it later in the thread, but I did not see that reference.

If you look at the Help and Support section for "Recovery Media", then select "Create the Recovery drive", there is some information about the OEM Recovery Partition. It mentions if you want to remove the Recovery partition on the Drive, you have that option.

So I will think, although I cannot confirm, the Recovery media made in Windows 8, if the OEM install files are copied, will restore the system to factory specs. And this is what the ASUS manual indicates.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Grown
    CPU
    i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77 -v Pro, Z87-Expert
    Memory
    16 G
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX 680 Classified (2)
    Hard Drives
    Kingston SSD 240 GB
Znod, the quote from Brink's tutorial is actually:

A recovery USB flash drive cannot be used to install Windows 8 unless this is an OEM PC that came with Windows 8 preinstalled, and you checked the Copy contents from the recovery partition to the recovery drive box at step 5 below.
Maybe you caught it later in the thread, but I did not see that reference.

If you look at the Help and Support section for "Recovery Media", then select "Create the Recovery drive", there is some information about the OEM Recovery Partition. It mentions if you want to remove the Recovery partition on the Drive, you have that option.

So I will think, although I cannot confirm, the Recovery media made in Windows 8, if the OEM install files are copied, will restore the system to factory specs. And this is what the ASUS manual indicates.

That's the way I read it, my recovery drive was almost 16 GB. There is an install.wim file on their that I assume is the factory image. Doing a Reset will do the factory restore. Like I said earlier though, I haven't actually tested it to see if it works.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
Maybe you caught it later in the thread, but I did not see that reference.

The tutorial was just updated this evening due in part due to my prodding with that thread. Thanks...
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Core
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus UX302LA
I'd just like to add, contrary to what was mentioned in znod's deleted post, Lenovo's built-in recovery software, One Key Recovery (OKR) has been updated to version 8 for Windows 8 pre-installed systems. And, it is a huge step backwards, as there is no longer an option to create bootable restore media (DVDs or USB disk) that you could boot from and restore the entire disk back to the factory fresh condition. It can now only create restore images. Lenovo now wants up $60 for a set of DVDs that are shipped to you that would set up the entire hard drive once again. Apparently, for those who have good negotiating skills, some have gotten them shipped for much less, but YMMV. Perhaps Lenovo hasn't figured out a good way to have OKR create UEFI compatible disks in time before OKR v8 needed to be created and that it may be updated to include this ability in the future.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Core
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus UX302LA
Windows 8 on a UEFI system seems to have put a kink in the recovery media utilities that used to work on Windows 7. For example the manual that came with my ASUS laptop tells you to run the AI Recovery Burner application from the desktop to create your recovery DVD. The only problem is its not there on a Windows 8 system because its not compatible. The real instructions are hidden in the back of the Windows 8 User Guide that is also bundled with the laptop. You have to read though the whole manual or look over the whole appendix to find it. I'd be more than happy to just ditch the whole shemozzle and do a clean install but I don't have any Windows 8 install media. None that I trust 100% anyway. I'm also not in a big hurry to go out and buy an off the shelf copy just to get a DVD. I "think" I'm covered if my Windows 8 install goes south but I hope I don't have to find out the hard way.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
So, what have you done so far? Have you created the recovery drive + copy contents of recovery partition?

I just completed mine and it boots fine. Now, it's clear what function would be need to restore to the factory system and that is the "reset my PC" function. I didn't actually push the button to determine what happens, but I'm curious what would happen on a system with a "clean install" (minus bloat) with no recovery partition to regain added space. The question is, would the "reset my PC" function automatically grab the contents off the USB recovery drive and restore that (OEM version including bloat) while wiping partitions and resizing them, OR would the system be restored back to the "clean" state version, just as would be done on a non-OEM system? So many IF's here.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Core
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus UX302LA
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