Solved Installing Windows 8.1 with recovery partition

Maha25

New Member
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Hi, I just registered on this forum hoping someone could help me solve a problem Ive been having for days now, any help is appreciated.

So I bought a new, Fujitsu Siemens Lifebook A544 with Windows 8.1 preinstalled and I immediately decided to install Windows 7 on it, I didnt format the recovery partition, only the partition on which OS was in. After using it for a couple of days I wanted to go back to using 8.1 so I tried to do a system restore following instructions on the fujitsu website but with no success. By formating the preinstalled partition I probably messed some settings up for the recovery.

I then installed a pirated version of 8.1 to see if I could factory reset then but I still wasnt able to do it with the instructions provided by fujitsu.

The recovery partition is intact, I can access it and there is a wim file in it, called install.wim. So is there any way I can do a clean install, by which I mean, format the hdd, and install Windows 8.1 using the wim file, basically restoring the laptop back to factory state? Im not sure Ive described my problem that well since english isnt my mothe tongue, so if any more information is needed I will try to provide it. Thanks!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
YES. first use the Microsoft media creation tool to get good windows 8.1 software and use it to install windows
then you can register the factory recovery image..
 
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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
Thanks for the answer. The wim file is 11.5gb and I dont have a usb of that storage at the moment. Can I use dvds instead? I installed the media creation tool and it ask for a iso file, so do I have to convert the wim file somehow or ?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
Chances are that since you installed Win 7 on the system the recovery partition may be corrupted. Your best bet would be to order recovery disks from fujitsu if they are available.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1 Update 1 Pro 64bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Pavillion H8-1202
    CPU
    I7-2600 @ 3.4 GHz
    Motherboard
    PEGATRON
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NIVDIA GeForce GT 520
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC656GR CODEC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster S22B350
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1080 32 bit color
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 850 EVO SSD 500GB
    Keyboard
    Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2013
    Mouse
    Logitech M510
two questions - 1 since you found the install.wim - what is the drive letter assigned to it?? I assume it is in a "Recoveryimage" folder

2 what windows version do you NOW have installed??

the tool was asking you - the location where you wanted to save the "windows.ISO..

if you have a 4gb usb stick - use the tool - create usb

as long as that recovery partition stays there - you have the factory recovery image -

it was never touched nor was it corrupted - if you delete that install.wim - your screwed, as far as factory recovery

windows setup does not create, nor use that partition.. None of the versions do..

when you setup windows - by booting to windows setup from the usb - you will select custom install - keep nothing.

this will over write the proper partitions with windows 8 - by default it will put windows on the proper partition.. It will never touch the recovery partition..

basically let windows setup do it's thing - you will get a prompt telling you are about to write over a previous windows installation - yes..

then we register the factory image with windows.. you do a PBR - push button reset - and the factory image is then rewritten the drive. or you create a - bare metal reset - recovery usb

And as a final thought - a 16gb usb thumb drive is cheap enough - and would have saved you plenty by now - you should get one.. :D
 
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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
I manually assigned a letter using disk managment, its G now and yes, its in a recoveryimage/rec_image folder. Im currently running windows 8.1, a pirated version tough. I have set the recovery partition as active and registere it using this command, of course, replacing it with the correct letters.
reagentc /setosimage /path N:\sources /index 1 /target C:\Windows
reagentc /enable
recoverydrive
So if I were to run the pc reset built in windows 8.1 would it do the reset/recovery from my recovery partition? Thank you very much for your help.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
NO - YOUR SOURCE PATH IS WRONG

THE SOURCE PATH SHOULD BE G:\RECOVERYIMAGE\REC_IMAGE
" I manually assigned a letter using disk managment, its G now and yes, its in a recoveryimage/rec_image folder"

REAGENTC /DISABLE

reagentc /setosimage /path G:\RECOVERYIMAGE\REC_IMAGE /index 1 /target C:\Windows

REAGENTC / INFO

you should see a windows re status enabled
windows re location \\?\ bla bla \partition1
recovery image location \\?\ RECOVERYIMAGE\REC_IMAGE
recovery image index 1

if not enabled - reboot - and check again

if not after reboot - reagent /enable then reagentc /info


after you get info to show that the recovery is enabled and the image is in \recoveryimage\rec_image
then you can do a reset and it should write the factory image back to the disk
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
Im sorry, I wasnt clear enough, I did use that source path, I just copied that command from another website so you could get an idea of what I had done. So if I reset pc now it will use the image from my recovery partition? I just typed in regentc/enable and it said unable to update boot configuration data.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
if not enabled - reboot - and check again

if not after reboot - reagent /enable then reagentc /info
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
see that little thumb's up in the bottom right of my post - click it..

Your Welcome..

Post your results - factory image rewrite back to disk??

once that finishes - go into control panel - recovery - create recover drive.. This will create a Bare Metal Reset Recovery Drive.. Meaning you can now write to a blank drive.. Or overwrite a messed up one..
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
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