windows 8 factory reset problem

[koz]

need some help with a factory reset on windows 8.
my son decided to reset his windows 8 laptop to original factory settings, during the reset process his mom decided it was taking to long and turned off the laptop.
now when its turned on it shows the message "restoring your computer", this message will then change to "diagnosing your computer", the screen will then go blank and it start all over again.
I can boot it from a USB drive, but when I click on "repair" i get an error message that it cant repair the computer.
when i try to run restore from the USB I get a similar message.

is there anyway to run the system restore from the DOS prompt?

 

[theog]

Welcome to EightForums.

Try doing Reset.

   Information

We always assume you have made your Recovery Disks using the OEM manufacturer's Recovery Media Creator app the first day you had your new PC.
& made the Startup Repair CD.
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/5132-recovery-drive-create-usb-flash-drive-windows-8-a.html
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2855-system-repair-disc-create-windows-8-a.html
​

You can use the OEM version of
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/5132-recovery-drive-create-usb-flash-drive-windows-8-a.html

   Warning

Deleting the Recovery Partition is NOT RECOMMENDED

Did you make the OEM manufacturer's Recovery Disks?

You can order the Microsoft official OEM Recovery disks from the OEM manufacturer's website.





The Recovery USB drive can be very problematic, I recommend you also make a Windows System Image.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/8956-system-image-create-windows-8-a.html

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/5132-recovery-drive-create-usb-flash-drive-windows-8-a.html

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2855-system-repair-disc-create-windows-8-a.html

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorial...overy-restore-image-computer-windows-8-a.html

or
look for a 3rd party ,Backup software, which fully supports Windows 8, uEFI, GPT & Secure Boot.
Which is signed by Microsoft.

 

[koz]

Theog
unfortunately my son didn't make a recover disk or system image before attempting the factory reset like he was told to do. I made the USB recover at work today, but none of the repair or restore options will work. it just tell me it is unable to restore or repair the computer.

I have a feeling I may have to contact the manufacturer and purchase an OEM disk from ACER

 

[theog]

I made the USB recover at work today,

You can use Reset to recovery to factory setting.
How to do a Reset
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2302-reset-windows-8-a.html

I have a feeling I may have to contact the manufacturer and purchase an OEM disk from ACER

You can Order Acer recovery disks from here:

https://secure.tx.acer.com/RCDB/Main.aspx?brand=acer
or
Acer | Recovery Media
Check in Accessories
or check the main web site.
Acer Worldwide - Select your local country or region

 

[koz]

I get the same message when I try reset, it wont perform the reset.
I tried to access drive c from the DOS prompt and get an error message "drive c is corrupted unable to access"

 

[koz]

ok here is the exact message I get when I try to run reset, " Unable to reset your computer, a drive partition is missing"

 

[David Bailey]

Have you tried typing

rstrui.exe

into the dos prompt ?

If the computer isn't too corrupted it will give you the option to use a restore point.
If one was ever made...

It's worth trying.

 

[Saltgrass]

I have seen that error message when I was playing around with my system. Since it does not state which partition is missing, it makes it a little harder to troubleshoot.

When you start the Reset, do you get a blue screen with the Windows 8 install listed as an option?

Since there may be a possibility one of the other partitions, such as the system partition might be having problems or not recognized. It might also be related to the message about the c: drive being corrupted and not able to access. Perhaps running a chkdsk would indicate or repair any problems.

Does your Recovery USB drive contain the image files for the system?

 

[koz]

David
no I haven't tried that, I will give it a shot.

 

[koz]

saltgrass
yes I have the blue screen, the options I have are "refresh your pc", "reset your pc" and "advanced options".

under advanced i have, "system restore", "system image recovery", "automatic repair", and command prompt

I do not have a system image and my son never set any restore points

 

[Saltgrass]

If I am understanding correctly, when you boot to a Recovery Flash Drive, you can get to the Reset option. But when you select that, you get the error message so you never see the blue screen with Windows 8 as an option.

I can only think of two things to do in your situation, but I could be wrong. First is what you have mentioned about the Install Media from Acer. How is that going or have you decided yet?

Another option, which is more complicated, would be to use DISM to apply the image that should be in a large Recovery Partition on the drive. If your son choose to clean all drives as an option when he tried the reset, it may no longer be there, but we can check from the Command Prompt or a bootable third party partition manager such as Partition Wizard.

If you want to check if the image in still in the large Recovery Partition, you will need to put a drive letter on it with Diskpart, then go to the partition and use the dir or dir /a command to check for the path to the file. We will need that anyway if you decide to use DISM.

Let us know which way you are leaning for a solution.

 

[koz]

Saltgrass
acer does not have install media for this laptop.

I will try the DISM, I know there is a recovery partition, its in the D: directory

 

[Saltgrass]

Ok, the page I learned most of this from is this link. It is a step by step deployment guide. You will be able to skip down to the section (5) about applying images and things after. We may only have to use the dism /apply-image command to repair the system. If that isn't enough, more steps will follow.

Basic Windows Deployment Step-by-Step Guide

You already have the Recovery drive, so you might check to make sure you have the factory image and what the path to it is. If you think it is on D: you might check that drive in the command window to see if a .wim file is there which is about 4 GB in size. But remember, in the Command Prompt Window, the drive letters might be different and I would expect you would need to add a drive letter to the recovery partition using diskpart .... But if the image is not present, there is no reason to go any further. To find what letters are assigned to which partitions, you can start Diskpart and use the list volume command.

Tomorrow I will go through the process so you can see the exact commands and what they do. You might read the link to get some idea of how it works. If you understand the DISM /apply-image command, try it and see what happens. You can get help with it by typing DISM /Apply-Image /?