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[Ghetto_Child]

I've got a really good question then. How do you regain access to the brand name OEM computer's hard drive recovery partition if only the boot access but not the partition data was lost? In particular this is for an Acer Aspire 5050 laptop with Vista. I had deleted the C: partition without touching the recovery partion so I know the recovery data is all in tact but pressing Alt+F10 at power up no longer boots the hard drive Acer eRecovery tool to do a full system restore. Any advice?

[Britec]

If you can run system recovery from the hidden recovery partition use a preinstall environment cd
or you can install some sort of linux O/S on a small partition example puppy linux, Kubuntu etc etc.
then make drive visable to run system recovery tool.

[Ghetto_Child]

Can you elaborate a little more I'm not very familiar with the linux OS as I've never learned how to use it. I only recognize it by sight. I don't have any access to the hidden recovery partition but I know it's there because you can see it inside Disk Management from Vista. I didn't alter any of the content inside it I just lost access to boot it when I tried using the Windows 2000 install CD to just delete the C: partition and remake them without touching the hidden recovery one. It's a 7.81GB EISA Configuration Primary partition according to Disk Management.

If possible can you write out or link the instructions to performing your suggested procedure? I know a great many people would love to have this info too. What I'm looking to do is restore access to it such that when booting up the laptop I can press F11 or Alt+F10 to load that Acer eRecovery Management Tool like the laptop was originally able to do when I first bought it, it used to prompt what key(s) to press to load the recovery tool.

[Britec]

Acer have a program that lets you make Recovery CD or DVD when you first buy the machine... Have you done this?
Can you access the hidden recovery partition? Yes or No? if so can you run the system recovery tool in that hidden recovery partition?
if not.. then you may of deleted the part of system recovery tool that it needs to run the recovery program which would of been on you on the C: drive that you deleted? OR the Recovery Partition needs a Recovey CD or DVD in which to work with the hidden recovery partition.
if this is the case then your need to order a new Recovery CD from Acer or wipe the whole drive and install a fresh copy of windows and build a new hidden recovery partition with a program like Acronis or Norton Ghost.

hope this helps you out

[Ghetto_Child]

When I bought the laptop the hidden hard drive recovery partition runs without any discs. You turn on the laptop and it used to have a prompt to press whatever key to launch that Acer recovery in the hidden hard drive partition. After I removed the C: partition and creating new partitions, all using a Windows 2000 setup CD, that recovery prompt at boot up was lost and pressing the keys I knew used to activate the Acer recovery no longer has any effect.

The laptop comes standard from Acer without any recovery discs but can always be ordered/made if desired. I ordered the recovery CDs/DVDs from Acer after having the laptop for a while. Since losing access to the Acer hidden partition recovery I always have to use the discs I ordered to do any of the Acer restore options. The discs do not use the hard drive at all and they did not repair access to the hidden partition recovery on the hard drive. My old IBM NetVista PC has recovery CDs that repair the hidden partition. These Acer discs do not unfortunately. I know the data on that recovery partition is in tact because I did not touch it and did not delete it and the partition is there. Only the prompt informing what key to press to launch the Acer recovery was lost along with a way to point to that hidden partition to boot on. I've read online searching with google that the partition is some type of NTFS file system.

I have the 3 discs Acer sent to do recovery using their DVDs. The first disk is called "System Disk" and appears to be a 500MB CD. It has some boot programs and boot sector/MBR tools in it but I don't really know how to use them. I've read a user on another forum repaired my exact same problem using a command prompt program called wrmbrdos.exe or mbrwrdos.exe or something close to that name. I don't have a dos version on my system CD just a similar program that has mbr in the file name and a bunch of command switches/options when I use the "/?" switch. The other 2 discs are labeled Recovery Disk 1 and 2 and they pretty much contain factory defaults images of the C: drive.

Maybe you can come up with a way to browse the hidden partition or some type of boot environment that will allow me to point to that partition and attempt to launch it? I have a feeling if it runs it can repair access to itself through the full c: format and recover option.

Oh to answer some of your previous questions I never made my own backup using the acer eRecovery software from inside vista. I'm gonna try experiment with the "Restore System to Factory Default" option from the Acer eRecovery Management app that runs inside Vista. Post afterwards with my findings.

[Britec]

Hi

If you have the recovery disc like you say then your best to use them.

Use discs labeled Recovery Disk 1 and 2

Boot to Recovery Disk 1 and the will rebuild your computer back to factory settings.

[Ghetto_Child]

I've been using those recovery discs because I didn't have a choice but I was looking to regain access to the hard drive recovery so I can compare software differences for example stock setup with the hard drive recovery had the bluetooth switch actually working turning on/off with light up front status LED indicator but ever since using the recovery dvds it just tells me bluetooth device is missing.

So an update to my repair attempts. I tried loading the windows recovery environment by pressing F8 and chosing the "Repair Your Computer" option. From the list of recovery options the auto repair at the top didn't have any effect on the hidden partition and didn't detect the Win7 RC x64 partitition (another installed partition that I lost access to from running recovery DVDs) but I used the bootrec program like your youtube video mentioned and now I have the boot menu with both Vista and Win7 RC listed and 30 seconds to chose which one to load (awesome thanks you taught me how to use a useful tool).

I then did more research on the partitions using diskpart and discovered that the recovery environment is running from that same hidden hard drive partition now using drive letter X: and the file system is a type of NTFS (Type ID is 27). From that same windows recovery environment the hidden partition shows up as volume 0 if I remember correctly. I'm pasting diskpart listings from within Vista but when I'm in the vista recovery environment the volume information is completely rearranged. Just the partition information is identical in both environments.

Code:

DISKPART> list disk

  Disk ###  Status      Size     Free     Dyn  Gpt
  --------  ----------  -------  -------  ---  ---
* Disk 0    Online        75 GB      0 B

DISKPART> detail disk

Hitachi HTS541680J9SA00 ATA Device
Disk ID: ********
Type   : ATA
Bus    : 0
Target : 0
LUN ID : 0
Read-only  : No
Boot Disk  : Yes
Pagefile Disk  : Yes
Hibernation File Disk  : No
Crashdump Disk  : No

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
* Volume 1     C   ACER         NTFS   Partition     26 GB  Healthy    System
  Volume 2     D   Win7 RC x64  NTFS   Partition     29 GB  Healthy    Pagefile
  Volume 3     E   DATA         NTFS   Partition     11 GB  Healthy

DISKPART> list volume

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  -------
  Volume 0     F                       DVD-ROM         0 B  No Media
* Volume 1     C   ACER         NTFS   Partition     26 GB  Healthy    System
  Volume 2     D   Win7 RC x64  NTFS   Partition     29 GB  Healthy    Pagefile
  Volume 3     E   DATA         NTFS   Partition     11 GB  Healthy

DISKPART> detail volume

  Disk ###  Status      Size     Free     Dyn  Gpt
  --------  ----------  -------  -------  ---  ---
* Disk 0    Online        75 GB      0 B

Read-only              : No
Hidden                 : No
No Default Drive Letter: No
Shadow Copy            : No
Dismounted             : No
BitLocker Encrypted    : No

Volume Capacity        :   26 GB
Volume Free Space      : 3486 MB

DISKPART> list volume

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
  Volume 0     F                       DVD-ROM         0 B  No Media
  Volume 1     C   ACER         NTFS   Partition     26 GB  Healthy    System
* Volume 2     D   Win7 RC x64  NTFS   Partition     29 GB  Healthy    Pagefile
  Volume 3     E   DATA         NTFS   Partition     11 GB  Healthy

DISKPART> detail volume

  Disk ###  Status      Size     Free     Dyn  Gpt
  --------  ----------  -------  -------  ---  ---
* Disk 0    Online        75 GB      0 B

Read-only              : No
Hidden                 : No
No Default Drive Letter: No
Shadow Copy            : No
Dismounted             : No
BitLocker Encrypted    : No

Volume Capacity        :   29 GB
Volume Free Space      :   18 GB

DISKPART> list volume

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
  Volume 0     F                       DVD-ROM         0 B  No Media
  Volume 1     C   ACER         NTFS   Partition     26 GB  Healthy    System
  Volume 2     D   Win7 RC x64  NTFS   Partition     29 GB  Healthy    Pagefile
* Volume 3     E   DATA         NTFS   Partition     11 GB  Healthy

DISKPART> detail volume

  Disk ###  Status      Size     Free     Dyn  Gpt
  --------  ----------  -------  -------  ---  ---
* Disk 0    Online        75 GB      0 B

Read-only              : No
Hidden                 : No
No Default Drive Letter: No
Shadow Copy            : No
Dismounted             : No
BitLocker Encrypted    : No

Volume Capacity        :   11 GB
Volume Free Space      : 6249 MB

DISKPART> list partition

  Partition ###  Type              Size     Offset
  -------------  ----------------  -------  -------
* Partition 1    OEM               7993 MB    32 KB
  Partition 2    Primary             26 GB  7993 MB
  Partition 3    Primary             29 GB    34 GB
  Partition 0    Extended            11 GB    63 GB
  Partition 4    Logical             11 GB    63 GB

DISKPART> detail partition

Partition 1
Type  : 12
Hidden: Yes
Active: No

There is no volume associated with this partition.

DISKPART> list partition

  Partition ###  Type              Size     Offset
  -------------  ----------------  -------  -------
  Partition 1    OEM               7993 MB    32 KB
* Partition 2    Primary             26 GB  7993 MB
  Partition 3    Primary             29 GB    34 GB
  Partition 0    Extended            11 GB    63 GB
  Partition 4    Logical             11 GB    63 GB

DISKPART> detail partition

Partition 2
Type  : 0E
Hidden: No
Active: Yes

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
* Volume 1     C   ACER         NTFS   Partition     26 GB  Healthy    System

DISKPART> list partition

  Partition ###  Type              Size     Offset
  -------------  ----------------  -------  -------
  Partition 1    OEM               7993 MB    32 KB
  Partition 2    Primary             26 GB  7993 MB
* Partition 3    Primary             29 GB    34 GB
  Partition 0    Extended            11 GB    63 GB
  Partition 4    Logical             11 GB    63 GB

DISKPART> detail partition

Partition 3
Type  : 07
Hidden: No
Active: No

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
* Volume 2     D   Win7 RC x64  NTFS   Partition     29 GB  Healthy    Pagefile

DISKPART> list partition

  Partition ###  Type              Size     Offset
  -------------  ----------------  -------  -------
  Partition 1    OEM               7993 MB    32 KB
  Partition 2    Primary             26 GB  7993 MB
  Partition 3    Primary             29 GB    34 GB
* Partition 0    Extended            11 GB    63 GB
  Partition 4    Logical             11 GB    63 GB

DISKPART> detail partition

Partition 0
Type  : 0F
Hidden: No
Active: No

There is no volume associated with this partition.

DISKPART> list partition

  Partition ###  Type              Size     Offset
  -------------  ----------------  -------  -------
  Partition 1    OEM               7993 MB    32 KB
  Partition 2    Primary             26 GB  7993 MB
  Partition 3    Primary             29 GB    34 GB
  Partition 0    Extended            11 GB    63 GB
* Partition 4    Logical             11 GB    63 GB

DISKPART> detail partition

Partition 4
Type  : 07
Hidden: No
Active: No

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
* Volume 3     E   DATA         NTFS   Partition     11 GB  Healthy

So that's how vista sees the disk organization and the volume info is completely reorganized from the vista recovery environment. That OEM partition shows up as Volume 0 labelled PQSERVICE and drive letter X:, the ACER volume remains volume 2 drive letter C:, The DATA volume shows up as drive letter D: and I think volume 3, The Win7 RC x64 volume shows up as drive letter E: and I think volume 4, and the optical drive shows up as volume 1 drive letter F: . I could have the volume numbers mixed up in my head but the drive letters are definately accurate.

So I'm thinking of trying to run the Acer recovery but I don't want to damage anything further so I don't know which is a safer attempt: running the recovery from inside vista using the Acer eRecovery program or running the Acer eRecovery program from the Vista Recovery environment? The Acer eRecovery program can be run from that X: drive inside the Vista recovery environment. The file name is D2D32.exe and when I launch it I'm presented the exact same prompt/interface that I get from running the Acer empowering technology widget's eRecovery.

[Britec]

Try running Acer eRecovery program from the Vista Recovery environment see how that goes.
This is not going to be easy to sort out and its hard to sort out without looking at the computer.