one-proud-aussie Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 hey guys, not about FSX apart from slow frame rates as a result, but i thought this would be the best place to turn to for help. Problem: i decided i would reformat my HP laptop running windows 7 which i installed as an upgrade from vista, i did this due to slow computer and too many things all over the joint and programs i didnt need and just files everywhere and a mess.. clean start i like well.. when i upgraded to windows 7, i put in the CD, installed and it reformatted my comp in the process , so stupid me thought well if i put in disk, install again it will reformat... but i was wrong, now i have 2 coppies of windows 7 running on the same partition part of my C: drive... big problem as i cannot remove it now with things i have tried looking for, i can eliminate the option of asking what OS to run on startup.. but its causing the comp to run so slow its not even funny... now i thought, i will just go in and reformat with the HP stuff.. so rebooted, hit F11 for the restore stuff on startup.. it just loaded windows as normal without asking if i would like to restore... weird.. so i tried to search for it on my comp.. no go... i then realized all the HP software stuff that came on my comp.. was gone, not able to find it.. and also a partition called HP RECOVERY of the D: drive.. was empty.... not a sight of it. what i want to do.. is... get rid of both OS's, do a full reformat and install windows 7 again... any help will be greatly appreciated.. thanks kane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maurice_King Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 Well since your "C:\" is essentially rooted due to the errors you have described above , in the interests of preserving what data may be retrievable from the existing HDD I'd suggest you buy a brand new 320Gb or so HDD and install on that Now if you want to just blow the original away you may need to change the HDD access mode in the Bios Del HP and Toshi's are all like this and it is a pain in the arse. I'd suggest you download something like BART PE or even boot the PC from an XP Bootable Thumb Drive and delete the Partition tables and allow you to format things as per normal and after that you should be able to boot from the Win 7 CD and be good to go. . I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one-proud-aussie Posted January 16, 2010 Author Share Posted January 16, 2010 yeah, i am definantly thinking of getting a new HDD.. it seems the easiest way to go.. and can pick them up for fairly cheep these day, but how do i go about doing it, do i just plug it in.. boot up the comp with windows 7 disk in and it should all go to plan? cause well to say the least my C: drive is shagged.. does anyone know about how to get my recovery stuff back? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Routley Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 The HDD is usually pretty easily accessible from a panel underneath the Laptop. Check what it is, but most likely a SATA variant ... sometimes you need to put it into the "tray" assembly that the existing one is in. I would consider buying a 2.5" USB HDD enclosure, to put the old drive in once you have the new system up and running. They cost about $50 snd Win7 will recognise them automatically. You can scrape what files you need off the old drive then. Not quite sure how you ended up in the pickle ... but the way to "clean install" is: Boot from Win 7 CD Select Custom Installation Delete the Volume (obviously you lose everything on the disk this way) Install onto the newly vacated drive. If you have abberant partitions, you might consider opening the Administrative tools in the Control Panel, and select Storage beforehand. There you may delete any UNWANTED partitions, snd expand the others. Careful .. if you get it wrong .. there is no RESTORE function here. (All fresh in my mind ... just Put 64bit Win7 on the Media Centre PC yesterday, replacing the "dog" thatwas 32bit Vista ...... Nice) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one-proud-aussie Posted January 16, 2010 Author Share Posted January 16, 2010 yeah, underneath my laptop i have 3 differant panels which are held by 2 screws each.. 2 of them being HDD 1 and 2.. so very easy to get to and yes they are in a kinda rubber / plastic black case kinda thing, i dont mind loosing everything.. after all my main idea at the start was to do a restore back to factory defaults so i did all the backup stuff on my external hard drive.. thanks for the knowledge about how to do it next time i cant believe i did this tho! so annoying hahahaha.. also, another quick question.. for future reference.. the computer is made with vista.. i upgraded to Win7... so if i do a reformat (restore to factory defaults) will it keep the Windows 7 as my OS or will it go back to Vista as it is a 'factory defaults' restore and it initially came with Vista.. this is why i tried to take a short cut by just re-installing windows 7 instead of reformatting then seeing what happened.. if it went back to vista then install windows 7, that would have been a long boring day to do all that so i took a 'costly' shortcut (long way now!!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Routley Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 If you restore from a backup partition you will end up with the O/S that is in that partition (ie Vista) or even worse, a complete mess. Frankly .. I hate backup partitions. Get a NAS drive, put it somewhere on your network, and Use Sync Centre or Sync Toy to backup the things that actually matter. If it goes belly up, then reinstall everything. Just my 2c Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Mason Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 Hi mate, I am about an expert on laptop reformatting etc these days, I think you have the DV6000 from memory? I am actually waiting to recieve my 3.2 Ghz HP dv9000 as i write this. If your not concerned about losing your data and you have a W7 disk, then I suggest a program that I use called wipe drive or Dban, either will wipe your existing HDD to new spec with nothing but the bios, and once thats run (super simple, shut down your computer, insert the wipe drive or dban disk and follow the prompts for a reformat, go for a 7 pass or the max, with wipe drive that usually runs overnight for me and is done in the morning when I get up ready for a fresh W7 disk. If your hell bent on changing out your HDD, try to go for a 10,000 rpm velociraptor or if you dont have the cash for that just grab a 7200 WD HDD, if you have the Dv6000 its a one HDD laptop, if you have the 9000 you can have 2 and I would suggest a raid0 setup as it has worked remarkably good for me. Handy hint though, before you reformat, get the Nvidia driver for whatever GPU you have and drop it on a disk or flash drive, I reformatted my mates dv6000 last week and it was a bastard to try and do without internet, I had to get the driver on my laptop then transfer it and install from my computer. The rest W7 can take care of. If you want any other tips and bits about the laptop caper shoot me a PM Cheers, AC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one-proud-aussie Posted January 16, 2010 Author Share Posted January 16, 2010 well aussiecop.. i think you just sold me on that one.. i will give it a crack and for sure let you know how it goes i hope it all goes well hahaha. thanks heaps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one-proud-aussie Posted January 16, 2010 Author Share Posted January 16, 2010 and it is a DV9000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maurice_King Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 There is only one way to have system recovery and that is with GHOST or some other imaging and NAS Recovery Partitions on Bundled Laptops is unreliable at best and a downright joke at worst. There is NO substitute for respectable external backup, be it NAS, External Drive or backup partition on a networked PC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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