Creating a recovery partition

Yeah, you read right... I want to create a new recovery partition for my laptop, as the previous owner erased teh one that was on here to install a different OS.

My aim is to use this laptop as a testbed for working with installation CDs and whatnot, and I'd like to be able to hit a button and restore teh machine back to a default state.

Anyone have any resources for me?

Also, anyone happen to have the installation CDs for a Presairo 1200US?

A couple things.



Use nLite to create a reinstall disc with all drivers and patches included.

Or use DriveImage XML after getting your partition setup to create a compressed image of the partition, at which point you'd have to use BartPE to restore the image.

BartPE can be installed to a harddrive, I've tried doing this for my neighbor who has had oh so many issues with HP and re-installing everything. The trouble is it doesn't boot right, at least I didn't have time to get it to. Edited boot.ini on the active partition to try to get it to, pointed to the right files, but no dice. You'd have to be willing to change the primary (boot) partition with a Linux CD or something. Then BartPE should load off of one partition and be able to restore data on the partition it's installed to to another partition.




Personally I'm working on trying to integrate drivers and hotfixes and everything into a slipstream for a DVD right now for my laptop. An unattended install of everything but user data seems just as easy as the BartPE method.

Depends how u want to do it, D1. Personally, I like the nLite method. You create a hidden partition. I know PM8 can do it. Can't remember what type it is off the top of my head. The BIOS sees is but the OS's don't.

However, it's designed to run a certain file. You have to create a dummy file to launch the Windows Setup. Or manually edit the BIOS.

Personally, I'd just go by a cheap Gigabyte board. They have this built in.

I do have some links for you....gotta find them.

Part of the problem is, as you pointed out, Nilpo, is the BIOS for the Presario will likely be looking for a specific file or location.

I've never used nLite, preferring to do the slipstream work myself as indicated in the sticky I wrote. Most of the notebooks I've dealt with use a FAT32 partition and a DOS-stye boot menu when punching the appropriate key.

Ah... a little research shows that Compaq didn't have an autorecovery partition... it was all on CD.

Then build your own. I used to do this for all of my OEM customers when I had the shop.

Basically, I ghosted a Sysprep image. Then unpack the ISO to a hidden (HP) partition. I just used the boot.ini file for the menu. However, you could easily use a custom floppy or CD instead.

Yeah, or I could just tweak an unattended CD... but then, that would make too much sense.

Use some softwares to have a try? I don't know if it could be a effective way.

Okay, so I ran into a similar problem. The laptop I have no longer has a working cd drive, and the internal port on it is so messed up that even if I bought a new drive, it wouldn't connect.

To make matters worse, the hard drive flatlined, and had to be replaced. Now, I've been trying for a while to get this annoying laptop back up and running, attempting everything from building windows xp home under 2 gigs to load on a geek stick, to booting via network and attempting install with that method. They have all, so far, failed.

However, I haven't given up hope yet. I have an external laptop hard drive enclosure, that is currently housing my hard drive. Using nLite, I have prepped a install of windows xp home that should work. Only problem I have is setting up a secondary partition on the computer, that the computer will be willing to boot from.

I'm not picky, in fact I would even be willing to have the computer display a boot.ini option between the two drives asking me to pick one to boot from, but the biggest problem I have at the moment, is I am not familiar with partitions and their individual uses, beyond the basis from Fat/Fat16/Fat32, and NTFS.

The question is the following, If the main partition was under or equal to 1 gig, and contained the content files for the CD, how would the partition need to be setup, so the computer can recognize the partition?

(PS: Tried everything from usb devices (cd drives, hard drives, etc) to loading a system directly onto the hard drive from a different computer. Apparently, for some reason, the laptop doesn't like me attempting that, but at one point, would load dos via usb geek stick.)

Take a look at my thread in the OS section on dual-booting Windows and Linux-- it has some pointers on redirecting Windows NTLDR, as I recall.