Recovery manager "factory reset" greyed out after a f11 bootup

LIGHTTY1 · 11 Jun 2017

I have an intact dedicated hp recovery partition ( "D:" drive ) on my laptop..Originally I used the HP factory restored discs to install everything for this computer onto a larger 320 GB WD BLUE SCORPION HDD SATA Drive. Then, i wanted to upgrade to a SSD so I used Acronis True Image Home edition to CLONE that HDD over to the NEW Toshiba 240 GB SSD..I'm suspecting that due to "cloning" that the HP recovery partition will now have limited functionality due to how HP links the recovery configuration data to the motherboard BIOS at production time ?? When I tap on F11 at startup, it loads the recovery partition environment to the point where I see the Recovery manager, but the "factory restore/reset" option is greyed out & unclickable...

I also resized the C Drive to allow "over-provisioning" to make the new Toshiba SSD happy because their SSD UTILITY Recommends that..This resulted in an extra 67 GB "unallocated" partition.. The other 4 partitions are PRIMARY NTFS except for the HP_TOOLS ( E: ) Drive Partition being FAT32 of course...The "BOOT" Drive is the C Drive..The SYSTEM (G:) Drive is the "Active" Drive....

Even if I set the RECOVERY PARTITION to "active", that doesn't rectify my issue either...

I've also read on a post somewhere online that HP creates 4 "basic" partitions when they create these computers & any attempt to resize, delete, reallocate, etc. the basic partitions turns all the partitions into "DYNAMIC" Partitions whatever this means ??

Ranger4 · 11 Jun 2017

Hi LIGHTTY1, welcome to the Forum.

Could you supply a screen shot of Disc Management please. Also include all drives including any USB ones. Your post mentions other partitions & other drives, so have all included if you can. This Forum tutorial explains how to take a screen shot & Item 7 explains how to post it to the Forum.

Disk Management - Post a Screen Capture Image - Windows 7 Help Forums

LIGHTTY1 · 12 Jun 2017

Recovery manager "factory reset" greyed out after a f11 bootup-capture.png

Recovery manager "factory reset" greyed out after a f11 bootup-capture-2.png

SIW2 · 12 Jun 2017

Look on the recovery partition for several BASE#.WIM files.

You can apply those to your target partition by browsing to the first one, using e.g. dism++.

You will have to do that from boot media

64 bit:

17514x64-v3.iso

32 bit:

A23x86.iso

SIW2 · 12 Jun 2017

Alternatively:

1. use dism++ to export the 3rd party drivers from your current installation..

2. clean install win 7 from regular installation media.

3. install your previously exported drivers.

LIGHTTY1 · 12 Jun 2017

I don't know how to use the "DISM++ tool" and thought that only works on Windows 8 & newer anyways? Can't there be a "batch file" for idiots like me to run to do this stuff or a "fix-it" tool to "rebuild" the recovery partition from another Hard Drive which is WHERE the "good working copy" of this recovery partition is located now ??

Remember, I have A Toshiba SSD Drive installed right now & HPs Installation Discs ( 5 of them ) will NOT install to a SSD, which is WHY I ran into all these issues..I get a "reducer error" when trying that route..

SIW2 · 12 Jun 2017

Dism++ is in the media I already linked to. Anybody can use it, that is why it was created as a simple gui.
It works for vista/7/8/8.1/10.

WinNtsetup is also included, which you could use instead, either will do the job.
That also works for vista/7/8/8.1/10.

If you prefer, you could get clean install media, though it requires a key ( probaly on sticker on your machine- often under the battery on laptops)

Installation media:
Microsoft Windows and Office ISO Download Tool

LIGHTTY1 · 13 Jun 2017

OK, THX FOR THAT BOOT-UP CD INFO WITH THE DISM TOOL..Have you actually "tried" this yourself when a HP Recovery partition does not launch properly on F11 Startup ? Recovery Manager has the "factory reset option" greyed out also when in the "DOS/BIOS" Mode, so "what" do you think is going on personally ?? I want to be able to figure this out, then help many others who suffer with these issues.. I did use that BCD tool also to rebuild the BCD & I reset my MBR & used the FIX BOOT Command also..Will the DISM++ Reset all of this for that recovery partition & "CLONE" the image perfectly when I "image" it from the HDD over to my Laptops SSD ??

SIW2 · 13 Jun 2017

1.The recovery manager is expecting the original partition layout. It should be possible to apply the wim file, just like any other wim, using any number of tools, dism, dism++, winntsetup, gimagex, wimlib, etc.

You will get a lot of bloat, pointless oem programs, outdated updates ( if the oem included them, etc).

2. Instead of the above, enthusiasts will just do clean install with regular MS install media and add any extra drivers.

If you prefer, you could get clean install media, though it requires a key to activate ( probaly on sticker on your machine- often under the battery on laptops)

Installation media:
Microsoft Windows and Office ISO Download Tool

LIGHTTY1 · 14 Jun 2017

OK, I burndt your ISO image onto a CD & will monkey around with this when I have more spare time.. I'm fairly "computer savy" & hopefully can figure out how to use the "dism++ Tool" !!!!! I just wantta be able to figure out something that seems impossible to figure out, that's why I'm trying this.. I have the OEM Installation Discs from "Computer Surgeons" as well...I also have Generic Windows 7 Installers FYI. Thanks for the help

Recovery manager "factory reset" greyed out after a f11 bootup