Reformatting and reinstalling windows w/ Recovery

[Deathstroke]

Which partition option should I choose?

I have an Asus, K53E model. My PC has recently been infected with viruses and trojans and while I was able to get rid of some of them, I'm not sure if I got them all so I decided to completely wipe my Hard Drive.

I was going to do Asus Recovery from disk, but I only have one disk available so I decided to do with the Recovery partition. The instructions for the Recovery partition tell me that once I restore my PC to factory that I'll get three options:

Recover Windows to first partition only.
This option deletes only the first partition and allows you to keep other partitions, and to create a new system partition as drive "C".


Recover Windows to entire HD.
This option deletes all partitions from your hard disk drive and creates a new system partition as drive "C".


Recover Windows to entire HD with two partitions.
This option deletes all partitions from your hard drive and creates two new partitions "C" (25%) and "D" (75%).

I'm not really a tech-wiz so I'm not sure which option to choose. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Deathstroke]

Would really like some insight on this...

 

[Golden]

Hi,

The third option creates two partitions:

C: the OS
D: an empty data partition

There is also a hidden recovery partition.

I believe this is the default setup for the ASUS laptop - I'm currently setting one up now for a friend with that exact layout.

Regards,
Golden

 

[Ztruker]

Post a screen shot of an expanded Disk Management window please. Need that before we can give you any help with this.

To open Disk Management, press Windows key (next to left Ctrl key) +r, type diskmgmt.msc and press Enter or click GO.

How to Use the Snipping Tool in Vista - Vista Forums (says it's for Vista but also works with Win 7).

Once you have the image saved, click on the Paperclip Icon next to the Smiley Icon. In the Manage Attachments window, click Browse and navigate to where you saved the image and select it.
Click the Upload button.
Close the Manage Attachments window.
Click on the Paperclip Icon again and select the image you uploaded. It will be placed in your post.

 

[Deathstroke]

I'm in Safe Mode.

 

[Golden]

Hi,

From that image, your system is setup to the 2nd option (note there is no D: partition).

It doesn't really matter which option you choose, it depends entirely on how you want the recovered laptop to look once its been recovered.

Make sure you backup all your data before proceeding!

Regards,
Golden

 

[Deathstroke]

Hi,

From that image, your system is setup to the 2nd option (note there is no D: partition).

It doesn't really matter which option you choose, it depends entirely on how you want the recovered laptop to look once its been recovered.

Make sure you backup all your data before proceeding!

Regards,
Golden

Thanks a lot, but what do you mean by "how you want the recovered laptop to look"?

 

[Golden]

Hi,

When you do a restore to factory setting, you are effectively reverting the laptop to the state that you bought it in. If you want the laptop to be restored with just a single partition (C) then choose option 2. If you want it to be restored with a C: and D: partition, then choose option 3.

The option you choose depends on how many paritions you want (that is what I meant by "look"). You can always modify it easily at a later stage if you like.

Don't forget to backup any user data as this will be lost once you restore the laptop.

Regards,
Golden

 

[Deathstroke]

Hi,

When you do a restore to factory setting, you are effectively reverting the laptop to the state that you bought it in. If you want the laptop to be restored with just a single partition (C) then choose option 2. If you want it to be restored with a C: and D: partition, then choose option 3.

The option you choose depends on how many paritions you want (that is what I meant by "look"). You can always modify it easily at a later stage if you like.

Don't forget to backup any user data as this will be lost once you restore the laptop.

Regards,
Golden

So it doesn't matter which one I choose? Alright. Oh and, I installed an anti-virus that deleted some pretty important programs that came installed on my PC. When I restore it, those prgrams will be back, right?

 

[Golden]

Hi,

If those programs were part of the original state of the computer, then YES, they will be back. But...more importantly, why did the anti-virus software remove them......? Which anti-virus was it, and what were the programs called?

Regards,
Golden

 

[gregrocker]

Factory Recovery will restore eveything to exactly how it came from the factory.

The choice of a D partition is for those who want their data partition separate from the OS to keep the OS backup image smaller. They often keep their data on D and link it to the related Library - Include a Folder - Windows 7 Forums . So if you back up your data in Documents, Pictures, Music, etc. externally then after Recovery instead of copying them back into their folders on C, you would paste the folders to D and then link them according to the blue link.

But you should make Recovery Disks to use as a backup because running Recovery from boot can fail. You need the disks as a backup, or you'll have to order them from Asus Support.

A third option is to get a superior Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7.

In the tutorial there are recommendations as well for maintaining Win7 based on what's worked best since before the OS was released.

 

[Deathstroke]

Hi,

If those programs were part of the original state of the computer, then YES, they will be back. But...more importantly, why did the anti-virus software remove them......? Which anti-virus was it, and what were the programs called?

Regards,
Golden

It was CCleaner, and it removed Windows Media Player for some reason, and a few other programs that I can't remember the name of.

 

[gregrocker]

Hi,

If those programs were part of the original state of the computer, then YES, they will be back. But...more importantly, why did the anti-virus software remove them......? Which anti-virus was it, and what were the programs called?

Regards,
Golden

It was CCleaner, and it removed Windows Media Player for some reason, and a few other programs that I can't remember the name of.

It's not possible CCleaner could do this since it would not have WMP even in it's Uninstall list - that's a feature that must be accessed elsewhere in Programs and Features.

What evidence are you basing your claim that CCleaner did such things. We hear a lot of wild accusations aimed at CCleaner without any support to back them up, and this is one of the more outlandish. :huh: CCleaner is perhaps the single most respected little app in the entire tech world.

 

[Deathstroke]

Factory Recovery will restore eveything to exactly how it came from the factory.

The choice of a D partition is for those who want their data partition separate from the OS to keep the OS backup image smaller. They often keep their data on D and link it to the related Library - Include a Folder - Windows 7 Forums . So if you back up your data in Documents, Pictures, Music, etc. externally then after Recovery instead of copying them back into their folders on C, you would paste the folders to D and then link them according to the blue link.

But you should make Recovery Disks to use as a backup because running Recovery from boot can fail. You need the disks as a backup, or you'll have to order them from Asus Support.

A third option is to get a superior Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7.

In the tutorial there are recommendations as well for maintaining Win7 based on what's worked best since before the OS was released.

What happens if Recovery from boot fails?

 

[gregrocker]

What did I say you do if Recovery from boot fails?

And what did I say was a third option?