Dell Inspiron N5110 has missing recovery partition.

would I lose my microsoft office that I reput on here with licence key when I got it cos I dont have another key as used them all up (cos you only get 3) and as I am sure you are aware they dont like to re issue too often incase its been given about to everyone...

would I lose my microsoft office that I put on here when I got it as you only get to use the licence key 3times and you have to wait a year or so before they let it be re issued and I have used up the last one

I have right clicked on startup to see if anything running that dont need and I opened all users then explore users and it was empty in both!! so obviously there is nothing running that shouldnt be I presume

It's possible that your Startup Folder shows nothing. Just as mine does.



But you could have many services running at startup that can slow down your computer. Open system configuration (msconfig) and check the Startup tab. On my computer I have everything UNchecked (disabled) except for my touchpad and security applications.



Using System Configuration

I'm still confused about some of your previous comments. You said you bought the computer new about 3 months ago from PC World. Did you actually ever see the now missing recovery partition? Is it possible the recovery partition was never on the computer? Could the computer have been refurbished by PC World and sold as new when in fact it was a return?

Because somehow, some way, somebody reformatted your hard drive. That's the only logical way the operating system would be on a single large partition. Any other partitions (like the recovery partition, system reserved partition etc that are normally provided by Dell) are mysteriously missing. Who else has access to your computer?

hi, well yes it was bought from PC World and is a refurb and comes with a full warranty but I would have to have it sent away for them to sort it out which is why I was hopeing to sort it out myself if possible b4 going down that road (so to speak) but surely it should all be up and running as if I had purchased it as new even thou it has been refurbed....There was no recovery partition on it... surely they should have done that b4 it was sent out shouldnt they?

I have looked in system configuration and it shows all ticked so I have gone for Selective startup and unticked the load startup items as this is what we have on another computer than runs great....Also I have upgraded the Windows 7 and had that reinstall itself as that does not lose any data. It did say in a box that it was had to repair .net I think it said version 4 and it has done that...So who knows if that too was causing a problem too.....Either way thou I still dont have the recovery partition!!

This is now what I see

Here's my best guess, Angie. Somebody returned your Inspiron N5110 to PC World because something happened to the lappy. Maybe it shipped from the factory with a defective hard drive. Maybe the original buyer just nuked the hard drive and erased everything. Maybe the original buyer got it totally messed up with malware. Whatever the reason, PC World took it back and did not restore the machine to factory specs. Maybe they didn't have the recovery disks. Maybe the hidden recovery partition had also been seriously messed up. Maybe PC World also had to replace the motherboard and/or CPU because they were damaged. Whatever happened, it looks like PC World simply reinstalled Windows 7 and let it create a single default partition the size of the hard drive.

To the best of my knowledge, no computer manufacturer, including Dell, offers a way to install just a recovery partition. A manufacturer's recovery partition is unique to each computer. It is tied to the specific motherboard, RAM, CPU, etc that are all individually serial numbered. So if PC World replaced the motherboard (just as an example) maybe they couldn't use any recovery disks because they wouldn't work with the new hardware. I'm just guessing here, but that might explain why your machine doesn't have a recovery partition.

If and when your machine is working properly and to your satisfaction, don't get hung up on the lack of a recovery partition. As I suggested in another post, you can create a System Image of your lean, mean, speedy machine and that can be your recovery tool. In fact, IMHO it would be better than a factory recovery partition. All installed programs, Windows Updates, personal settings etc would be included as of when the system image was made. You'd save a lot of time if you ever had to use the image. You wouldn't get that with your typical recovery partition.

And one final consideration and no offense intended. It seems you're wanting a recovery partition on your hard drive because it would be nice to have. But if that hard drive ever fails (a mechanical failure where it won't even spin) you'd pretty much lose access to everything on the hard drive including that recovery partition. In other words, it would be pretty much useless. Wouldn't it be nice, not to mention safer, to have a system image on a separate external hard drive that could be accessed? Just a thought. :)

I totally agree...When I just did the backup and recovery onto my external hard drive it said something like (creating backup and backing up system image!!) So have I got one already!! this is very puzzling to say the least. I dont mind not having the recovery partition its just that when the data safe update pops up it wont do it without it...Now maybe I dont need the data safe to update!! I just dont know.....

In the mean time after I did the windows 7 update installer with my disc (inorder to protect losing everything just as a precaution just to try it) I have found it too be running much better plus I took all those not needed startup ones off too (well, unticked them) Like I said in my post it did come up something on updating windows 7 about having to repair .net something or other!! and so far so good...So maybe that was a fault already on the laptop on receiving it too!!

So any ideas then about the Image?

When you set up Windows Backup, you can let Windows choose what to back up, which will include a system image, or you can select the items that you want to back up and whether you want to include a system image.

If you selected "let Windows choose" a system image was made.

What is a system image?

If the drive you are saving your backup on is formatted using the NTFS file system and has enough disk space, a system image of your programs, Windows, and all drivers and registry settings are also included in the backup. This image can be used to restore the contents of your computer if your hard drive or computer stops working.

How does Windows choose which files to back up?