How to retrieve W7 from a hard drive?

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  • Hansoon
    Field Supervisor

    Site Contributor
    2,500+ Posts
    • Sep 2007
    • 3374
    #1

    How to retrieve W7 from a hard drive?

    How to retrieve W7 from a hard drive?

    Got myself a new Notebook with W7-Home pre-installed. There's no recovery disk but only some kind of image on the harddrive being activated with an obscure "Manager"

    What happened: I tried with Acronis DiscDirector to resize partitions. This is a procedure I did hundred times without problems. Now however it somehow stalled and the only way to continue was by switching of the box.

    As a result the notebook couldn't boot anymore. I looked at the drive with a DOS bootdiskette and found out that partition C:\ became K:\ for some reason. However, I tried with all possible means to change it back to C:\ but without success even with the programs I know working under DOS.

    This is not a great problem but I just want to retrieve my W7 from the harddrive cause I payed for the license. The MS sticker is on my Notebook wit the code.

    Any ideas how to have a an installable W7 copy out of this mess?

    Hans
    “Sent from my Intel 80286 using MS-DOS 2.0”

    Tags: anymore, back, boot, box, change, code, control panel, copy, deactivating, disk, dos, drive, hard drive, image, install, installed, key, legit, manager, ops, pressed, procedure, recovery, restores, result, search, switching, timeline
    • RRodgers
      Service Manager

      1,000+ Posts
      • Jun 2009
      • 1947
      #2
      I believe we had an answer to this over at AOA - Alliance of Overclocking Arts - Home I'd have to do some digging to find the post.
      Color is not 4 times harder... it's 65,000 times harder. They call it "TECH MODE" for a reason. I have manual's and firmware for ya, course... you are going to have to earn it.

        Comment

        • Mr Spock
          Vulcan Inventor of Death

          1,000+ Posts
          • Aug 2006
          • 2064
          #3
          At one time the hidden partition was activated by using a partitioning software package and setting the partition to active and deactivating the "boot" partition. When the computer was rebooted it started the recovery partition and reinstalled the factory o/s and bloatware. I would just use a cd and reload the o/s and be done with it.
          And Star Trek was just a tv show...yeah right!

            Comment

            • RRodgers
              Service Manager

              1,000+ Posts
              • Jun 2009
              • 1947
              #4
              Originally posted by Mr Spock
              At one time the hidden partition was activated by using a partitioning software package and setting the partition to active and deactivating the "boot" partition. When the computer was rebooted it started the recovery partition and reinstalled the factory o/s and bloatware. I would just use a cd and reload the o/s and be done with it.
              He would have to buy an external CDRom drive though.
              Color is not 4 times harder... it's 65,000 times harder. They call it "TECH MODE" for a reason. I have manual's and firmware for ya, course... you are going to have to earn it.

                Comment

                • Hansoon
                  Field Supervisor

                  Site Contributor
                  2,500+ Posts
                  • Sep 2007
                  • 3374
                  #5
                  Guys I'm less interested in the original install with all that bloathware crap. I just want a copy of an installable W7 to be used with my license. Hence the question: Can I retrieve W7 from the files still present on the partition(s)?

                  Hans
                  “Sent from my Intel 80286 using MS-DOS 2.0”

                    Comment

                    • zed255
                      How'd ya manage that?

                      1,000+ Posts
                      • Dec 2009
                      • 1024
                      #6
                      The issue here is Acronis and a premature shutdown hosed your partition table and or the MBR. Whenever I make radical changes to a disk's structure, especially one with data I'd like to keep, I make a backup of either the whole drive or sometimes just the partition table and MBR. That way if you inadvertantly hose your drive you're not out of luck.

                      Having said that, I think if you copy the files off the hidden partition to an external drive and wipe the netbook's disk you should be able to repartition the drive and put the files back on the recovery partition. The BIOS is generally the 'manager' that accesses the recovery partition via one of the F-keys during boot up. You may need to do some research to find out what size , type and format the recovery partition should have. I'd also consider a call to the netbook manufacturer's support line to see what they recommend (they may be willing to give you details about the recovery partition).

                      Good luck. You may also be able to use your key if you can find an image on the 'net.

                        Comment

                        • D_L_P
                          Self Employed

                          1,000+ Posts
                          • Oct 2009
                          • 1196
                          #7
                          You can call the manufacturer of your notebook and ask them to send you the recovery disc or download the ISO. Or if you want the recovery disc torrent.
                          Once you've made the recovery disc, you should be able to put it in and run the recovery center and repair the startup disc. It's much better than the XP version and should be able to repair the partition since you were only resizing partitions and not moving/changing the data. And even if it can't you can just reinstall Win7.

                            Comment

                            • Mr Spock
                              Vulcan Inventor of Death

                              1,000+ Posts
                              • Aug 2006
                              • 2064
                              #8
                              Originally posted by RRodgers
                              He would have to buy an external CDRom drive though.
                              No actually it can either be done by an f-key while booting, bios command, or a boot disk with a software package like the old fdisk where you can set a partition active. When the partition boots up it writes and restores the regular partition and then changes the active partition to the normal one and reboots. It depends on the manufacturer. I can use the internal cd rom, just need to boot from it.


                              Hansoon what is the model and manufacturer of this unit. I might be able to help with that info.
                              And Star Trek was just a tv show...yeah right!

                                Comment

                                • RRodgers
                                  Service Manager

                                  1,000+ Posts
                                  • Jun 2009
                                  • 1947
                                  #9
                                  Originally posted by Mr Spock
                                  No actually it can either be done by an f-key while booting, bios command, or a boot disk with a software package like the old fdisk where you can set a partition active. When the partition boots up it writes and restores the regular partition and then changes the active partition to the normal one and reboots. It depends on the manufacturer. I can use the internal cd rom, just need to boot from it.


                                  Hansoon what is the model and manufacturer of this unit. I might be able to help with that info.
                                  He said he has a netbook, netnooks usually don't have a CdRom drive, so all this talk of "just get a cd image isn't going to work.
                                  Color is not 4 times harder... it's 65,000 times harder. They call it "TECH MODE" for a reason. I have manual's and firmware for ya, course... you are going to have to earn it.

                                    Comment

                                    • RRodgers
                                      Service Manager

                                      1,000+ Posts
                                      • Jun 2009
                                      • 1947
                                      #10
                                      Ugg I just re read his post, he did say NOTE book not NET. My bad... I feel like an ass
                                      Color is not 4 times harder... it's 65,000 times harder. They call it "TECH MODE" for a reason. I have manual's and firmware for ya, course... you are going to have to earn it.

                                        Comment

                                        • Mr Spock
                                          Vulcan Inventor of Death

                                          1,000+ Posts
                                          • Aug 2006
                                          • 2064
                                          #11
                                          Originally posted by RRodgers
                                          Ugg I just re read his post, he did say NOTE book not NET. My bad... I feel like an ass
                                          Don't after your post I had to go back and reread the initial post to make sure I read it correctly.... You are right regarding the netbooks.
                                          And Star Trek was just a tv show...yeah right!

                                            Comment

                                            • Hansoon
                                              Field Supervisor

                                              Site Contributor
                                              2,500+ Posts
                                              • Sep 2007
                                              • 3374
                                              #12


                                              Thanks for all the input gentlemen. Its indeed a NOTEbook however with a NETbook formfactor.

                                              Acer Aspire Timeline 1810T - Netbook Reviews

                                              I have a separate Slim DVD and Floppy drive both working well with it so that should not be a problem.

                                              Hans
                                              “Sent from my Intel 80286 using MS-DOS 2.0”

                                                Comment

                                                • Vulkor
                                                  Senior Tech

                                                  500+ Posts
                                                  • Jun 2009
                                                  • 946
                                                  #13
                                                  I would just download an OEM Copy of Your OS via a torrent site as mentioned above and wipe your machine, reinstall and use your key you paid for. Long as you download what you paid for and not some ultimate version etc you should be fine. IF you have to use a key that is already in use one you get it installed you can change the OS key to yours. Then you would be legal and legit.

                                                    Comment

                                                    • RRodgers
                                                      Service Manager

                                                      1,000+ Posts
                                                      • Jun 2009
                                                      • 1947
                                                      #14
                                                      Yeah man, sorry we totally blew your thread. But everyone else has it right. Just download an OEM copy of your OS and use your Key. I do that to my laptops and it works just fine. No bloat either.
                                                      Color is not 4 times harder... it's 65,000 times harder. They call it "TECH MODE" for a reason. I have manual's and firmware for ya, course... you are going to have to earn it.

                                                        Comment

                                                        • Hansoon
                                                          Field Supervisor

                                                          Site Contributor
                                                          2,500+ Posts
                                                          • Sep 2007
                                                          • 3374
                                                          #15
                                                          Thanks.

                                                          Than I'll have to ask rather sheepishly: From where can I download W7 in GERMAN.

                                                          Hans
                                                          “Sent from my Intel 80286 using MS-DOS 2.0”

                                                            Comment

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