How to Use an HP System Recovery Disc

By C. Taylor

HP computers ship with either a recovery partition or recovery discs.
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Your HP System Recovery Disc allow you to recover your HP computer to factory default conditions, should you incur irreparable damage to your operating system. HP designed the recovery disc to be bootable, which means your computer will run directly from the disc without requiring an intact operating system to access it. Once booted, the recovery disk guides you step-by-step during backup or recovery.

Step 1

Insert the HP System Recovery Disc in your CD/DVD drive and restart your computer.

Step 2

Press any key on your keyboard when you see the message "Press any key to boot from CD or DVD." The recovery disk will run and display the recovery interface after a few minutes.

Step 3

Click "System recovery" and then "Next." On some recovery disks, "System recovery" is found after clicking "Advanced options."

Step 4

Click "Back up your files first (recommended)" when prompted to back up your data. Click "Next." Follow the onscreen instructions for backing up your data. You can also click "Recover without backing up your files," but all your data will be irrecoverably lost.

Step 5

Insert the recovery disc again and click "Next." If your system contains multiple recovery discs, insert the subsequent discs when prompted.

Step 6

Insert the supplemental driver disc when asked and click "Next." Some systems do not supply such disks. If that is the case, click "Skip."

Step 7

Follow on-screen instructions to complete the recovery process. Recovery is mostly automated, but you may be offered the option to change language and time settings, enter passwords or register your copy of Windows.

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