# Solved: Restore to factory settings HELP!



## pancakes095 (Jan 26, 2011)

Hi, 
I just purchased a used laptop, and i want to restore it to factory settings. Its driving me mad i cant find how to do it. It is windows 7 ultimate (and i believe that it is a dodgy copy hence why i want nothing to do with it and want to take it back to factory settings) when ever i have tried it only allows me to go back a certain time and restore to that point. 
When windows is loading and i hit F10 the screen isn't displaying what it should it shows this 

Edit Boot Options

Edit Windows boot option for: Windows 7

Path: \windows\system32\winload.exe

Partition 1
Hard Disk D9d90ac4

[ /NOEXECUTE=OPTIN


and if i hit enter it just starts loading up windows normally instead of taking me to boot options.. its driving me MAD please help...

and if u can tell i have not got any recovery disks or anything


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## Lance1 (Aug 4, 2003)

Whats the make and model of the laptop?


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## pancakes095 (Jan 26, 2011)

its a sony vaio VPCEB2ZOE


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

Found a manual. It says on page 35 "While the computer is off or in Hibernate mode, the ASSIST button launches the VAIO Recovery Center."

Later it says "See the Recovery and Troubleshooting Guide for more information."

*EDIT*: ftp://ftp.vaio-link.com/pub/Manuals/RecoTS/2008Q2_TRG_EN.pdf is the link for the other Guide.


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## pancakes095 (Jan 26, 2011)

I tried that the assist button isnt loading anything and the manual won't open from that link

help..


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## Lance1 (Aug 4, 2003)

The Sony uses *F10* to access the recovery partition. It look as though you don't have one on the hard drive. Is the a sticker on the laptop the give you the product key? If so it'll also give you the OS version there. If you have the CD=DVD you could reload the OS depending on the type on the disk.


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## pancakes095 (Jan 26, 2011)

sorry im a beginner you may need to dumb it down for me.. on the back of my laptop i have the product key and a whole load of other numbers


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

Both those links still work for me; don't know why you are having trouble.

You can still boot into Windows, right? Check in Disk Management if there is a Recovery partition.

Chances are there was a hard drive failure and the pirated or hacked RC version was installed on the replacement drive.


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## Lance1 (Aug 4, 2003)

Disk Management can be accessed by Right click *Computer* on the desktop and select *Manage* and then click *Disk Management*


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## pancakes095 (Jan 26, 2011)

yeah the computer is booting up fine everything is pretty much fine with it.. i mean it has detected that there is conferfit software on it. I managed to get into the disk managment..i dont really no what i am looking for the status is healthy (system, boot, page file, active, crash dump, primary partition) 

i have no idea what it means though..

i spoke to a vaio support person to who basically told me what you just did that there is a partition missing, he said that only way is to purchase recovery disks from vaio.. is that the only way?


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## Lance1 (Aug 4, 2003)

pancakes095 said:


> yeah the computer is booting up fine everything is pretty much fine with it.. i mean it has detected that there is counterfeit software on it. I managed to get into the disk management..i don't really no what i am looking for the status is healthy (system, boot, page file, active, crash dump, primary partition)
> 
> i have no idea what it means though..
> 
> i spoke to a vaio support person to who basically told me what you just did that there is a partition missing, he said that only way is to purchase recovery disks from vaio.. is that the only way?


As Sony support says, you only have one partition (Primary) and no system recovery partition. The recovery disk that Sony offers will most likely come with Vista and will bring the laptop back to factory default.


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## pancakes095 (Jan 26, 2011)

soo im a bit slow and remembered that my sister has the same laptop as me and i used her recovery disks but as i got to 22% it said that there was an error with the disk the dvd is slightly scratched if i make a new recovery disk with her laptop will it work fine on my laptop? 
thanks so much btw for all the help


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## DaveA (Nov 16, 1999)

These recover disks, are they ones that were on her machine or from the factory?
If NOT from the factory (Sony) then they will not work on a different machine.

Why not just buy the required disks from Sony, the last time I bought any, they were about $25.00 US and well worth the money spent?


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## pancakes095 (Jan 26, 2011)

well they are the ones that were made from her machine. i spoke to sony care and they said that if it is exactly the same laptop it should work. So i am going to try and make the disk again and if it doesnt work then i will purchase it from sony.. this is driving me MAD!!!


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## DaveA (Nov 16, 1999)

Are the model numbers on both machines are exactly the same?
If not then, then they do not have the SAME hardware, and these disks will not work.


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## pancakes095 (Jan 26, 2011)

ahh i see i will have a look and get back to you


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## pancakes095 (Jan 26, 2011)

just checked and the model number is exactly the same  so fingers crossed it will work


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## flagtrax (Jan 26, 2011)

In reality if you are successful in loading from your sisters disks, you will still end up with an operating system assigned to another machine. To be legal according to the MS EULA you should get disks from sony.


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

> In reality if you are successful in loading from your sisters disks, you will still end up with an operating system assigned to another machine.


It may have Sony's OEM volume license key. If it has the actual individual product key then it can be changed to the correct one (which is on a sticker on the machine).


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## flagtrax (Jan 26, 2011)

I think it would be better said "IF the sticker is there". from what is discribed this system was altered with a load that removed his restore partition. Definately not original..........


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

Good point.


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## pancakes095 (Jan 26, 2011)

im so confused but the sticker is there with the product key on it.. so i dont understand if this works with the recovery disk (which im making as i type) will i have to do something else to the laptop to fix it???


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## calvin-c (May 17, 2006)

Probably not. It will probably ask you for the product key during the installation. Or maybe that's at activation-I don't remember for sure. If it accepts the key from your sticker then you should be fine, except for the missing recovery partition. I'm not sure the recovery disks will recreate the recovery partition, but even if they don't you should be OK as long as you have a copy of the disks.


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## pancakes095 (Jan 26, 2011)

Hi just to let you all know the disks worked  i am writing this from my nicely restored to factory settings laptop  thanks for all of your help.. one more question the only error that occured when the laptop was restoring was that the ME Driver Patch was not installed Error 505 ..no idea what that is and how important it is..


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## zorgan (Aug 3, 2007)

relieve the pain, call Sony just fork out for a replacement recovery disk, trust me much less of a headache, worth paying the money instead of messing around trying to get stuff to work.

if you are sure the recovery cd you used is ok, call sony they will advise you best and Retailers are usually quite good with support, or e-mail them.


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

> ... worth paying the money instead of messing around trying to get stuff to work.


In some cases. But the whole point of this forum is to try (legally) to get stuff to work w/o paying the money. 

pancakes095, what, if any, warnings or errors are in Device Manager?

Have you noticed any problems--something not working or not working well--since the Recovery?

If your answers are 'none' and 'no' then I think you have nothing to worry about, and really lucked out this time. When buying a computer we should consider how we will install or recover the OS when the need arises.


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## zorgan (Aug 3, 2007)

> When buying a computer we should consider how we will install or recover the OS when the need arises.


Mostly all manufacturers now give options to create recovery DVDs within the OS

I work as a field service engineer for a well known company, when people get into this mess they usually have no idea what to do.

they have no idea to create recovery dvds, when out of warranty they often have to fork out for new ones from the support manufacturer if they have a hard drive failure (for example)

I believe retailers should give more awareness to customers when buying a new laptop, they should be advised better, I do know Packard Bell have a pop-up message which asks the user to act on creating a factory backup, but even then most customers ignore this because they have no clue what it means.


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## pancakes095 (Jan 26, 2011)

i have had no problems at the moment all seems to be working fine, a tiny bit slower maybe but thats about it. Otherwise everything else seems to be working fine and dandy  thankyou all for so much help.


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

You're welcome. 

You can mark this solved using the







button at the upper left of the page.


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## aka Brett (Nov 25, 2008)

zorgan said:


> Mostly all manufacturers now give options to create recovery DVDs within the OS
> 
> I work as a field service engineer for a well known company, when people get into this mess they usually have no idea what to do.
> 
> ...


I believe a pop up should occur daily or upon boot until they are made...I also know many people that do not create the disks after the purchase of a machine.
Ideally though
To go a step further I believe the disks should come with the unit...some do..the last dell purchases I made had the recovery partition as well as the disks.
Years ago an associate of mine bought an hp..it come with a recovery partition but no software to create disks..he never did receive disks from hp and gave up after a few phone exchanges....the reply always was the recovery partition is for re installing windows..........This was in the era not long after xp hit the market{several years ago}...Sure,he is happy at the moment,but when the hdd dies....I can hear the response now "we dont supply disks for that old of a model"


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## zorgan (Aug 3, 2007)

> To go a step further I believe the disks should come with the unit


I agree whole heartedly however, costs severely rise when the copy if supplied with the machine, regards to Microsoft's licensing contract.


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