Cannot Access Windows 7 Recovery Partition

Question

Greetings,

I am attempting to do a system recovery for Dell Inspiron N4010, and cannot access the Windows 7 recovery partition. For instance, when attempting system recovery it tells me I need Windows 7 installation disk instead of just accessing the recovery partition.

My computer only lists

OS (C:)
DVD RW Drive (D:)
Microsoft Office Click-to-Run 2010 (Protected) (Q:)

However, when I go to Computer Management/Storage/Disk Management I see the recovery partition listed there as Healthy.
Disk Management reads:

_______ Healthy OEM Partition
OS (C:) Healthy (Boot, Page File, Crash Dump, Primary Partition)
Recovery Healthy (System, Active, Primary Partition)

How do I gain access of recovery partition to perform system restore. Please assist.

Thanks in advance!

speedstep · Accepted Answer

F8 at startup should show factory restore option.

To restore your computer to the original factory installation, follow these steps:

Turn on the computer, after the Dell logo press F8 key repeatedly until the
Advanced Boot Options menu (Advanced Startup Options).
In Advanced Boot Options, highlight Repair Your Computer and press Enter.
Click Next and logon to the administrator account in the computer.
Click Dell DataSafe Restore and Emergency Backup and DataSafe Options.
Choose Restore without preserving new or changed file. Click Next to continue.
Choose Yes and click Next to continue.
Progress status will appear. Click Restart to initiate the restoration process.

	Note:
	When performing the restore, all customer data will be erased and replaced with whatever is in the backup.

For Additional Information on Dell DataSafe Local Backup 2.0, refer to the following links:

What is Dell DataSafe Local Backup 2.0?

Creating Your System Recovery Disks with Dell Datasafe Local Backup 2.0

Creating a Full System Backup Using Dell DataSafe Local Backup 2.0

Restoring from a Backup Using Dell Datasafe Local Backup 2.0

Upgrading to Dell DataSafe Local Backup 2.0 Professional

Frequently Asked Questions: Dell DataSafe Local Backup 2.0

ayria · Answer

Thanks for your reply! Dell DataSafe is running now. F8 finally brought up a screen that allowed me to access Dell DataSafe. It didn't show me the ABO screen, but there was a list of different options,including Repair Your Computer. Not sure why F8 didn't work previously for me, but...yay! Thanks again.

Just for any future reader's info...

F8 failed in a few attempts, and proceeded to Windows logo. If I manually restarted from the Windows Logo (to try F8 again), the next time I restart and try F8 would bring up a screen saying Windows failed to restart with two options - one to attempt to repair Windows restart, the other to start Windows normally. Both options do not help to do system recovery, though. Not sure why this last attempt opened Dell DataSafe.

Locked Topics – Laptops General

Cannot Access Windows 7 Recovery Partition

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