Member Avatar for manchurianCEO

Hi all,

I have a problem with a computer, it has a pirated version of windows installed but apparently the D: drive is intact with Compaq's recovery stuff. But I have tried many things already and nothing gets me to the recovery partition as I want to restore it and get rid of the pirated windows that works poorly. How that pirate copy got there? Long story and the person responsible is gone with the wind. I have tried the following things trying to get to it:


-I have tried tapping about every effin' F AND the "Esc" key on the keyboard and I either go to the safe mode option menu etc. Or it takes me to bios.

-There it no option to set the D: drive as default boot in bios.

-Tried CPQS on command prompt but no result.

-When tried the disk manager, the option to make the recovery partition "Active" was not available to click on. It was there but... you know, when it's there but you can't click it.

What else can I do?

Thank you for your help!!!

  • 2 Contributors
  • 3 Replies
  • 355 Views
  • 1 Week Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by manchurianCEO

Dani AI

Generated

Short expert summary tied to the thread: reports a Compaq Presario V5000 with an intact D: recovery partition but no way to trigger it (many F-key attempts, Disk Management won’t let the partition be made active, and CPQS attempts failed). correctly suggested F11 (commonly used on older Compaq/HP systems), but OEM recovery keys depend on an intact OEM boot handler and MBR—if those were overwritten by the pirate install the F11 intercept will not work.

Practical, ordered troubleshooting (back up user data first — making the wrong partition active can leave the laptop unbootable):

  1. Check what’s on the recovery partition from within Windows or from a Linux/Live CD. Look for folders named RECOVERY, IMAGE, or files typical of HP/Compaq recovery images.
  2. Try setting the recovery partition active with diskpart (run from an elevated Command Prompt). Example commands:
diskpart
list disk
select disk 0
list partition
select partition N    (replace N with the recovery partition number)
active
exit

Caution: setting the wrong partition active will prevent normal boot. If diskpart refuses or the partition is an OEM/hidden type, that’s a sign the special OEM boot code or partition type is blocking changes.

If the F11 path still fails, the MBR/boot code was likely changed. Repair options (use appropriate Windows install/recovery media):

  • For Windows XP (Recovery Console): run fixmbr and fixboot.
  • For Vista/7: run bootrec /fixmbr, bootrec /fixboot, bootrec /rebuildbcd.

These commands restore a standard Windows bootloader; that can remove the OEM F11 hook but will let the system boot so recovery tools or recovery-creation tools can run.

If none of the above succeeds, order OEM recovery media from HP/Compaq (or perform a clean install using the COA key on the sticker) or use a partition-recovery tool (TestDisk) to inspect/restore partition flags. Note that later reported a successful hard reset that temporarily helped — persistent recovery typically requires restoring either the OEM recovery manager/MBR or using proper recovery media.

Recommended Answers

All 3 Replies

Member Avatar for dimsums

On the older series, please try F11 during boot.

Member Avatar for manchurianCEO

On the older series, please try F11 during boot.

I tried it already, all the F's to be more exact. Also I read about alt+F11 and alt+F10 and eventually tried all the F keys but none worked.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.