Support website: MyDigitalTech Support email: hello@mydigitaltech.com Support phone number: 0845 450 6323 WINDOWS 7 RECOVERY This document describes how to complete a system recovery with the inbuilt tools on your computer, WindowsRE recovery environment. WARNING: This will delete any software you have installed and any user data should be recovered to a folder called Windows.old after the restore has completed, it is advisable to do regular backups of Windows and your personal data in case you ever need to use the recovery tool, please read this document to understand the process. MyDigitalTech Team 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS WINDOWS 7 RECOVERY Page 1 WINDOWS 7 RECOVERY METHOD Page 3 WINDOWS 7 RECOVERY F8 STARTUP Page 4 WINDOWS 7 RECOVERY SYSTEM RECOVERY SHORTCUT Page 5 CHOOSE AN ADVANCED RECOVERY METHOD Page 6 RESTART YOUR COMPUTER AND CONTINUE Page 7 SELECT THE KEYBOARD LAYOUT Page 8 CHOOSE A RECOVERY TOOL Page 9 REINSTALL WINDOWS Page 10 INSTALLING WINDOWS Page 11 PREPARE YOUR DESKTOP Page 12 DESKTOP ICON SETTINGS Page 13 RESTORE USER FILES Page 14 WINDOWS.OLD CONTENTS Page 15 PERFORMANCE INFORMATION AND TOOLS Page 16 DISK CLEANUP WIZARD Page 17 2
WINDOWS 7 RECOVERY METHOD Windows 7 is configured with a recovery partition for disaster recovery which will restore Windows back to the original state it was supplied, you will then need to activate with the Certificate Of Authority attached to your computer within 30 days. Windows 7 has two methods of recovery, the first is in the event that Windows will not start normally you can then start the recovery process by pressing the F8 function key when the computer has started just after the BIOS screens have finished. The second is from the desktop using the System Recovery shortcut on the desktop which begins the restore process, the full details are in the following pages of this document. 3
WINDOWS 7 RECOVERY F8 START UP When your computer is starting tap the F8 function key after the BIOS screen has passed and before Windows attempts to start to get the screen shown in the following image. Press Enter on your keyboard to begin the recovery process. This will take you to the screens displayed from SELECT THE KEYBOARD LAYOUT 4
WINDOWS 7 RECOVERY SYSTEM RECOVERY SHORTCUT After double clicking the desktop System recovery icon this is the first of four screens that will appear before Windows restarts to begin the restore to factory image. Click Advanced recovery methods 5
CHOOSE AN ADVANCED RECOVERY METHOD On the next screen (first image) select the second option Reinstall Windows on the next screen (second image) click Skip unless you want to back up your files. 6
RESTART YOUR COMPUTER AND CONTINUE THE RECOVERY Click Restart to begin the recovery process. Windows will restart to point from the next page SELECT THE KEYBOARD LAYOUT and begin the recovery process. 7
SELECT THE KEYBOARD LAYOUT Select the United Kingdom keyboard layout and click Next to continue. Select the user name for recovery and enter the password for the account if one has been set. NOTE: If a password has been set and forgotten this is as far as you will get because without the password recovery will not continue. 8
CHOOSE A RECOVERY TOOL The recovery option to reset Windows to its factory condition is Reinstall Windows click on that option to continue or select any other option if another method of repairing your computer is required. NOTE: Reinstalling Windows from the recovery partition is a destructive process and any user installed software will be lost while user information in documents or photographs etc. will be placed in a folder called Windows.old in the root directory C: IF they are recoverable. Information on recovering user data is in section 9
REINSTALL WINDOWS Click Yes to continue The recovery installation uses the recovery image file in the hidden recovery partition to reinstall Windows and can be used over and over to restore the system to the same point it was sealed at originally. Recovery installation starting 10
INSTALLING WINDOWS Windows 7 is reinstalling and the system will restart two or three times, this process can take some time. 11
PREPARE YOUR DESKTOP To place the system icons on your desktop right click in the desktop area where a popup menu will appear, click on Personalize at the bottom. Click on Change desktop icons on the menu at the left of this Window. 12
DESKTOP ICON SETTINGS Select the icons you want to appear on the desktop then click Apply and OK to complete adding the icons. 13
RESTORE USER FILES After recovery has restored Windows a second boot option will appear on startup, once at the desktop the Restore my files option will start and any user created recoveries can be used to restore any files. Windows stores all the files from the original install into a folder in the root of the C: drive called Windows.old. An end user can then copy across all the files and folders they want to recover before getting Windows to do a disk cleanup which properly removes the Windows.old folder. 14
WINDOWS.OLD CONTENTS Windows.old contains the complete C: drive previous installation contents including user files and should not be just deleted as that will leave a dead startup option during boot up and cause the loss of recoverable files and folders. Disk cleanup is done by opening the Control Panel then clicking on the System icon. 15
PERFORMANCE INFORMATION AND TOOLS Click on the Performance Information and Tools option Click the Open disk cleanup option 16
DISK CLEANUP WIZARD The disk cleanup wizard by first clicking on Cleanup system files then select previous Windows installations then click OK a warning popup box appears, click Delete Files, Windows will show a progress bar while it removes the unwanted files and folders. 17