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Wiping laptop disk clean then starting again?

eem2am

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Posted January 15, 2013 at 7:30PM

Hello, My Toshiba "C650D Satellite" laptop (running Windows 7) regularly needs to be started up (booted) 5 times before it actually properly starts. Usually it just goes to a black screen and hangs there. I have tried "launch startup repair", but it doesnt help. So I wish to wipe everything then start again......i dont have a Windows 7 disk, but am hoping Windows is stored on the hard disk somewhere? I do have Recovery USB stick, which i made using the laptop. Do you know how i should go about this process?.....i realise i will loose all my files.........but as long as i can reload windows and start again i dont mind.

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Ian in Northampton

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Posted January 15, 2013 at 7:45PM

Did you make your recovery USB stick using some kind of utility provided with the laptop? And: did you make it immediately, before you'd used the laptop to any real extent?

I ask because, if yours is like many modern laptops, there will be the opportunity to boot from the recovery CD/DVD/USB drive. And, if the recovery media was made at the beginning, then you should be able to restart with a fresh install, hopefully eliminating the problems you're seeing.

Does this help at all?

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eem2am

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Posted January 15, 2013 at 7:54PM

Thanks Ian,

Unfortunately i did not make the recovery USB until 2.5 years after buying the laptop.....and by this time, the problems at start up had been with me for about a month.

I did make the recovery USB with a utility internal to the laptop.

As far as i know, i have to boot up and keep pressing F8, then just click the option which says something like "go back to factory delivered state"......then hopefully it will guide me on how to reinstall windows 7?

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Ian in Northampton

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Posted January 15, 2013 at 8:02PM

eem2am: that's my understanding, from the link I sent you.

Does there seem to be a partition on your hard drive reserved for recovery data?

The fact that you made your recovery backup late isn't necessarily a disaster. The issue is, of course, whether you've backed up the problem you're now encountering, such that you'll just perpetuate it from the USB drive. But that may not be the case.

I'd try following the instructions on that link first, though.

Oh, and: you don't have to lose all your files. You should copy them across either to a USB stick or an external hard drive, or write them to a DVD so you can restore them later. But yes, unless you know what you're doing, there may be stuff that you'll lose like bookmarks/cookies and so on.

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Fruit Bat /\0/\

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Posted January 15, 2013 at 8:32PM

see page 1-12 of user manual

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eem2am

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Posted January 16, 2013 at 2:14PM

Thanks,

Do yo uknow how i can get back on to the internet after the "restor to factory delvered state"?

I presume i have to download internet explorer onto a USB, and then load it onto the machine, as i presume that internet explorer will get wiped during the recovery process?

I am not sure if i have this disk partition thing?

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Fruit Bat /\0/\

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Posted January 16, 2013 at 2:25PM

You will get an option to download and install the web browser of your choice fust by clicking on an icon.

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Ian in Northampton

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Posted January 16, 2013 at 2:26PM

When you restore, it will automatically install IE along with your operating system - it's bundled in with it. No worries there.

To find out if you have that partition, go to 'Computer' on your PC and see what it says in terms of hard disk drives. On the Medion machine that I'm currently using, it shows C: 'Boot' and D; 'Recover'. The names of yours might be different, but if it shows C: and D: as hard disk drives, you're probably good.

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Ian in Northampton

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Posted January 16, 2013 at 2:27PM

Fruit Bat /\0/\ is probably more correct than me - I'd forgotten MS were now forced to do that. Either way - you won't end up offline...

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