User's Guide

11 Backing up, restoring, and recovering
This chapter provides information about the following processes. The information in the chapter is
standard procedure for most models.
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Creating recovery media and backups
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Restoring and recovering your system
For additional information, refer to the HP Support Assistant.
▲
From the Start screen, type support, and then select the HP Support Assistant app.
- or -
From the Windows desktop, click the question mark icon in the notification area, at the far right
of the taskbar.
Creating recovery media and backups (select models only)
●
Use HP Recovery Manager after you successfully set up the computer, to create HP Recovery
media. This step creates a backup of the HP Recovery partition on the computer. The backup
can be used to reinstall the original operating system in cases where the hard drive is corrupted
or has been replaced.
For information on creating recovery media, see Creating HP Recovery media (select models
only) on page 49. For information on the recovery options that are available using the recovery
media, see Recovering using HP Recovery Manager (select models only) on page 51
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Use Windows tools to create system restore points and create backups of personal information.
Creating HP Recovery media (select models only)
HP Recovery Manager is a software program that allows you to create recovery media after you
successfully set up the computer. HP Recovery media can be used to perform system recovery if the
hard drive becomes corrupted. System recovery reinstalls the original operating system and the
software programs installed at the factory and then configures the settings for the programs. HP
Recovery media can also be used to customize the system or restore the factory image if you replace
the hard drive.
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Only one set of HP Recovery media can be created. Handle these recovery tools carefully, and
keep them in a safe place.
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HP Recovery Manager examines the computer and determines the required storage capacity for
the blank USB flash drive or the number of blank DVD discs that will be required.
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To create recovery discs, your computer must have an optical drive with DVD writer capability,
and you must use only high-quality blank DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-R DL, or DVD+R DL discs. Do
not use rewritable discs such as CD±RW, DVD±RW, double-layer DVD±RW, or BD-RE
(rewritable Blu-ray) discs; they are not compatible with HP Recovery Manager software. Or,
instead, you can use a high-quality blank USB flash drive.
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If your computer does not include an integrated optical drive with DVD writer capability, but you
would like to create DVD recovery media, you can use an external optical drive (purchased
separately) to create recovery discs, or you can obtain recovery discs for your computer from
Creating recovery media and backups (select models only) 49